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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 18, 1906)
February 18, 1908. THE OMAHA ILLUSTRATED BEE. Machinery Supercedes Mules in Building of the Modern LOADisia Duaiy waoonb from aauBsn. V i A ' ... ' . . x ByT --ciV -v ---r yviiv, DRAOaiNQ AWAY I builders achievpd wonder In their I rl u v hut It an hqbIIv tiA. H i 1 1 i 1 1(1 If their most stupendous under taking approached In magnitude ume of the things that are nowadays deemed trivial by the men who change the face of nature in order that the Iron Horsa may have a smooth road over which to sncrt. A slight difference In mechanical development had a great deal to do .with a divergence In railways between America and Europe that has not yet been entirely overcome. In England, when the earlier experiments with locomotives were going on, the builders were unable to make them climb a grade of any considerable acclivity, fend It was consequently determined ' to build roads as nearly level as possible. A similar Idea in connection with the con struction of the engine resulted In the building of the tracks as nearly as possi ble In a straight line. English experience wa largely adopted on the continent; it I even related that a Dutch engineer heaped huge mounds of earth over frame work in order that he might have the tunnels he found on the English line he was sent to copy. In America quite a different practice resulted from a difference In the construction of the locomotive, America Type Wine Easily. First of all, the four-wheel coupled en gine was able to climb grades the English type could not possibly surmount. This was most conclusively proven after the American type had been so successful as to challenge British attention. An Ameri can locomotive was taken to Liverpool and Ipet up on a track there. At almost the very outset of. the run was a hill over which no British locomotive had ever hauled a train. It was the sticker of the line, and required such attention as the Union Pacific used to bestow on Sherman hill In Wyoming, or the Santa Fe in cross ing the Raton range between Colorado and New Mexico. When the day for the teat came the American engineer asked to have a normal load coupled In behind his ma chine. It was such a load as two of the 'British make had a hard time In dragging over the hill. - The Englishmen stood by ready to exult at the prophesied failure, but to their astonishment the Yankee built four-wheeler whisked the train uo the hill at a good rate of speed. It was Pioneer Nebraska Minister IEV. HARRISON FRESSON. prob ably the first Methodist preacher to deliver a sermon In Nebraska, la still living at Auburn, having passed his 90th milestone on Feb ruary 16. The sermon was delivered on what la now the site of the Douglos.house In Omaha and was listened to y a crowd of about 800 emigrants, who were on their way to the Pacific coast in prairie schooners, and a handful of Indians. This was In 1800 and he, too, was on his way to the coast with a large colony of eastern people. The emigrants stopped over Sunday on the present site of Omaha, and as he was a duly ordained minister a pulpit was made from a cast-off government wagon box and regular church services held. The Indians who listened to the sermon were greatly perplexed at the actions of the white men and the chief and the interpre ter held a council with those who heard the ermon and returned with protestations of friendship. "Indiana no hurt white man who preach Great 8pirlt," they said, shak ing hands with the white men. After this incident Rev. Mr. Presson went to Minnesota to live and took up a claim In the wilds of that state. While there he be came friendly with the great Indian chief, Otherday. At the time of an Indian upris ing he recalls that It was this chief who eaved, the live of a large number of whit v RET. AND MRS. HAJRIUSON CHUNK OF DYNAMITED DIRT. simply the increased tractive force, due to the better distribution of the weight on the drivers and the consequent adhesion to the rail. This was the first of Ameri can triumphs In the engine building line. Cnrves-aa F.aey n Hill. Another signal advantage of the American type of locomotive was Its flexibility. Not that a locomotive is built limber as a piece of whalebone, but It is so constructed as to be able to compensate In balance for ordinary Inequalities In the surface of the rails, and to turn curves of a degree so small that at. that time they were thought Impossible. This permitted a variance' In. the construction of the roadbed. Whereas, the early English roads were laid out as closely as could be to the crow's flight, the American roads followed the line of the least resistance, and wandered around the