Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1912-08-03
LONDON TIMES AND AMERICAN
RAILWAYS

papers uedllHS With lHlS, ina VI
the other theme. of more or less in
terest to the reading public. They
represent always a large outlay of
money on the part Of the publishers,
and a good deal of executive and
editorial ability goes to their pro-
duction. They are, however, : a
rule. things of the day, for the need
of the day, and are forgotten~on the
morrow. Yet all of them contain
matter that might be worth preserv-
ing, and matter that ought certain
" be laid away for future reference.
Not knowing the ways Of English
journals, except by improved hear
say, some of us have imagined that
our English cousins do not take
kindly to journalistic enterprises Of
that kind. The special edition of
the London Times Of June %. 1912,
which comes to The Herald Office
this week, affords agreeable evidence
of the fact that the special edition
on a large scale, is by no means ex-
clusively American.
The edition deals with American
Railways. 1t contains eighty pages,
lffty-nine of which are devoted to
this particular topic. From every
journalistic standpoint the edition
is worthy Of all commendation-
lTypographically it is as nearly per-
feet as the highest development Of
Fthe printers art in u day viii al
low. The wide columns, and the
clear large type are very full Of
comfort to the man who sets him
self to the task of reading it.
Once entered upon the p~erusal of
it, the task becomes a pleasure. 1t
may be we'll doubted if there is any
where else in the world a like
amount of interesting, valuable and
reliable information on the subject
Of American railways, so conven-
iently arranged for the use OF the
general reader, as is contained in
this edition Of the Times An edi-
torial in this great journal states.
the case perfectly: H tr l e'h3
"Any man who wanted to get
that information together for /,
himself would have to make
tedious inquiry about the books
to buy. WOULD arel to- buy a
considerable library al no 7tin- y
considerable expense, would y.
have to go through a vast
amount of labor in coordinating
and c~ondensing his informal Ih
tion. and when 4 all1swas done ~
would not, We venture ttoosay.
have attained any result at ALI
comparable to what we now Of
fer him. For he would be an
amateur at every stage, where
as here he has every stage
worked out for him by an ex-
pert"
The edition is not a mere collec-
ton of dry facts and tables about
American railroads. II contains a
history of railroad building and de-
velopment in the United States. The
story is full of interest. 1t begins
with the beginning. Our attention
is called to the essential differences
in the conditions under which our
railroad systems were developed
and the conditions under which the
railroads of other countries were de-
veloped. In other lands the rail-
roads were effects of pre-existing
material developments, an out
/ SIOW III III the HecuS VI NohSCSbCu
populations and Of a commerce made
Ito hand. Here in many instances
they were the causes of material de-
velopment, the creators of the COM
merce needed for thir support. and
the colonizers of the regions from
which their support anne.
All this information was COM
piled for the benefit Of English in
v~estors in American roads; but il
is in reality of as much value to the
average American citizen as it is to
the British investor. For the data
gathered. while published in an Eng
lish newspaper. was in reality de-
rived from American sources. Most
Of the special articles dealing with
various phases of the railroad situa-
ton in America were compiled by
railroad men, each an expert in his
department: or they have been de-
r;rOl e~1v, h-r0~- --AI:~ -.