Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1905-01-07

loss Of life on the rall uhpaIdlleleu 81
the history Of railroading. Not only II
the United States Strengthening itself
M 10 see what the trouble is, but even
Conan DOYLE let up on poor Sherlock
Holmes long enough to take a whack
at us away over there in England. He
makes few comparisons which viii
turn a mans hair gray-if he hap
pens TO have any.
When the figures are so extensive
that nothing short Of war will offer
la favorable comparison, we may well
commence to inquire into the matter
In has been shown that the loss by
rail in this country will exceed the
losses, in some respects, in the Orient,
land vet the Occident is the home of
1.-The "wise men," We are wise enough
over here, only we are in such a con-
founded rush. Everybody and every.
thing is on the pell nell notch. Brakes
are things unknown in this country.
! We have them fastened on some of
our vehicles, but they are only orna-
ments When we do want to use them
the same old story is handed out, "the
brakes refused 20 work." etc. The
principal thing in this land is to get
there. IL doesn't matter much how,
but "get there is the thing There |
fore, instead Of spending any time on
how TO stop trains, the popular me
ehanie puts in his time on the more
valuable question of how to go faster.
He seeks new ways Of increasing the
already enormous speed The whole
travelling public is a unit when the
question Of speed is raised. "We don t
go fast enough is the universal YER
diet. So we have bigger engines, fast
er time and practically no attention
paid to the stopping department.
To meet this demand the railways {
must turn 'em loose in order to be in {
he race, and they can only turn loose i
iueh machines as they have. These c
are pretty good when it c
omes to "hitting the trail, - but have v
lever been known to amount to much v
when YOU wanted to stop them all of c
sudden. 4
As long as Americans are Americans n
'e had as well expect lively times on fl
he rail as elsewhere. We are pretty Ct
vely in politics. We are on earth in c
industries. We have sent S,
lore ships to the bottom of the ocean N
han we own on top We all dance and ca
ar popular tunes are what we call Ia
rag'time. " Our country is net. b,
ork of speeding electric ears which th
axe il possible for us to be in fe
Izen places at once, thing very wi
ar 20 the American heart Our the. Ibe
ers, which az one time were allowed sa
give one performance in a night. be
Q now turned into continuous per do
Investments in which Won tr;
adrupie your money almost before "
n pay the premium are popular tio
ings here. The tariff, capital and tio
'or' taxes and other peoples affairs.
ep the pot boiling anl there are .
'nty to stir and many there be which
'te the soup. All in all. we are
the go in every line which can be-
de TO 60. II "a line won't go. then an.
make It back up. It's got 10 move hon
Il TO the potpourri the railway svs. I
rs and you viii see at a glance with -
eye that It is only in keeping with ma,
American spirit of-not '.the boy, ..
'76''-tbe boys Of 1905. A few d
ngs in this country are done ON
some behind time but most Of 49,, ~,
IN ahead of time.
he losses of the rail are not s., 20.
-kablr when We stop 10 think of ~
pace We are setting. We ara ma,
ing a pace in railroad speed. but ~ ,
M carelcssness. IL is not high ~.
sL nor mechanical imperfee,ion n
ca Is raising comment with lis ter. 80,
results, but it is criminal B.s,i. ~
re and carclessness As railway
ON We arc far behind England y,
ace and Germany in the matte, ~ '' " IS
.dy trains France operates e5 "a
express trains any one of which 'a'' ~
eds our highest bursts Of sn..3 'H''' y =
the fatalities for This sane vssr va ~ ~
enaed were none. These European ''''
Is move like streak Of lightning "a
VIA perfect safety, Rarely /, A''
an aeeidcnt. But here we have ,l'''a
''''mP's 10 move rapidly hcset hv ~~' ",
''F'' of dangers, Rloek ,y,,am. Ire
.N'F s'Sur'ng recognition be,suse VI
los Is - great TIE asei5.,,, 1''a ol'
We escape are mere numerc, -' p
the ones We have BY ,Ai. !, ''., G
e,k by the mer,., .,--'' ssSAped Burns,
a'agS aAd a thousand o,hs, 40
'es' "AyH are - many, ana focI,.,,
'.y snknowr, that were th.v ''eaiHS
known -. -. '-'y gen caase