The Wallace miner. [volume] (Wallace, Idaho) 1907-current, 1917-05-03

serious problem of paying dollar
ton more for their fuel Last year the
railroads burned a total of 130,O00,Oo0
tons Of coal and paid for it at an av-
erage rate of $1.69 ton. The bitum-
nous product viii probably bring
quite $3.50 a ton during the next IL
months and there are those who pro-
phesy that the roads will do well II
they get their fuel at SO ton. This
means an added outlay ranging from
$3.50, 600 600 to $197,30000O.
And this Is not the whole story by
long shot. because there are sec
tions of the United States In which
the franscontnental roads pay as
much as $3.50 ton for their coal.
On an average, 1t is safe to say that
1t takes six tons of fuel to produce q
single annual horsepower and in the
sections referred to the yearly outlay
for steam producer horse -power would
be $27. As matter of fact there are
parts OF the country through which
these long hauls are made where the
cost per horse power of the steam To-
connective is quite $40 year.
These figures are Of more than or
binary interest now because of the
actual scarcity of available coal and
the probability that prices will climb
still higher il the United States joins
3 In the world war. The situation points
forcibly to the imperative need OF
putting to useful service the tre-
mendous energy in water power now
going to waste. II conservation Is to
be made fact, then we must save our
coal by turning to the motive force
which our rivers and streams are
ready to provide
Long Distance Transmission.
Electrical energy sent broadcast
from central stations economically
run, either by steam or water, has
been steadily supplanting during the
rast year Independent steam plants at
factories, machine shops and other In
dustrial enterprises. The owners or
operators of these establishments
have found 1t cheaper in a great many
instances to purchase electrical ener-
gy rather than to have recourse to
their own power plants.
Year by year the electricians have
found ways to reduce the cost of cur
rent transmission. over wide areas
from central stations, and in this way
they are showing the practicability of
making greater industrial zones oper-
able from points OF power generation
favored by natural conditions. This
especially concerns points where eth
er water power or cheap coal Is at
hand, but where it would not be con-
venent to build factories or other in
dustrial establishments. 1t is this long
% distance transmission that Is working
revolution in railroadng and is like
ly radically to modify the economic
problem of managing certain trunk
lines at a reasonable profit.
Not more than five years ago the
technicists were by no means In ac-
cord on the subject, and the majority
Of them openly declared that it was an
IDLE dream to think of electrifying the
nations trunk lines for any consid-
cradle distance In the face of this
opinion it must have taken a deal of
courage on the part of the Chicago,
Milwaukee & st. Paul Railway COM
pany to reach the determination to
adopt electric traction for 440 miles
of its mid continental run. 1t Is a
matter of record that that departure
no uinpa ba al
lation was completed. Now comes the
announcement that the electritication
of the line will be extended through
the Cascade mountains, thus bringing
the electrified part of the road in
touch with the Pacific coast.
Milwaukee Leads the Way.
Probably nothing proves more con-
vincingly the success of electritication
in the case of the Chicago, Milwaukee
& st. Paul railway than the ease with
which heavily laden freight trains are
handled on the steep mountain grades.
Every "a hours of these trains con-
sisting of something like 60 cars each,
are moved each way across the noun
tains, and so well do the big electric
locomotives do their work that there
is an average saving of four hours for
each train on each 100 miles of the
run. This can be understood when ii |
is realized that the electric tractors
draw their trains up the steep noun
tain slopes at speed of Is miles an
hour, and even better, where former !
ly 3 or steam locomotives painted and |
wracked themselves in violent eff |
fort to attain half that speed with |
much smaller trains.
All this is amazing when 1t Is res /
called that only little more than 80 |
years ago George Stephenson's first |
steam locomotive made its maiden |
trip on rail line between Stockton
and Darlington, England. The train
was composed of "a vehicles, repre-
senting gross load of about 30 tons, |
and the rate of travel ranged between I
and 10 miles an hour. A warning
signalman rode ahead on horseback.
Last year new type of locomotive
made its maiden trip on the Rocky
Mountain division of the Chicago, I