The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1901-03-01
Speed of 15J Miles an Hour Is EX-
pected to BE Developed On
a German Line.
WHAT AMERICAN EXPERTS SAY.
Tesla Believes Trains and Steam
ers Will Soon Be Propelled
by Electricity Generated
on Them.


REPUBLIC SPECIAL.
New York. Feb. 2S.-That Germany is
making big strides in the direction of the
development of electrical railways is shown
in a report which has just reached this
country.
During the present year a railroad with
electricity as the motive power will be in
construction, the report says. from Berlin
to Zossen on the military line, and it is
hoped that trains will develop a speed of
155 miles an hour.
This news was contained in T. report sent
TO Washington by Richard Guenther, the
United States Corsul General in Frank
fort. Under date of January 16, he wrote:
at is reported from Berlin. under date of
January IA, 1901, that the railway of the
future was the subject of discussion at
IN audierce. which Privy Councillor Ratl-
enau. superintendent of the works of the
General Electricity Company. has recently
had with the Emperor. The Emperor ex-
Pressed himself as being in favor of a COM
plete change of the entire railway service.
"Mr. Rathenau gave the Emperor de-
tailed information. emphasizing the neces-
sity of constructing electrical railways for
direct and rapid connection between Berlin
and the principal cities of the German En-
pire. For the purpose of furthering this
project a number of prominent Industrial
and banking firms formed some time ago a
society for investigation. The deliberations
of this society will probably result in the
opening for traffic during the current year
of an electric railway the Secretary of
Wa has placed at the disposal of the So
~ciety-namely. the military line from Berlin
to Zossen.
Expect n Speed of 155 Miles.
at is hoped that a speed of from 125 to
15 miles per hour can be attained. with
cars OF which one will be built by the
General Electricity Company and one by
the firm Of Siemens & Ealske. BY raising
the speed. which now averages thirty-seven
miles per hour for fast trains. to 155 miles
per hour. and by dispatching the cars sing
ly. the ideal railway of the future will have
been reached"
Electricians in this country. especially
those who are concerned in the construction
of railways, were much interested in this re-
port to-day. Nicola Tesla, who has not CIV
en- much thought to the practical operation
of railroads. said:
while I am not acquainted with the de-
tails of the project. 1 heartily commend the
use of electricity for the propulsion of pas
trains. There are two ways in
which 1t may be made available for this
purpose without considering the storage Sat
terry. Either electricity is supplied to the
cars. as by the third-rail system, OF 1t is
generated on the train itself. The latter
plan has been tried in France by Hellman,
and ! consider it q rational departure.
'It can be readily shown that, by adopt
ing a proper steam engine. any train can be
propelled with greater speed by the cleo
tricity generated than by the direct appli-
cation of the steam. The same considera-
tons also apply to the ocean liners, and the
adoption of m%utiphase motors driven by
gf~1rn turbines unpid vnotayia n, ;,oroo,o
the economy of propulsion of ocean liners
and also the speed. The first departure of
this KIM will be a signal success, and I be-
1ieve that at a time not far distant the idea
will be carried out.
Il conjecture. however. that the plan con-
templated FL Germany involves the supply
Of electricity In some way to the trains
from central stations. In this manner. nm
questionably the. greatest speed is attain
able. as the amount of energy Is not limited
to the weight of the cars"
Two Other Experts Talk.
A. NJ. Young of No. 100 Broadway IS an
expert in electrical railway construction and
Q leading spirit in the Albany and Hudson
Railroad and Power Company, which oper-
.etes a thfrd-rafl road extending from rIud-
son to Albany. a distance of thirty-fiye
miles. On this line passenger and freight
trains are run at an average speed of thirty
five or forty miles an hour, while a speed
Of sixty miles has been attained. Mr..
Young said:
1T would not surprise me in the least to
see a speed of 1856 miles an hour attained on
an e~lectrict railway. 1t all depends on the
construction. of course. In this country I
expect to see electric trains running 1T a
speed of 100 miles an hour regularly. and
that before long. too"
Charles w. Price. the editor of the Elec-
trical Review. said:
: 81 see no reason why 10 miles an hour
should not be covered by an electric train.
1t is entirely feasible. and, indeed, speaking
with experts some time ago on this very
subject. they said 200 miles an hour would
not be impossible"
Other men in position to speak authorfta-
tively think well of the project and assert
hat electricity is the motive-power of the