The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1924-06-03

lively minor questions OF procedure.
The big FISH in the railroad aqua
rum have always insisted that there
vas no power to prevent them from
eating mp the railroad minnows. This
theory has always been set forth when
there has been any talk about the ron
solidation OF American railroads. Why
should we split-up our competitors"
the big railroads have protested Of
course the railroads have Always Oh
jeoted to every phase OF Federal re-
gulations, but in the end they have
been obliged to bend their necks to
he yoke. and they have been good
sports enough to say, in each instance,
that the fit was good
The Supreme Court decision and
the acts OF the Interstate Commerce
Commission are merely new chapters
in the big story that has been chang
ing the entire process OF railroad man
agement. and the ~ral;ions between the
public and the carriers. The trans
formation has been so gradual tia,
n has hardly realized without be-
coming retrospective. that the system
Of public relations has undergone al
most 4 complete revolution dur;1g .he
hfieen or twenty years.
Steel Under Stress
Noviccs, like newspaper men. have
never ceased to wonder how archi-
tects and builders have known just
how much weight could be piled on,
or hung to, steel girders and trusses.
The congressional library in Washing
ton is m OF the heaviest buildings for
its size in the world; and yet il is
built in a location where there was
Quicksand and other deficiencies OF
nature migrating against a safe and
sane foundation. But that insecurity
was overcome by deep excavations
to ~hardpan. The structure sits =.
perfect poise and security at its
vantage point in the National Capital.
When Bessemer steel was first
marketed in about 1885, it was c%alcu-
that the unit stress OF 10000
to the square inch was about
and cities everywhere through
the country adopted this in their
building codes. But these codes"
took into o the fact that
processes Of producing Bessemer
steel have improved in the past fortyP ;.
The American Institute of
Construction. made up Of men
who make steel and supply skeletons
o modern buildings. knew that the I
.SSo standard was obsolete. They ;
claim that structural steel has a
'asic unit stress Of $4,000 pounds per =.
quare inch. Thus. the steel men lop
NJ of their own sales a tremendous u
OF weight. The entire cost
# a modern steel building includes
rom IS to 2 per cent of the steel /,
u
This is an age OF Standardization"
he government is enthusiastic about
E VIZ even have a great institution =
/ Washington known as the Bureau :
I Standards. 1t represents a part 81
/ the vast network OF endcavor in
ar civilization looking for standards =.
standards that run all the way from u
hort hair for both sexes to-well, to III
5000 pounds per square inch for steel al
the new standard specifications for
ructural steel.
When we get further particulars 10
the cement men. the stone quar- "a
es. and the lumber mills, ever row. o.
es who write newspaper copy may
ldersiand these forward strides in
c industries. IN
Russian Manoeuvcrs
has had some luck in its hee- -,
attempts to secure loans and -.
reign trade. Modern Russia at its b,
'rSt will no doubt compare with the a.
issia that was ruled according to the
81 methods known to the Cars.
spite the shif,y policy OF the United
ties in fulfilling its international so'
igaiions. as evidenced by the delay Ak
h references to such measures as
World Court. our own nation
es plenty Of examples tina; it retains is
ideals, and its grudges. too. For chi
lie we need foreign commerce, u be.