The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1899-11-17
An Era of Big Things.

The multitudinous changes of far
reaching Importance which are now oc-
curing in the industrial and
cha worlds demonstrate that we are
entering on an era of big things"
manufacturer or the d~iscoverer of new
processes and new inventions, we per-
ceive that success comes to the man
of large ideas. Indeed, some of the
most remarkable achievements of re-
cent times. have been due entirely to
enlarged methods of ~transacting bust
ness.
In the last week Of October. for eX-
ample, there were recorded the largest
orders for steel rails. locomotives and
cars ever known in a similar period.
One million and a half tons of steel
rails, thirty thousand cars and five hum
dred locomotives were actually ORDER
ed within six days., In the same week
there was published a description of
the most powerful locomotive ever con-
structed, built by the Brooks Locomo-
tive Works for the Illinois Central
Railroad Company. The total weight
of this engine, without the tender, is
232, 200 pounds, and the weight of the
engine and tender, loaded, is $4,000
pounds. The locomotive is designed to
haul trains carrying 1000 tons.
A few weeks ago the largest steam
ship in the world arrived in New York
after a successful maiden voyage, and
it is now stated that the Great North
ern railway has already contracted in
England for two steel steamships which
will be sixteen feet longer than the
new Oceanic, of the White Star Line.
1t is Furthermore reported that these
two are but the f~orerunnerS of a large
fleet of equally gigantic steel steam
ships for the trans-Pacific trade be-
tween Seattle and Japan.
When the Baldwin Locomotive
Works installed two gigantic electric
travelling cranes having a lifting ca
pacity of 100 tons each, in their erect
ing shops a few years ago these labor
saving appliances were the c2use of
much wondering among en-
gineerS and others; but more recently
the Carnegie Steel Company caused to
be built (for it's Homestead planD an
electric travelling crane having a lift
ing capacity of $50 tons, and it is said
that no more difficulty is experienced
in the operation of this monstrous
mechanism than in the case of the
smaller cranes. The Railway World
(November 4th) mentions casually in
it's notes of the week the following:
That was a remarkable demonstra-
ton of what a mogul can do which oc-
Cured on the New York Central the
other day, when engine No. 948, n Of
the new moguls, hauled out train No.
II, the Southwestern limited, made up
of two mail cars, five passenger
coaches and nine Wagner cars, sixteen
IN all. The total weight of the train
was 1882, 600 pounds, OIL 916 tons, and
the length of the train, including the
engine, was 1912 feet, or nearly a quar-
ter of a mile. This engine, it is said,
made the running time of the train be-
tween New York and Albany, lab miles,
in three hours and fifteen minutes"
Whether we consider the actual &C
complishments of the present day or
those under contemplation for the near
future, we cannot fail to be impressed
by the fact that "bigness" is the key
note of every important undertaking..
Indeed, many of the great trade COM
binations which have been formed
within the past year or so are merely
necessary preliminaries toward the re-
organization of manufacturing indus
tries in accordance with the enlarged
methods of conducting business which
are demanded in these times of indus
trial expansion. There is a wide differ
ence between the utilization Of modern
methods for economizing the mighty
forces brought into play-whether of
nature or of una effort-for the pur-
pose of charging production, and the
formation of illegal combinations of
powerful interests for the purpose Of
enhancing prices. The one Is the natu-
raj evolution Of the science of industrial
economies; the other is simply a spe-
cies of wholesale robbery, for the pun
shment of which both federal and
state laws have been enacted.
The special genius for organization
is coming to be regarded as an Amer
isan trait, to which much of the sue
cess of modern industry is indebted
Instances could be named where the
simple touch of this genius of organiZa-
ton has converted Improbable (be-
cause disiointed or disunited) efforts
into highly successful achievements
without resort to the nefarious meth
DDS of the promoters of so-called trusts.
Large ideals may not always be capa-
BILE Of full and complete realization;
but the practical man o o learns TO
segregate or separate the attainable
from the u~nattainable. and it is this
r.cwer to seize that which is valuable
and appropriate it to his needs which
distinguishes the man of affairs from
the reamer or the dilettante.-Phil-