The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1914-03-13
life Of GEO. WESTINGHOUSE
inventor OF THE A|RBRAkE
Continued from Page 1.

S"AeSAIILH III dulOitldllC
signalling devices. pnuematic or cleo
trio: electric locomotives. gas engines,
machines. tools, steam turbines, lights,
and almost every conceivable article
that is needed for the complex indus
trial system of the present. George
Westinghouse was more than a hu-
man dynamo. because a dynamo must
be driven by something. and he drove
himself. lie was a human power
plant living force. As one OF his
friends has put 1t. off George Westing-
house were not a man hc would have
been n of the mechanical marycls Of
the world"
Inception of the .Airbrake.
Born at Central Bridge. Schoharis
county, N. ". October s, 1896, he re.
moved with his parents ten years later
to Schenectady. While attending the
public schools he found much time
To tinker about his fathers machine
shop. and at fifteen years he had in
vented a rotary engine which had
many features of remarkable merit.
one day, as Il youngster. he CHANGED
to see Il collision between two freight
trains. The smash-up was caused by
the ineffectiveness OF the handbrakes
then in use. Forthwith he began pom
'terinE why trains could not be stop
ped more quickly. and he set about
TO invent q device to that end.
AS tho first step, he decided that the
brake aus be operated from the To-
connective. as the engine driver was
most likely to be the first to see dan
ger. He tried to utilize chains. but
they would not do. CHANGING to read
of the use of compressed air in driv-
ing drills in the construction OF the
Mount CenEis tunnel. he began expert
mcnts with this form Of power. be-
ginning his planning and designing all
over again. lie made drawings of an
airpump and a brake cylinder and
valves. and from these drawings he
constructed an apparatus which he
felt worthy Of a practical test. This
was about 1867.
The superintendent OF the New York
Central declined his request for a
test. There was not a railroad man
ager in the country. after a period
had elapsed who did not know him
directly or indirectly; but they would
not try his device. Undeterred by
constant disappointment however, he
brake. At last he gained permission
to explain the device to Commodore
Vanderbilt. the greatest railroad man
of that period. So thoroughly con-
WINGED was he of the merits Of his in
Vention that he felt certain this prac-
tical authority at once would order
every car of the New York Central
ines equipped with it. The interview
took place at Commodore Vanderbilt's
New York Office. He listened patient
~ to the young enthusiast for a time,
and then interrupted.
Won Out at Last.
do o mean to stand there and
tell me that You can stop a railroad
train by wind?' he asked.
well, yes, irasmuch as air is wind
I suppose you might put it that way"
returned the youthful inventor.
81 have no time to vas with
fools" was the substance of MIR. VAN
derbilt's immediate declaration, and
the interview ended abruptly.
But Westinghouse kept on. He could
not find hackers, even though he was
a most persuasive person, to risk their
money on his wild Innovation" Some
of his friends did not hesitate to call
him a crank. They branded him, too,
as the maj Of m idea" and even
went so far as to dub him playfully
Crazy George"
Just before 1858 he had invented a
railroad frog, as we'll as a device for
%retracking derailed cars, which APP
pealed to railroad men at once While
in Pittsburgh making arrangements
with a steel company to have the
frogs manufactured. he became ac-
quainted with a trio of young men
Andrew Carnegie, Ralph Bagley and
Robert Pitcairn of the Pennsylvania
railroad. He talked about his brake.
AT last Bagley, who owned a foundry,
agreed. in return for a one-ffth in
terest. to make an apparatus to equip
a. single train. The superintendent Of
the Steubenville division Of the old
Panhandle railroad agreed to place
q train of cars at the inventors dis
posal, and the work went on. The
first trial took place in October. 1868,
and the first application Of the air.
brake prevented a collision between
the experimental train and a wagon
crossing. The brake had proved it.
self.
The Westinghouse Airbrake COM
pany was formed, but the inventor
did not cease his work. He bent every
energy until the device was brought
I" the degree of perfection he had
dreamed on the day the two trains
collided near Troy. With railway men
of the United States convinced, he
years before he overcame the Com
servatism" Of England's railroad au-
!thorities.
Piping OF Natural Gas.
Another big project was the piping
OF natural gas into Pittsburgh. While
it had been piped into the steel city
as early as 1883 by a few individual
manufacturers, the gas fields were SO
far away that no one had the cour-
age to lay an extensive system of
pipes by which to conduct the gas to
the city i'll quantity. Convinced that
the plan was entirely feasible and
would yield incalculable profits, he
set about to form the Philadelphia
COMPANY in May, 1885. He needed
s 100000 to carry out his plans-and
5 6 5000, 900 looked much larger in Pitts
burgh then than 1t does today. Pub
lie subscriptions were invited, and
he was prepared with police reserves
to control the expected crowd. But
the public did not respond. However,
by his powers Of personal solicitation
he raised the amount, the plan was
a great success. made q fortune for
each person who went into it and, by
cheapening fuel, gave a great impetus
to the manufacturing industries Of
Pittsburgh.
Meantime new backgrounds had
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