The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-08-28

Ncw York, Aug. 27, 1904 The rail-, eoad man of today if he is connected with the management of any one of dozen of the great American systems must be steamboat and railway man in pne. The borders of the ocean and the shore of the inland waterway are no longer obstacles to the activities of the man at the head of railway enter prise. Giant vessels capable of carry ing in their cGvernous holds the con- tents of hundreds of freight cars pass and repass on the broad Pacific as links On the chain of communication stretch od by American railroads to the utter most parts of the civilized earth. On the Atlantic coast the great coal barGes move in endless processions from port to port. In harbors and rivers craft which would doubtless ap- pear strange and uncouth to the sailor man of the days of walls of oak and bwelling canvas bear on their ironclad hecks whole trains of cars. The rail- road time table is the time table also pf lines of vessels which make their trips with the regularity of express trains. In fact, ability to run on schedule Is a necessity in tho vessels which enable the railroad to extend its service from the land to the water and with improved marine engines ana larger vessels water-borne trafftc Is nowadays conducted with regularity which in the old days would have been considered quite impossible. The Con gressional Merchant Marine Commits sion which is now investigating the reason why American built ships have lost their old-time prestige in the for eIgn trade recently paid visit to the lake ports and the members learned some interesting things about the won- Gerful system of transportati tion which new commercial conditions have devel- oped and made possible OH these great inland waterways by the application of the principles of railway management ---by that embodiment of system which is a. prime factor of success in modern affairs whether they be those of the general commanding an army or the captain of industry at the head of a great commercial enterprise.
 Every railway system which matn- tains its own vessel lines or Is largely dependent upon shipping property owned by others has its peculiar prob lems. Lake traffic, of course, is large ly confined to the movement of grain and ore and other heavy cargoes. Else where conditions are different but per- haps the greatest number of divergent interests. as represented by freight, are those handled by the New York, New Haven and Hartford, railway system whose lines cover southern and central New England with a steel network and which has within recent years developed a remarkable system for the harmonious operation not only of its land routes but also of the half dozen steamship lines which it main tains to complete them. With what nicety and mathematical exactness this comparatively recent combination of R31 I&o ,a out Is strikingly illustrated by the methods of conducting the business of this New England system. It reaches seaport cities. great manufacturing towns and rich agricultural sections devoted to the raising of fruits and vegetables for the city market. Al numerous points 1t is in touch with other railways. It's lines radiate from the city of New York like the sticks oi a fan and these are connected by other lines which cross and recross in what looks on the may like interminable con- fusion. Day by day. year in and year out, vast volume of freight sweeps along these covering lines on its way to the American metropolis. Six of these lines are followed by the steamers which reach New York through the Long Island Sound. These vessels, of a type especially adapted to the busi- ness-designed, that is to say, for gen. eral cargoes rather than the specific heavy freights that give the lake steamers their peculiar characteristics
 take their departure from New Bed ford, Fall River, Providence Norwich. New Haven and Bridgeport. And to keep the traffic continually flowing through all these channels in the right proportions is a task not un- like that of the general who is called upon to move a great army. It calls for constant activity and a display both of the grand and minor tactics of rail way management.
 The railroad general as does his mill 5tary brother. relies upon maps to heln him in his work. But the man used to illustrate the method of handling this combination of land and water traffic is not like other railway maps with which the public Is familiar for colors so that 1t seems at first to be a representation of several railroad sys- tems. Closer inspection shows that the lines of one color converge at a certain part, say at Fall River while those of another meet at Providence and so on. These lines of different colors represent the routes along which move the divisions of the mighty army of freight cars. Each division is re- cruited from q certain section of terri tory and receives endorsements from desiRnated connecting roads