Iron County record. [volume] (Cedar City, Utah) 1893-1982, 1921-11-11

shows how great Is the In
terest OF the American people In their
railroads.
When the farmers boy hears the
whistle Of the local freight what does
1t do to him7 Why, the chances are
that It sets him dreaming Of the day
when he'll be grown up enough to be
a brakeman--or even conductor or
an engineer.
What do the people OF the country
town do at train time? Why, they go
down to the station to see the train ar
rive and depart, of course.
Why does Chicago boast of being
the railroad center OF the United
Statesf Because no city can make a
prouder boast. +,
What occupies the attention of con-
gress quite as much as peace treaties,
disarmament and taxes2 Why, the
railroad problem.
In short, the railroads are Just as
much a part of the national life as
baseball, the corn crop and the Fourth
of July.
And no wonderl One hundred years
ngo the United States did not have q
mile Of steam railroad (neither did any
pther country, for that matter). Now
the United States has 266,3S1 miles.
while oil the rest Of the world has only
782,SOO miles. Canada has 9S,G04 miles:
France, 31,05S; the British Isles o.;
roo.
In 1880 there were but % miles OF
RAILROAD In operation In the United
States. BY 1910 the mileage had In.
creased to 2,S1S and by 1850 to 9,O21
In the decade between 1850 and 1880
the mileage increased to 3O826. This
was time Of swift expansion and OF
grants Of land and money. In fact
pne Of the causes of the panic of 1851
was the overcapitallzation and over.
building of railroads. 1t was In 1857
that line was completed from the At,
lantic to the Mississippi, linking Balti
more and st. Louis.
Another period of great expansion
began in 1867. after the practical
standstill caused by the Civil war
This expansion period lasted till the
panic of 1873. The mileage increased
mt the rate of 4,400 miles year; ir
1870 no less than COTS miles of new
track were built. II was May 10, 1860
that the first line across the continent
was completed by the meeting of thu
Union Pacific and Central Pacific a
Salt Lake City and the driving of tn,
famous Golden Spike"
But the biggest expansion period O
oil was the decade beginning witt
1880, In which 10000 miles were built
In the years 1SS0-S2 no less than 29,00,
miles were built, principally In tn,
Central and Western states. This wa
time of railroad speculation rail
roads were frequently built in advanc,
OF the demand and even preceded tn,
settlers. Since 1884 railroad building
has been more conservative and mucl
OF the construction has gone into sec
ond and third tracks and improve
ments.
Thousands OF Americans, still hall
and hearty, have seen the oil lamp re
placed on the railroads by compressed
gas and by electric lights; the adven
Of the Pullman and the dining car tn,
growth of the mail and express serv
Ice; the building of palatial termlna
depots in cities like New York, Chica
go, washington and Kansas City. The
well remember the establishment o
the "fast trains"-whlch called fort
Vanderbilts famous. "The public b
d-dl" Many of them hope to see III
era of electrihcation, which is just be
ginning. well under way.
The truth is that the railroads bul
large on our national horizon. Their
are now about 70 big systems. Som