Evening journal., 1911-10-13
NEW NEWS OF YESTERDAY
An Invention That Vas
Made for the Future
By Holland.

The most impressive illustration Of
the gift Of forecasting the promise and
results of modern inventions which
ever came under my observation oc-
CURED at a time some ten years ago
when / was spending an hour or two
with George Westinghouse. Jr., IN
Pittsburg. As we were chatting about
the pending utilization of electricity
for the hauling of railway trains Mr..
Westinghouse occasionally looked at
some blue print drawings and a wood
en- model of an apparatus which were
upon his desk. Finally, Mr.. Westing-
house pointed to the drawings and
models.
Il am perfecting an apparatus for
which there is no possible use at pres
ent," he said, but which, / am sure.
will be absolutely essential ten or fif-
teen years hence when our railway
trains and our rapid transit trains are
exclusively operated by electricity.
"This apparatus which you see in
model form is designed to make pos
sible, instant and automatic joining OF
the cars of a railway train and of the
tubes which convey steam for heat
ing purposes, the air for the brakes
and the electric conductors. IL has
been a very difficult problem. But It
has been worth while to work it out,
for the time will come, believe,
when it will be necessary, in order 10
secure a great saving Of time and a
considerable saving of expense, 10
connect the cars Of railway train and
the rubber tubes which convey It's
various apparatus instantly and auto
matically and not by hand as at pres
ent IL may be twenty years before
there will be any occasion to use this
apparatus, but sooner or latter it will
be used"
This conversation with Mr. WestinS-
house was brought vividly to mind re-
Gently. The Public Service Commits
sion OF New York city commanded the
managers of the subway rapid transit
system to increase their express train
service during the rush hours in the
morning and the late afternoon by
from two to four cars train so that
ten cars could be run on each train.
The increase in the number Of pas
sengers using the subway from about
four hundred thousand daily, which
was the number carried some three
years ago, to about seven hundred
thousand, made thib lengthening of The
trains necessary.
But to attach two or four cars to a
train at time when the subway ex-
press trains were supposed to be run
ming on a half-minute headway meant
a considerable loss of time, and the
consequent upsetting of the train
schedule, since 1t would be necessary
to employ several men to make the
connections to each train that had run
with six OF eight cars during the nom
rush hours. The subway managers did
not know how they were going to meet
the requirements of the Public Service
4 Commission and still adhere TO the
half-minute headway They realized
too, that the fulfillment of the com
4 missions order meant an increased
operating expense,-the employment
of more men to make the many neces.
sary connections TO the trains for the
| rush hour periods.
The moment had arrived which Mr.
| Westinghouse had foreseen ten years
before when electricity was almost IN
known as a transportation agent ex
cepting for highway trolleys. Today
/ the subway corporation of New Yorl
city is now running ten-car trains anC
making them up automatically, with
out increase of cost over the ole
method employed, by means of Mr.
Westinghouse apparatus. This, too
is being done without disturbing in th'
least the scheduled headway of trains
in the subway during the rush houi
periods-and all because ten years
before Mr. Westinghouse was able tC
project his mind into the future anC