The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-06-04
INFERIOR STEEL RAILS.

INFERIOR STEEL RAILS.
 We have The Brooklyn Eagle as au- thority for the statement that a prom inent official of the Carnegie Steel Company recently asserted that on one run of what is known as the Pennsyi- vanja Eighteen-hour Limited Express from New York to Chicago, twenty rails were broken by the train. This be It understood, was on a single trip on one road When we remember that many of the wrecks which are daily reported from various sections of the country are attributed to broken rails' we can see the importance of the state ment. That there was no wreck to tnis flying train is remarkable. but we may feel assured that If another train had followed before the damage was re- pafred there must have been e2tastro- phe at some of these breaks. It looks as though one of three things must be done to avoid disaster Either all weak or unfit rails must be removed. the trains and engines must be made light CT or the speed materially reduced. The Eagle says:
 To do either of these things IS most serious consideration. In >he first instance, it would mean almost an entire substitution or track' Wltn an enormous attending expense, even if the demand for the new rails could be supplied in good time. In the other course $ inconvenience to the traVei. ing public of a degree which in itsel1 would be serious. Forced to adopt one or the other. 1t is probable that tho railroad companies would choose the latter course. The question then would be what rate of speed would be within the danger point.
 Of course either alternative is at tended with expense and tnconvenlehce' hut to neglect one or more of them means continued menace to the traV- cling public and the safety or those who travel should be placed above all other considerations. Neither cArense nor inconvenience should be allowed to stand in the way of human i'fe' IT cheap material, inferior work end great sneed are all to be considered in pref erence to life there will have to be remedy provided. Recently in discussing railway wrecks and their causes something was said about the poor grade of ore used and the inferior workmanship em- nloved in the manufacture of steel rails and now we have some other testimony on the same subject what ever we may think of Charles M. scbwsb there can be no dispute as to his knowledge of steel and us uses' and he recently came out In strong statement in which he declares that tbe right material is not used in mak- ing the rails of today. and that the rails, when made. are not of the righ' shane. He says that the head or the rail is too heavy. while the nange IS too light. The supposition is that In order to roll the rails Into the shape now used the metal must be very hot whereunon the impurities that cause the break enter. If this is not prop CT interpretation of the words of MT | schwab. no other can be made which is intellig!ble Then The Eagle adds this comment;
 Rut the strong point that MT. Schwat makes and on which he stands, IS tha, l the material that should De used IT inc making of the rails Is nickel steel | While he evidently believes that the rail made under the Den-hearth pro cess Is better than that produced uh- 1 der the Bessemer process. he IS con (,inced that the railroads must not tooR 1 to the open hearth rail for satisfyine resuIts The nickel steel will cost ! +hree times as much as the besSe9n T rail. now so generally used. But a'
 Sr srhwab says the railroads cannot 1 afrord to have anything less than the hest. no matter what the cost
 There is the point Can the railroads
 afford to continue using inferior ant unsafe rails. or will they disregard everything but their own pocket inter 1 ests and go on as they are doing? Ant | if nothing else will force them to adopt system that will give assurance ot
 safety will not the law be forced tC
 step in and compel a change?
 | This is the natural and appropriate
 season for fish tales, snake stories anu
 the like, but we propose to award tho
 premium to The Hartford Advance fol turnin story. Hear it:
 MT. J. J. Hall. a good citizen oi ' Route 6, sent us a turnip Monday af
 ternoon that measured twentythrcC
 inches in circumference and-we ate il
 raw.
 Now. we are not quite sure whicl
 is the largest the story. the vegetable
 or the editors appetite. True. wt have ,en or heard of larger turnip.
 than this one but we have never seer
 a larger one absorbed by one man
 not even q hungry editor. And th'
 story is incomplete as It stands Th'
 brother should inform us how mucf
 paregoric, Jamaica ginger and the lik'
 he consumed by way of chasers aftei the vegetable; or is he so invulnerabl'