Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-05-03

yet see what has been accomplished: In less
than one generation Of men there has been
most remarkably ahridgment OF distance.
Lord Bacon truly said: There are three
things which make a nation great-fertile
fields. busy workshops and the easy con-
veyance Of men and goods from place to
place. You will all admit that Lord Bacon
was right, and you will all see the force OF
moment what has taken place in America.
Today, with great luxury and comfort
and at a cost of less than cents a mile.
travellers accomplish In less than one hour
days journey.
There are three kinds Of transportation
transportation of people. transportation
Of goods and the transportation OF thought,
ana In each 1t seems to me that We have
led the world. As we look back fifty years
and note the improvements in Transports
ton. We cannot but anticipate what the
progress will be in the next fifty years No
one can tell. We all know that a great
many OF the most rema rkable men Of the
last century have been identified with the
progress that has been made in transport
tation, and the names of such public bene-
factors as Stephenson, the inventor Of the
locomotive; Bessemer, who conceived the
steel rail-; Morse, who invented telegraphy;
Pullman. who made travel by night moro
preferable than by day. and Westinghouse,
VINO has increased the safety well as
the speed of the traveller, will always ap-
pear as prominent among those who have
done much for the world in bringing about
improved conditions.
Freight Rates.
The railroad freight rates In the United
States are low. No other country has any
such cheap carriage of goods There are
very few complaints of rates in this coun-
try because they are too high Complaints
OF extortionate rates are the exception. not
s ehe rule; Rates are lower in the United
states than anywhere else in the world
Ihey probably aggregate 40 per cent lower
This alone is something to be proud of hit
coupled with the fact that, with the lowest
rates in existence, the wages paid by Ameri-
can railroads to their employees approx
mate at least 80 per cent more than the
wages paid to railroad men in other conn
tries, and considered further with the fact
tnat the American railroads probably nav
hlgher prices for materials than any other
I raiiroads IN the world, only serves to en-
phaslze the triumph in Transportation which
mas peen achieved in America
II mas been my observation that COM
paints or unreasonable rates to railroad
attention.
Wh1le In sense railroad TRANSFORMATION
- - natural monopoly, in a broader sense
!. is an competitive. Market competition
tre,,;. everywhere and is always a con-
eioHiHS Iorce In rate making
Praises the Supply People.
In dealing with American transporta-
tlon TOO much credit cannot be given to
the ingenuity and technical ability of the
railroad supply people. They always rise
10 any emergency. They are as intense in
their desire to improve the appliances
they make they are to dispose of them
AFTER they are manufactured. More could
not be said.
1t is source of great satisfaction to
all OF us to have so many DISTINGUISHED
m tI,A
Is much that We can learn from them in
regard to transportation. l know that we
are studying the improvements they are
making with the same eagerness that they
are studying ours We hope that these
international gatherings will be fruitful of
great good to the railroads abroad and at
nome, and am sure that the results will
be In the long run cheaper safer and bet
ter carriage of both passengers and freight
everywhere throughout the world
I congratulate you all on this occasion
1t is glorious thing to do things in this
world, and each and every one of you are
entitled to great credit for the work you
are doing in the direction of economical
improved railway operation"
Mr.. Lawrence's Address.
After a selection by the band, Mr.. T. NJ.
Lawrence, deputy chairman of the London
and Northwestern Railroad of London, was
introduced. Mr.. Lawrence spoke very
briefly. He said he merely wished to con-
vey to the members of the appliance ex-
hibit greeting from the railroad men OF
England. He said he was familiar with
the work Of organizing such an affair, as
he had something to do with the appliance
exhibit a the time Of the meeting of the
congress in London ten years ago The
English railroad men, he said, have not
been slow to recognize the genius of Ameri-
can inventors and manufacturers, some of
whom are as well known abroad as they
are here.
The last speaker on the program was
Mr.. Stuyvesant Fish, chairman of the
American section of the international rail-
road congress. Mr.. Fish said that he had
listened to the references of the local speak
ers to the appropria teness of the exhibition
at the base of the great shaft erected as a
memorial to George Washington. He had
not heard any Of them tell another reason
why this was a particularly appropriate
place for such exhibit and for such
gathering as the international congress,
however.
1t was at the town of Shepherdstown. a
very short distance down the Potomac river.
that the first vehicle propelled by steam in
this country was made to move, he declared
In 1886 John Rumsey built boat which
was propelled by steam against the cur
rent and moved While RumSeys invention
did not make practical success, neverthe-
less 1t moved against the current, and il
was the first thing that had ever moved in
this part Of the world by steam propulsion.
patent office. and In looking over old patents
had found that during the fifteen years fol-
lowing the establishment of the patent Of
flee In 1870 there were COO odd patents is
sued.
In order to get some idea of how the
patent business had grown in this country
the speaker asked how many patents were
issued in the last fifteen years, and was
told that from January 1, 1890, to December
81, 1904, there were over 300, 600 patents is
sued. This shows conclusively, the speaker
said. what has been doing here, and why
the appliances exhibited are of such i'm
portance to the railroad world.
The exercises were brought to close
with selection by the band. The dele
gates and guests Of the committee We're
then escorted through the grounds, and
after all the exhibits had been viewed re-
turned to the stand where the exercises
had been held and found it transformed
into dainty tea room, in which tea, choco-
late and light luncheon were served
This evening the delegates of the congress
will again be the guests of the exhibit
commission. Elaborate preparations have
been made to send a time signal from the
exhibition grounds around the world. The
progress of the signal will be shown by
incandescent lamps inserted at proper
places on huge map that has been erect
ed In the grounds. The map Is forty feet