The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1922-08-09
TOPEKA STATE JOURNAL
Information Bureau
FREDERIC ,. HAsKIN. Director.
Washington. d. Q.
KEEPING THE GOALS AT NEW
CASTLE.

i
/ for the conversion OF coal into electric
power at the mouths of coal mines
and transmitting the current to the
| industrial consuming centers has been
/ called to the attention OF the presi-
dent, Secretary of Commerce Hoover,
and other high officials of the govern
ment.
In proportion to it's value. both in
| money and in heating power. coal is
] Unfortunately bulky. More than one
third of the total railroad freight of
the United States is coal On some
roads in coal production sections. coal
amounts to so per cent OF all the
freight hauled. A very large portion
OF this coal is railway ruei-that IS
coal to fire the engines which haul
! the trains.
Louis Brandeis. now an associate
| justice of the supreme court of the
! United States, in his BRIEF IN the five
per cent case before the interstate
commerce commission. estimated that
when all items of cost to the railroads
of buying and hauling their own coal
were added. the total would be $780,
! 100000. Since that estimate was
made prices and costs have increased
ard the railroad coal bill has amount
ed to 100000. 900. To transport coal
to meet the American demand, 49,
100000 cars are employed annually
ployed in hauling coal for the rail-
roads own use-coal to be consumed
in the locomotives that haul the coal
and other traffic. These figures have
been filed with the interstate COM
merce commission.
The commission has found. in one
of its Investigations into the coal
traffic, that approximately 81 per
cent of all the coal cars return to the
mines empty.
These figures give an impression of
the extent to which the transDorta-
ton system is burdened with the
movement of this bulky material and
show how much more railroad equip
ment would be available for general
freight If the power which springs
from coal could be handled in another
manner.
The General Plan.
In general outline, the new plan
would provide for the erection at the
coal mines of gigantic power plants
The coal could be brought up just fast
enough to be put into the furnaces
and maintain steady head of steam
to keep the dynamos turning.
One of the underlying reasons for
discomfort among coal miners, and
therefore one of the main causes of
the industry. The big demand for
coal comes in the winter time; in the
summer months it tails off. Coal is
mined as the market calls for it.
therefore. Wnen the demand Is llgnI,
there is little mining to be done The
men are thrown out of employment.
The result is that coal miners work
but from 165 to 30 days year.
While their wages are regarded as
good, their work is not steady and
therefore their earnings for the year
are not large.
1t is the opinion of experts that the
coal industry is overmanned. There
are some 100000 men engaged in 1t.
M 10 ha nj hn nj r
tency in the work of coal miners
would be eliminated. The coal would
be feeding machines running steadily
and not an everchanging market de-
mand. The requirements of the power
generators could be reckoned in ad-
vance with a. fair amount of accuracy
and the coal would be kept coming
above ground regularly all the year
round. Fewer men would be required
to take care of this production, and
while the change would throw many
thousands out of work, it would be
gradual and ultimately would result
Fewer men would be doing one
branch of the worlds work. The re-
mainder would become engaged in
other productive labor.
The first step in the plan for the
identification of the nation is the
changing over of railroads from steam
to electric power. The railroads cross
the country in every direction and the
cities and industries which consume
power are built up along their tracks.
Power cables would parallel the
tracks but would carry so much more
power than would be required for the
railways that the surplus would be
ample for diversion of the cities en-
route. This would run the mills and
factories, light the cities and furnish
power for municipal traction lines.
When William C. McAdoo was d.
rector general of railroads during fed
eral control in the war time. he said
that II government control were to be
permanent. or even long extended. his
first step would be the identification
of the railroads. Some of the roads
have taken the step already. Miles
of the Baltimore & Ohio, the Boston
& Maine. the Chicago, Milwaukee &
st. Paul, the Erie, the Great Northern,
the Michigan Central. the New York
Central, the New York, New Haven &
Hartford the Norfolk & Western, the
Pennsylvania and the Southern Pacific
systems already operate by electricity
and the benefits found are reduction
in fuel cost. in maintenance cost,
elimination of coaling engines; in
speed on grades. increased reliability:
reduced train crews. increased safety,
reduced damage and wear on equip
ment. reduced depreciation on tracks
and improved atmospheric conditions
Noise also is eliminated. The child
of the future may not identify a rail-
road train as a "choo-choo.''
Electric Operation Cheaper.
All operating costs considered, the
experts figure that there is a net saw
of 5 per cent in electric operation OF
railroad trains as compared with
steam. An analysis made by the Nor
folk & Western railroad revealed that
the fuel cost of running an electric
locomotive 100 miles was S4494 COM
pared with a cost of $72.42 for a
steam locomotive.
1t is estimated that power can can
be transmitted by cable for a distance
of 200 miles before the leakage makes
the transmission wasteful- In many
sections of the country, no railroad is
more than 2h0 miles distant from a