The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-08-28

OF course this wonderful record was OBJ
tanned in a sheltered subway by a simple
and crude type of automatic stop, that
is not adapted to be employed on high
speed surface roads, but the experience
gained there should drive home les
son to the travelling public that should
never be lost sight of.
The demand for automatic stops has
been quickened by proposed Federal leg
islation. even though the past Congress
just missed taking up bill that was IA
vorably reported in the House and there
fore the time has arrived when 1t 10 i'm
portant to take an inventory and weigh
carefully the merits Of the several types
of automatic stop systems that have
been offered for approval, in order to de-
termine which is pre-eminently the best
system.
Inquiry IL Vital.
On account Of the millions Of dollars
that wiz eventually be invested In this
new art, such an inquiry is of vital i'm
portance. especially to railroad officials.
and incidentally to every one concerned
in the safe movement of trains.
Since the announcement OF the New
York. New Haven and Hartford Railway
Company a couple of years ago to try
out automatic stopping devices submit
ted in competition for the $4,000 prize
offered by that road, considerable inter-
est has been manifested in the mechani-
cal and electrical principles involved in
such a proposed system.
This offer was a challenge to the in
ventive genius Of the country.
In the eagerness to capture the 81, 900
prize and in view of the fact that the
matter was worthy of the deepest study.
the inventive industry was soon set in
full blast and there resulted an ava
lanche of inventions that were produced
overnight, mostly by men unacquainted
with the problems to be solved and the
fundamental principles which govern the
theory and practice In the art Of railway
signaling.
1t was reported by the public press
that $500 inventions were submitted
to that road There were presented
plans and ideas of every description
ranging from the dignified efforts that
seem to possess real merit to the dim
strivings and the widest conceptions
and most impossible dreams that ever
racked the human brain.
1t was a matter of course that most
of these mental fantasies and blind
efforts were disregarded, resulting III
a long list of bitter disappointments
VI weight nave
been flung at this problem by those
who could devote their energies to no
higher purpose than to the conser-
walton of human life.
Every considerable technical under
taking requires at the outset accurate
and practical knowledge as to the es-
sential elements of the best modern
practice along the lines Of any parti-
cular endeavor.
There is perhaps no more difficult
technical undertaking than to devise
a piece of apparatus for employment
with sanction and success in the art
of railway signaling because 1t is not
simply a question of producing devices
having workable or serviceableness or
that are sufficient in mechanical or
electrical scope to perform the re-
quired work or duties with requisite
precision.
Such an invention must possess, in
order to provide a sufficient factor for
safety. that degree of reliability in its
operative principle as to strictly OBJ
Serve certain engineering rules that
have been authoritatively laid down
and which have for years created the
principles of progress in the art of
signaling.
These uncompromising engineering
rules dictate not only the function or
duty that each element Of the system
should possess, but the manner in
which they shall perform their func.
tions. thereby laying down a technical