country in a vagarious sort of way. Bad hills were dodged where it wu pos sible; easy grades and good river cross ings were searched for and adapted when they could be, and other stunts were done that violated In every way the European canon. This was particularly true In the west, where a tremendous activity In rail road building came with the development of the country In the late "'60s and '80s. -Here no more grading than was absolutely required was done, and many a mile of track was laid on a bed but little raised from the surface of the surrounding coun try. This sort of road building served Its purpose well, and furnished railroads that did a work that cannot be estimated in the growth of the central western empire. Raw Condition Bring; Change, Growth brought new conditions, and these could be met by the railroads only with new construction and new equipment. New lines could not achieve the relief needed; old .lines had t be reconstructed and brought up to modern standards. This worked a revolution in the methods of constructors, for the demands made on them excelled anything ever achieved by the early builders, and not only did they have to do more work, but it had to be done In a shorter time. Within the last tea years every one of the fifteen lines running out of Omaha has been practically recon structed throughout Its entire length, and some feats have boen accomplished that are still being debated In the technical Honored by Neighbors people by warning them or a massacre the savages had planned for that night. The In habitants of the town of Henderson were the Intended victims, but owing to the warning the people were able to flee, though the town was burned. During his entire residence In the state he was never mo lested. His long and eventful life began In the stato of Maine February 13, ia. It I re lated that he was converted to Methodism at the early age of or 7 years, and he has been connected with that church since. He was married at the age of 20 to Mary Eliza beth Russell, at that time la years old. He then emigrated to Illinois, where he was first licensed to preach by Rev. Peter Cart wright, presiding elder of the central con ference of that state. ' It was after he had spent several-years In Minnesota that he came to Nebraska per manently to preach. This was forty years ago, and he has been a resident of the state ever since. Weighed down by his long years of service he asked eight years ago to be placed on the superannuated list and his wish was granted, though he occasionally fills the pulpit yet. Mr. and Mrs. Presson are still enjoying good health In spite of their advanced age. They were the parents of fourteen children, eight of whom, five daughters and three sons, are still living. PRESSON OF AUBURN. Neb. ... . . - tr TRACK LAYING AT W1NSLOW, NEB., ON GREAT NORTHERN. magarmes. In a very large measure the original English Idea Is being adopted in the west, and the road of easy gradients and long tangents la the type aimed at. A commercial reason exists for this, it being an established factor that the maxi mum load to be pulled by an engine Is de termined by the heaviest grade, and the wear and tear of the rolling stock is de- pendent in a large degree on the curves to be rounded during the Journey from point to point on the line. So on a road as' nearly level as can be laid, and as nearly straight as can be built, more cars can be hauled by a single engine and at less expense of deteriorating weur. Hills that used to rise in majesty, notch ing the horizon with great gaps, have been reduced to the conditions of mere hum mocks; gorges between these hills have been filled with earth, and some wide val leys have been spanned with immense em bankments. Lines that used to twist in and out like the trail left by the poet's serpent have been straightened until now they are almost devoid of Hogart's line of beauty. The shortest distance between two points Is the idea. To achieve this 1b merely a bit of calculation by the engineer in charge. The route is determined, and then Entertaining Little Stories for Master Wag. HERE was not another dog In the village so smart as Dr. John's "Wag" "Master Wag." people called him. He was as homely an an English bulldog as you would cart to see, but he took part In everything that was going on in such un intelligent way, and was so polite and well bred, and knew so many Interesting tricks to enter tain you with, that you never stopped to think of his personal appearance. Besides standing on his hind legs and catching a ball In his forepaws, giving a Jump or moving from side to side to not miss it, and rapping at the door so that even Dr. John would think It was a person that wanted to come in. Master Wag