Evening star., 1900-12-15
international Rivalry.

In the International dispute begun IN the
London Times, continued in Engineering,
the Zeitung deS Fereins, the Journal des
Transports and La Revue Technique,
first distinction Is made between quick
trains and fast trains; after which all the
English experts and many of the French
insist that the real test of any lines rapid
service ought to be not the exceptional
speed of one train, but the average speed of
all its fast trains
In this way the honors for the quickest
de, short-distance) trains fall to America,
because the Philadelphia and Reading Rail-
way Company's express between Camden
and Atlantic City covers its distance of
.IJ.:'6 miles in 30 minutes-the speed from
start to finish being at the rate of 90 34
miles an hour. The fastest q. e., long dis
tance) train in the world is then admitted
to be the Sud express. because it does the
4SG2J miles between Paris and Bayonne at
the rate of S7.3 kilometers (5i Is mles) an
hour
The London Times list includes French
train, of the Midi Company, which 1t af-
firms travels 615S miles, between Morceinx
and Bordeaux, at speed Of 81 A miles an
hour The French Journal deS Transports
while commencing the eXactness of the Sud
express figures given by the Times knows
of no such MorceinX-Bordeaux speed. The
sud express remains, after investigation,
the fastest ong-diStance train in Europe--
and the world The Empire State express
OF the New ] Ufk central ana hudson River
Railroad Company makes punctual ser
vice over the 1886 miles between New
York and Buffalo at an average rate of
5f.19 miles an hour. The best English train
for long distance, it is agreed, is the ex-
press that accomplishes 392 46 miles be-
tween London Cking's Cross and Edin-
burgh in seven hours and forty-fve min
utes, at an average rate of 50.64 miles an
hour.
Fast Time In England.
haln how
reckless locomotive racing in England In
the last year. The Times bewails that
Great Britain is now beaten on a field In
which her superiority was at one time in
contestable, and the special engineering
weekies echo the sad fact, while at the
same time explaining and excuslng 1t by
British conservatism and prudence The
great race between the east and west coast
in 1899, when the Adriatic ran from Euston
to Crewe 15S miles, in two hours and twen-
ty-eight minutes, and the HardWicke ran
from Crewe to Carlisle, 142 mics, in two
hours and four minutes, rather bears them
out in their claim for prudence, because 1t
shows that it is not the ability to go fast
that Is lacking. Whatever be the morality
of locomotive racing when half dozen cars
full Of passengers are attached to the rae
ers, the latter trip works out to the Won
derful speed of $3.50 miles an hour-a trIfe
quicker til an the 6i.54 miles an hour of the
Camden-Atla CITY express, maintained
over almost three times the distance On an
other occasion the run of $40 miles between
Euston and Aberdeen was performed at an
average rate of 6451 miles an hour Wuen
it comes to regular British trains, howe1 er,
the quickest one is the express Of the Lon
don and Southwestern. from Dorsetsh re to
Wareham, in which distance of fifteen
miles Is covered at the rate of 601 miles an
hour Next to it Is the, Caledonian flyer.
from Forfar to Perth, ,32.5 miles, which
runs at the rate of 59.1 miles an hour.
Germany too, has been going in for loco
motive racing, and with the imperial ap-
proba ton. According to the semi-official
Zeitung des Vereins, the speeding between
Wttenberg and Gross-Lichterfelde. near
Berlin, with an entirely new model of loco
motive not shown at the Paris exhibition.
was confessedly done to break all records
something for which a special military per-
mission had to be invoked
The Prussian racing train was composed
of five cars, each with four axles The
distance being 53.O7 miles, a provisional
time table was agreed on, 80 minutes from
Wittenberg to Gross-Lichterfelde and 81
minutes for the return, because of the
grade. The first heat was made in 491a
minutes and the second in 50h minutes,
which gives a speed of GA 66 miles an hour
in the first case and In the second g. 05
miles. The maximum speed realized was
7i SS miles, and mounting the steady grade
a rate of &c miles was maintained. This
constitutes the quickest going ever publicly
arcompIiShed in EarmanV IT 10 c,,r;onS to