Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-12-22

tleSe unlLS. Wnen was DOy LIE
Great Eastern used to be spoken OF az
the greatest ship that had ever been
built; in fact, she was so much larger
than any ship then plying the ocean
that she was considered unmannge'
able and 1t was supposed by many
that her equal would never be built
again. presume there are today fifty
to 100 steamers entering the narbor at
New York which have very much
greater capacity than the Great East
ern, and some of them considerably
longer, as we'll as wider and deeper.
In order to reduce the cost of trans
portation on railways 1t has been ne
cessary to reduce the gradients. 10 use
larger locomotives and to make cars
of larger capacity, and today the
horse power of our largest locomotives
Is about equivalent to the horse power
of the great walking beam Corliss en-
CINE exhibited at the Philadelphia CEN
tennial exposition, which drove all the
machinery at Machinery hail. Those
of you who remember this engine
(Which Is now to be seen driying th0l
Pullman car shops at Chicago) will re.
member that the engine alone. without
the boiler, seemed to be a, mountain
GUS affair. Since then we have learned
to develop in much. more compact
space an equal horse power.
But you may ask me what Is the OBJ
ject of reducing the cost Of Transports.
ton. The object has been twofold.
First, without reducing the cost OF
transportation, with the higher cost OF
wages, higher cost of material and es-
pecially Of fuel, with the higher cost
of our sleepers, or ties (because the
country is fast becoming dennded OF
It's forests), every railroad In the coun-
try would go into bankruptcy; sec
ondly, railroad transportation offices
have discovered that as they reduce
the rates they create business.
In order to explain this matter
might return Ior moment to my II.
lustration about the supplies required
by great city: The distance from
which its supplies will be drawn de-
ponds on two factors: ~ The trans
portation facilities (that is to say, the
service which Is available), and (2l
the cost of the service need tell no
man in this room that the price which
he will get for hisgrain or his live stock
on his farm in Iowa is the price at
Chicago, or Kansas City, or st. Louis.
or some other market, less the cost OF
transportation to that point. and by
cost Of transportation n,of course,
not only the railway freight charges,
but all expenses incident to the move
ment of the grain or the stock from the
farm to the market.
Now, obviously, the better the facili-
ties grow, and the lower the rates are
the further will Chicago or any other
market reach out for the products Of
the mine, forest and the harvest field.
AS case In point, I might cite that
not long ago q movement of grain was
started from the state of Oregon for
the Chicago market. The farmers OF
Oregon were able to take advantage
Of the high price at Chicago, because
of the transportation facilities which
In former times the grower In Oregon
was dependent wholly upon the Liver
pool market and on the seagoing rates
around Cape Horn.
l have touched on several phases Of
my subject, and there is a good deal
more that might be said along the
same lines, but wish to say word
about another matter in which you will
perhaps be interested; that Is the rela-
ton of the transportation interests,
and especially the railway transporta-
ton interests, in developing the coun-
try. We have In the employ of the
Burlington railroad a man whose sole
!, duty 1t Is to look after the interests
of the railroad in developing business
along it's lines. He is called the indus
trial agent. He is concerned not only
in finding manufacturing concerns who
wish to locate on our line, but very
! particularly In studying the conditions
Z in the country through which the rail.
road runs and ascertaining in what
way the products of the country may
be developed and increased.
:. The splendid work on the part Of
the department OF agriculture at Wash
ington, and the agricultural schools.
notably in the state of Iowa has the
most cordial Endorsement of the trans
portation interests, and need hardly
dwell on any phase of this question, as
you are to hear from Professor Holden
on the subject.
The transportation interests so far
as they are represented by the raj, load
companies are certainly in full accord
with the efforts Of the farming com.
munity We realize that when we pro
mote their ultimate interests we are
promoting our own interests. and |
! wish for my part that we could get to.
!. gether more often to talk over more
: freely and fully matters of mutual In.
terest. &