mltded the doctor's horse as well as a'boy could have done it. When Dr. John drove round to see his patltnts. Master Wag always sat upon the seat beside him, looking very intelligent and dignified, bowing whenever Dr. John bowed to a person and listening with a great air of taking part in the conversa tion whenever the doctor spoke. When thev came to a house where he had to make a call Dr. John would get out. throw ing the lines to Master Wag, and the horse always seemed to understand perfectly that he was in Master Wag's charge. But one morning when the horse was brought out of the stable and was left to wait before the office door for the doctor and Master Wag to come out. he became frightened at a string of exploding fire crackers In the hands of some little boys and started on a run down the street. Dr. John rushed out bareheaded, but too late to stop the horxe. Master Wag, how ever, was quicker, and had hopped Into the buggy and out on the shafts, and there everybody saw him standing with his fore paws on the back of the horsa as he tore along grasping one line in his mouth and narking sharply as if calling "Whoa! Whoa!"- But Master Wag couldn't stop him the horse was too frightened and they all tore headlong down the street, horse, dog and carriage. Dr. John, bareheaded, running and panting behind, women and children screaming as they sought to get oiit of the way, men staring as If they had lost their senses, until a man with more presence of mind than the others sprang cut Into the middle of the street farther along and grabbed the bridle, giving the horse's Heed such a Arm shaking that he was brought to a standstill. And then Maater Wag Jumped down and ran back to meet the doctor, barking and whining and even growling. In the most arnest way, as If assuring his master hat he had done his very best. "And you ouU see for yourself," ha said, "that I itACHTJTB THJL7 HAS RBTOXiDTIONTZED RAILROAD the general level of the road Is fixed, with its maximum of grade and its minimum of curve, and the rest is computation. Bo much earth must be removed here and so much must be filled In there. A contractor undertakes to remove ttils earth at so much per cubic yard and to have the under taking completed within a stipulated time. In this the process doesn't vary from the old-time way of doing things. But right here the resemblance ends. Old and New Ways of Digging;. In the good old days the dirt was ploughed up and dragged away by a primi tive form of scraperv if the haul was short, or shoveled into wagons if the haul was long. The first improvement on this method came a little longer than twenty-five years ago, when an Iowa genius .invented a scraper that could be suspended between two wheels, and this simplified matters wonderfully. The wheel scraper was a dis tinct boon to the grading contractor In its time, and is still of much service, but it couldn't do the work fast enough. Within the last few years It has been forced Into second placo in the calculations of the con tractor, and steam has been called upon to take the place of horses and mules, and didn't leave him until he was caught!" Dr. John understood. He stooped and patted the dog's head before he went over to the carriage. "Yes, Wag," he said, "you did your whole duty. You always do." Mary Dameron In Little Folks. Dorothy and Dean. Aunt Mollle was very ill and the twins had been cautioned to keep as still as little mice for fear of making her worse. They sat forlorn and sad In the big sit ting room with some picture books, but It is very hard to whisper all the time If you are only 6 years old, even If you do love your auntie and want her to get well. The big tears were Just stealing down Dorothy's cheeks when mum ma came in and said: "Hurry to the kitchen, dears." Out in the kitchen sat an old woman with a kind smile, and she took Dorothy and Dean by the hands as she whispered: "I've como to borrow the twins for the day. They can make as much noise as they please and It, won't hurt anybody." "Have you got some little boys and girlB?" asked Dean. "No. But I wish I had I have a nice big dog and a gray cat and parrot, so If you will come, you can play with them, though Polly bites once In a while." "I know it will be dreadful lonesome," whispered Dorothy in mamma's ear. "If I hang my handkerchief on a stick by the gate, will you come after us?" Mamma promised, records a writer In the Central Presbyterian, and presently the twins were trudging away through the snow to the big bouse a few rods away, where Mrs. Wright lived. Two very sober little children took oft their wraps in the warm kitchen, but in a few minutes they were as happy as could be with the cat and old Rover. "Who wants to bake a little pie?" said