( -
-t
. / .
Conservative.
Vice President
of
Georgia has brought to light some old
rales which governed the running of
trains on the Central forty years ago.
They sound strange today , even to those
who are unfamiliar with the standard
rules.
On the old Central the practice was to
run freight trains through the day only ,
and to stop them off at some station at
night. A freight train that would leave
a station after 6 o'clock would run to
some point that they could reach be
tween 6 and 7 o'clock , where they would
remain over night , starting out again
the next morning. The time card shows
that they occupied the greater part of
two days in running a freight train be
tween Savannah and Macon , a distance
of 191 miles. Following ore some of
rules for engine men , taken from the
time card of 1856 :
' 'The engine man will bo subject to
pay the faro of any person who may
ride upon his engine without proper
authority.
"All engines unprovided with lamps ,
and running at night out of time , must
keep their dampers open , so as to show
a light.
"As a general rule , when trains meet
between stations the train nearest the
turnout will run back. Any dispute as
to which train will retire is to be deter
mined at once by the conductors , with
out any interference on the part of the
engine man. This rule is required to
be varied in favor of the heaviest loaded
engine or worst grades , if they meet
near the center. In case of backing a
man must be placed on the lookout so
that any danger to the remotest part of
the train maybe seen and the engine man
at once receive notice the backing
must be done cautiously.
"The spark catcher or chimney of an
engine getting out of order so as to en
danger the safety of the train the con
ductor must put the train 011 the first
turnout and return his engine to Savan
nah for repairs a watchman must be
left with the train.
"The conductor must not intrust his
keys to any of the hands or suffer any
person not duly authorized to enter his
car , and he will in all cases be charged
with freight lost or damaged while
under his charge. On entering or leav
ing a turnout he will see that the
switches are replaced to the proper track ,
and he will always be certain that he
arrives at a station with the same num
ber of cars with which he left the last
station.
"All officers of this company will be
required to pay freight on merchandise
or produce transported over this road ,
except butter , eggs and fruit those
articles will bo allowed to go free so far
as they are required for the use of
their own families. Other articles for
the use of their families will be trans
ported at one-half less than the usual
rates. "
On the South Carolina railroad time
card No. 2 , June , 1855 , reads as follows :
"In coses of dense fogs the down trains
will run with their whistles blowing.
The up trains will shut steam off the
engine at every mile board and listen
for the whistle of down trains. " At
lanta Constitution.
NATIONAL CANALS AND DEEP
WATERWAYS.
To the editor of THE CONSERVATIVE :
Andrew Carnegie is something better
and stronger than a merely rich man.
In the current number of the North
American he writes with characteristic
clearness and force in opposition to the
tendencies of our people towards terri
torial expansion , and , among other
things , says :
"A tithe of the cost of maintaining our sway
over the Philippines would improve our inter
nal waterways : deepen our harbors ; construct
a waterway to the ocean from the Great Lakes ;
an inland canal along the Atlantic seaboard ; a
canal across Florida , saving 800 miles distance
between Now York and Now Orleans ; connect
Lake Michigan with the Mississippi , " etc. , etc.
This may remind the editor of THE
CONSERVATIVE of my efforts through
the late secretary of the Department of
Agriculture to persuade Grover Cleveland -
land to go to congress with a special
message recommending the creation of a
commission to examine and report upon
the feasibility and importance of con
structing a ship canal from broadwater
on the Hudson to Lake Champlain to
connect the entrance of Now York har
bor with the St. Lawrence and Lake
Michigan , and the Mississippi river ; and
this river with the Missouri and the
base of the Rocky Mountains by a deep
waterway. Perhaps you may recall the
plan outlined by me in a paper submit
ted to the late Charles A. Dana. In
stead of expending thousands of millions
in war and in a vain attempt to confer
-government upon races in the trop
ics who are unfit for it , the truly great
and beneficent way of peaceful and
prosperous development is to expend a
few hundred millions upon the construc
tion of these ship canals and deep water
ways. GEOIIGE L. MILLER.
N ° W
THE GOLD STAND-
Evening Post of
AKD FOR INDIA.Evening
Saturday , Aug
ust 27 , 1898 , contains interesting and
instructive matter relative to the gold
standard for India. Editorially The
Post comments on the proposed mone
tary system for that empire and ro-
marlcs :
"Despatches from London say that the
project for establishing the gold stan
dard in India is to bo carried into ef
fect , or at all events to be tried. The
British bimotollists have been proclaim
ing with great volubility , ever since
the project was first broached , that it
could not bo done. They did not restrict
themselves to the assertion that it would
be unwise to make the attempt , but they
affirmed that the thing was impossible.
The India office thinks differently.
Among the documents published on this
subject is a brochure of fifty-five pages
by Mr. H. D. MacLeod , the well-known
writer on banking , credit , and currency ,
whose powerful essay against bimetal
lism , two or three years ago , had a wide
circulation in this country , both in news
papers and in pamphlet form. Mr. Mac-
Loed contends that it is entirely feasible
ble- establish the gold standard in In-
diaY He shows that there is gold enough
in India now for the needs of the under-
talcing , and that steps should be taken
at once to utilize it. To this end he rec
ommends (1) ( ) that the gold sovereign bo
declared the unit of value throughout
British India ; (2) ( ) that the Indian mints
be authorized to coin sovereigns and
half-sovereigns of exactly the weight
and fineness of the British coins ; (8) ( )
that the Indian be
sovereigns legal-ten
der throughout the British empire , as
the English and the Australian sovereigns
eigns now are ; (4) ( ) that all persons
bringing gold to the mints be entitled to
have it coined for themselves at the ,
same rates as gold at the British mint in
London ; (5) ( ) that the government keep
the coinage of silver in its own hands
exclusively ; (6) ( ) that after a fixed date
silver shall be legal-tender for not more
than 5 or 10 in one payment. These
are tentative steps merely , but extreme
ly helpful in the way of promoting the
end in view. They are also absolutely
free from danger except perhaps the
last one , ( No. 6) ) , which can hardly bo
considered essential to success. Success
will bo achieved whenever the rupee
circulates uninterruptedly and contin
uously at par with gold at a ratio fixed
by law. Mr. MacLeod favors the ratio
of 16d. to the rupee , which is about the
present market ratio. "
It requires a good deal of boldness and
a great deal of caution to make a great
fortune , and when you have got it , it
requires ten time's as much wit to keep
it.
Religion is universal , theology is ex
clusive ; religion is humanitarian , theol
ogy is sectarian ; religion unites man
kind , theology divides it ; religion is
love broad and all-comprising as God's
love ; theology preaches love and prac
tises bigotry ; religion looks to the moral
worth of man , theology to his creed and
denomination.
There is a great deal that is now
under the sun , to a certain class of per
sons. Hero comes a newspaper called
The World , printed in a town named
Now York , somewhere in the East ,
which has heard of a startling novel
regulation known as a Curfew Law be
ing adopted in another settlement in
that vicinity. The World looks at this
innovation with suspicion , and thinks it
is getting pretty near "state socialism ; " -
--V IfJ
