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8 The Conservative.
A UAILKOAI ) EXHIBIT.
Within a quarter of a century the
question whether transportation was a
branch of production or not was fiercely
debated. Representatives of agricul
tural and manufacturing interests de
clared that the railroad was simply a
carrier , and that its labors could in no
sense bo deemed productive. In the
files of this journal may be found an
editorial showing that economists so
different as John Stuart Mill and
Henry 0. Carey agreed that transpor
tation was production. A great interest
which annually converts great masses
of ore into rails and wheels , which con
structs long trains of rolling stock ,
which consumes a largo share of the
world's coal output , which bridges
rivers and tunnels mountains , which
fences miles of track and erects struc
tures of various classes is a productive
interest , if there is such a thing as a
productive interest in existence.
Rightly viewed , a largo share of what
goes to make up production is transpor
tation. The household meal , to cite a
homely illustration , demands that spice
be brought from the closet , various sup
plies from the grocer , bread from the
oven , meat for the butcher and milk
from the farm. Many industrial plants
could not be operated without the car
riage of numerous materials over long
distances. What is essential to produc
tion is a part of production , and this
common sense view is receiving the di
rect endorsement or indirect sanction of
most thinking men. The crude theor
ists who once looked on railroads merely
as locusts , bent on consuming the fruits
of the earth , are learning to take
broader views. With its importance as
an employer and producer generally
recognized by economists , the railroad
interest ought to make a display that
will appeal to the student of industrial
processes.
The National Export Exposition , soon
to be held within this city , affords an
H excellent opportunity for showing the
progress of railroading. Some few
careful observers have followed railroad
development from the days of the "John
Bull" and the "Rocket" to the days
of the limited trains. Of necessity , how
ever , students wore , are and will be few.
The coming exposition will bo visited by
multitudes who have no leisure , the in
clination or the aptitude for detailed
study , and to such people the railroad
ought to present an exhibit that tells its
own story.
It would be possible to exhibit mod
els or cuts of railroading under many
different conditions. The old style
road , with wooden rails ; the cumbrous
iron rails of no very remote day ; the
single track , the double track , the four
track ; the yard crowded with tracks
the light lagging road of a North Care
Una swamp ; the heavy grade of a Wes
tern mountain road ; the great feats o :
bridging and tunneling , would be of in
torest to all , especially the quick-witted
schoolboys who are looking forward to
an engineering career. While , however -
over , the details of mechanical ingenu-
ty are worthy of close study , what
should , of all things , bo kept mostly
n view is the importance of teaching
that railroads may bo divided into three
great classes.
The governments of Continental Eur
ope , where militarism is in the ascen
dant , have built railroads chiefly as
servants of their armies. Points of com
mercial or industrial importance have
jeen neglected , because the authorities
were bent on connecting half a dozen
powerful garrisons. The value of the
roads , from a military standpoint , can
hardly bo overstated. In largo portions
of British India the only check on native
uprisings is the knowledge that troops
could at once be forwarded by rail to
; he scene of disorder. Soldiers who
took part in the war for the Union can
; ell the present generation how desper
ately contending forces struggled to
control railroads , or to destroy them , in
order to prevent their falling into the
hands of the enemy. One of the main
causes of the success of the Union
cause was that skilled mechanics were
numerous in the ranks of the govern
ment and few on the side of the insur
gents. "When a Northern road was
damaged twenty regiments detailed
their most skilled workmen and brought
order out of chaos. When a Southern
road was cut the injury was often per
manent.
England's railroads have been built
on the commercial basis. The first
great motive for railroad construction
was to give an outlet to the coal mines.
England's leading industries were on a
well-established footing long before
George Stephenson was born. The de
sign of her railroad builders was to help
bring larger cities into closer connection ,
to bind the seaport towns to inland
points , to join London with Edinburgh ,
to furnish the salt works and cotton
mills with carrying facilities. It was to
serve the plants already in being rather
than to start new enterprises. Fre
quently have speculative Englishmen
who wished to build new lines been re
strained on the ground that existing
rail facilities were adequate to the needs
of the locality. Residents of new sec
tions of our republic , where everyone is
restlessly seeking business and specula
tion , cannot enter into the British feel
ing on this point. Residents of older
sections , where millions of capital are
locked up in unnecessary and unprofit
able lines , will admit that something
can be said in favor of the English idea
of building railroads where they are
needed , and only where they are needed.
The military and commercial type of
railroad being illustrated , there remains
a third great typo the pioneer railroad
In a large part of this country the rail
road has been the advance guard of
civilization. Pushing forward , it
opened vast tracts of ground to settle
ment , and enabled Western farmers to
send their surplus grain to Eastern
loints. Many who have purchased the
securities of lines built ahead of the de
mand lost on their investment , but the
direct losers were often indirect gamers.
Civilization was hastened by several
decades , and the man who profited by
arge real estate transactions , by lumber
interests or by silver mines may have
gained enough to more than compen
sate him for loss on his bonds and
stock. Each of the three great types
may , under certain circumstances , bo a
necessity. Railway World.
ATAVISM AMONG ANIMALS.
Whence the Horse of Today Derives His
Swiftness and Strength.
Dr. Louis Robinson , an English zoologist
elegist , has just given to the world an
account of his investigations as to the
origin of the habits and mode of life of
certain animals , and the conclusion at
which he seems to arrive is that all
such phenomena may be explained on
the ground of atavism. Thus he claims
the horse of our day derives his swift
ness and power of endurance from the
fact that his ancestors in former days
werejobliged to flee from , and frequently
defend themselves against their ene
mies , the wolves. In like manner he
claims that the reason why the horse
shies is because his ancestors were
forced to be constantly on the alert
against hidden enemies , and that the
reason why he rears and plunges is be
cause only by pursuing such tactics
could his forefathers shake off wild ani
mals that had leaped upon their backs.
Sheep when frightened immediately
rush off to the highest point they can
reach. The reason , says Dr. Robinson ,
is because all sheep originally inhabited
mountainous districts. And this , ho
claims , is also the reason why they wear
a thick fleece of wool all the year
through , the summer temperature in
the mountains being almost as cold as
that of winter. Finally , wo are assured
that the reason sheep invariably follow
a leader is because their ancestors were
obliged to go in Indian file through the
narrow mountainous passes.
Pigs have also engaged Dr. Robin
son's attention. He was puzzled for a
good while as to the cause of their
grunting , but now he thinks he has dis
covered the real reason. The pigs of
today , he says , evidently grunt because
their ancestors made their homes in
thick woods , and only by making this
sound could they keep track of each
other and guard themselves against
going astray from the common herd.
Commenting on this latter explanation ,
a scientist suggests that Dr. Robinson
might now do well to spend some time
in trying to find out why the horse
neighs and the dog barks. Philadelphia
Times.