said Mrs. Wright, and both children were soon supplied with patty and dough to make apple pies for dinner. After dinner they plnyed games and looked, at ricturrs and a had a little rartv on a table that had belonged to Mr. Wright when she was a little girl. Dorothy forgot all about her signal on the gatepost, and was very much surprised when mamma cam after them. "We have only been here a little while, mamma." said Dean. "Mrs. Wright said we might gather the eggs and do ever so many things If you didn't come after us." "A little while? You came over at o'clock this morning and now It la 1 I am afraid Mr. Wright la tired of your noise," aid mamma. . "Indeed I'm not," sak the kind old lady. "I want to borrow them- every day till your later get welt Please let thea stay (or BUIUJINCk IHOto by C. V. SAUER& cars run Instead of dump wagons. Cuts are mado and fills built up in weeks nowadays that used to require years. Great embank ments grow almost overnight under the new regime. When the contractor undertakes a really heavy piece of work nowadays he equips his outfit with one, two or three or even ' more steam shovels, dump cars of a num ber that at one time would have been a respectable equipment for a railroad Itself; some locomotives, a force of men, anC goes to work. A temporary track la laid and the steam shovel is set upon It. Another track within reach of its giant arm Is laid down, terminating somewhere out on tho grade. Sidings and passing tracks are put down and a practical railway system Is es tablished. Dump cars are pushed up to the steam shovel and loaded at a rate that almost passes belief. When one string is loaded a locomotive whisks it away and another lot -of cars Is pushed in for the next load. Out at the end of the track tho cars are dumped automatically, and this process Is kent ur without cessation till the work is finished. As often as need be the track In the cut Is lowered and that on the All is raised, and finally they come level. It is simplicity itBelf. The only Little People supper, for I have made animal cookies on purpose for my little guests." And If you'll believe me, Dorothy's hand kerchief never waved on the stick at all. Mrs. Wright cried and the twins cried when Aunt Mollle got well and the children could go home with their mamma. "I would like to borrow them and never bring them back," said Mrs. Wright, but mamma could not spare them. "We'll come next summer and let you borrow us again," cried the twins, waving their hands good-bye. "We like to be bor rowed." , When Not to Cry. There are millions of little boys and girls in the world who want to do Just the rieht thing and the very best thing. But they do not always know what Just the right thing is, and sometimes they cannot tell the very best thing from the very worst thing. Now, I have often thought there are little boys and girls who cry, now and then, at ti e wrong time; and I have auked many of the older people, but none of them could tell nu the best time to cry. Hut the other day I met a man older arid wiser than any of the rest. He was very old and very wise and he told me. "It Is bad luck to cry on Monday. "To cry on Tuesday makes red eyes. "Crying on Wednesday Is bad for chil dren's heads and for the heads of older people. "It Is said that if a child begins to cry on Thursday he will And It hard to stop. "It. is not bent for children to cry on Friday. It makes them unhappy. "Never cry on Saturday. It Is too busy a day. "Tear shed on Sunday are salt and bitter. Children should on no account cry at night. The nights are for sleep. They may cry whenever else they please, but not at any of these times, unless it Is for something serious." I wrote down the rules Just as the old man give them to me. Of course, they will be of no use to boys and girls who are est 8, for those children do not cry. The wise old mn meant them for the little ones the millions of little boys and girls who want to do the right thing and the very best thing. St. Nicholas. -4- Mr. Sockafeller read something about himself In the paper. Frowning deeply, he summoned hi valet. "I am In a rage," he said; "bring hither my oldest wig." ' The wig waa brought. Assuring himself that It really was old beyond use, Mr. Sockafeller proceeded to tear It "It's the conventional thing," he ex plained to the wondering; valet BREAKINO GROUND TO LOCATE) BEGINNING OF THE BIO change is that It accomplishes in a re markably short time work that could not have been done by the slow, old way of shovel and scraper, owing to its enormous cost. I'nlqne Achievement litt Wyoming. This method varies according as the con ditions of the Job vary. For example, one of the tremendous fills on the Union Pa cific's new line In Wyoming, the