The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-01-07

traffic which has passed over them.
Il have noticed of the device, that
when train passes the section of track
on Which the Joints were fitted with the
new invention, all pounding ceased and
the BILE jar, which is familiar to
everyone, is entirely done away with.
The ends of the rails preserve their orig
inal form, proving that the device is eff
ficient in preventing the rounding of rail-
ends, caused by the wear OF rolling stock.
The bridge, which Is the main feature
of Hachmann's idea. equalizes the pres
sure and makes it Impossible for a car
wheel to strike the end of a rail. This
fact Is of immense value. Those unfa-
miliar with the operation of modern rail-
roads cannot imagine, the annual cost to
the company, from repairs made neces-
sary to rails and equipment, through the
wear which results from the imperfect
rail connections which we have in use
In the United States at present.
1.-THE Hachn1ann device was put in place
on our tracks in exactly the manner
shown by the diagram. We use the three
tie joint, tl.at is to say, a joint in which
the rail ends are each supported by a
spruce tie. with third tie lying directly
underneath the joined ends. The ordi-
nary fish plates which are familiar to
everyone were applied. with the Hach-
mann bridge uniting the bali of the rails
at the joint In my opinion the device
might be made more effective by using
in connection with It some form of joint
bed plate, such as the Heath plate, which
has an enlarged and strengthened por-
ton made to fit directly underneath the
joint proper, and spiked down with the
rail, or the ordinary plain steel rail- This
| would be especially desirable in cases
where the joint is put down with only
two ties to support 1t.
ct cannot give my full opinion of the
| rail Joint until l have seen the device
subjected to the wear and strain of Win
| ter traffic. The rails under the R1ce
street bridge will remain in place until
spring. when We can base our conclusions
| upon trials made under differing cond1-
tions We intend to subject the inven-
ton to the most rigid tests, and If 1t
then proves all that the inventor claims
! for it. J shall have no hesitancy IN telm-
| ing 1t most valuable invention
| sMr. Hachmann is in the East at pres
| emit The greatest difficulty which mas
yet presented itself is the cost OF manu-
! featuring the joint. lie has neen III
| correspondence with the carnegie steer
company and the Illinois Steel works
and has visited the manufactures per-
sonally This difficulty is one which
| can be overcome no doubt, and the
device put on the market at hsure
which will MAXI It possible TO INTRODUCES
| 1t into general use.P
Railroad men who have seen the f1ach-
mann device prephesy its success: AT
rangements are now being MADE Tor us
manufacture on a large scale, ana 1t mas
every chance Of making the fortune Oh
IFS inventor. The attorney who mas pro-
cured the patients illustrated the value OF
the device recently by making few COM
putations.
.In every mile of rail-" said he. Laid in
tbe standard lengths of "a feet there are
15s Joints. Take two miles of rail and you
have one mile of ordinary track. contain
ing S12 Joints. With 100 miles OF track as
q INIT on which to figure you have 3l2Oo
joints.
"Fhis invention can now be manufac-
t,1red at a cost which will make 1t posi-
BILE to market it at a price approximate
ly 65 cents a rail- joint. Make your COM
mutation and yeu will see that Tor every
100 miles of track the inventor will receive
So. 200, less the cost of making the JOINT
at the mill. Take system sucn as me
Great Northern, with 5000 miles OF track,
and you will find that if the device were
applied to- the total mileage the inventor
would receive 81, $4,000, less cost OF max
ing the Joint. If the continuous rail- joints
were applied to the New York central
system, with which Mr.. Hachmann mas
had some correspondence, 1t would y1eid
a gross sum of 1896, 00O
''These figures are based perhaps on ex-
aggerated illustrations, but serve to con-
yey an idea of the immense oroflts Wnlcn
can be made from the device.