great Dale creek embankment that now takes the place of the Dale creek bridge, which was for years one of the famous spots on the Overland line, was constructed in a way that is unique. The fill is stupendous for its height, but is a rather short one. So steep was the side of the gorge at either end of the fill that it was out of the ques tion to lay tracks. The contractors simply strung a wire cable across the chasm, and by it established an aerial railway, along which hundreds of thousands of cublo yards of sand and gravel, broken stone and boulders were hauled and deposited where they rest today, a monument to the energy and Ingenuity of the contractor. This same contractor, in a desire to obtain material for his work faster than by ordinary means, pierced the side of the mountain known as Sherman hill, excavated a great cavity Inside It, and with a huge oharg of high explosives blew the whole top off the moun tain, sending It tumbling Into the gorge, and thereby accomplishing that which would have taken weary months of time, even when pursued by the modern way of doing things with a steam shovel and dump cars. . Modern Way ef Laying; Track. While advance has been made In the way of preparing the roadbed, the methods of putting down the ties and rails have also been Improved, until the famous mlle-a-day feat of the Union Pacific builders Is conHldered a very commonplace per formance. A tracklaylng machine Is now used, Just as a grading machine 1 used. The advantage a tracklaylng machine has over a grader Is that It lays Its own rails and runs over them. Back of the machine Is a long string of cars, laden with ties and rails. An endless stream of this material la sent along a runway built to carry the tuff, and at the forward car, where the real machine is, the heavy rails and ties are easily swung Into position. The rails are spiked to the ties, and the machine Mrs. Nicholas Longworth's Iowa Cousin ilSS ALICE ROOSEVELT, who M Uvea at Iowa Falls, la., is a cousin of the young lady of the White House, who ha become Mrs. Longworth. This little Iowa miss Is an accomplished musician and a bright young woman of 10 years. She is possessed of a sweet voice that la being cul tivated by the best of Instructors. During a recent home entertainment Miss Roose velt sang "Yankee Doodle Boy," which was reproduced on a phonographic record and forwarded to the young lady's namesake In the White House. The record wa ac- knowledged in a nice letter from Mr. Roosevelt. The Iowa branch of the Roosevelt family came from New Jersey In an early day. The grandfathers of the president and Van and Theodore Roosevelt of this oounty were brothers, and a corresoondence Is kept, up between the Iowa families and the one In Washington. The heads of the Rooeevelt family separated In an early day, one branch locating on the Hudson and the other across the river In New Jersey. The Iowa family belongs to the New Jersey branch, and the founder of the western branch, William Roosevelt, came to Iowa In 1870 and located In this county. The family w-aa and 1 possessed of considerable money. The senior Roosevelt died In 1893 and was survived by two sons, Theodore and Van Vorst. The latter was born In 1S47 and the former In 1856. Van Is married Pointed Paragraphs It's not good for lovers to be too good to be true. Many a man who knows his place has his eye on a better one. Strange to say, the speaking likeness of a woman goes without saying. Be sura you are right Out don't be too sure that everybody else Is wrong. Our idea of a fool man is one who waits for the bartender to tell him when he's had enough. Many a man looks upon a marriage li cense as a blotter with which he expect to blot out the past. , It frequently happens that a woman who was proud of a man as a beau Is ashamed of him as her husband. Some states have a law requiring women to remove their hats in a theaterand there sbould.be one to prevent men from stumbling over a row of women between Uie aol. Chicago News. Railroad 8TB AM BHOVEU ?f i . - ,.:r FILL, moves forward. In fact, it rarely stops, once Its day's Journey is commenced. A locomotive steadily pushes the arrange ment forward, and track la laid at a rata that astonishes everybody except the chief engineer and the principal contractor, who are always in a hurry. A'ter the rails are down and the machine has been pushed past, a gang of surfacers comes along and fixes up the track, so that within a few moments after the raila are first placed In position the road Is ready for freight and passenger traffic. West Fnll of These Monuments. Everywhere In the west today the result of this new way -of building railroads can be seen. Deep cuts and high embankments are numerous, and over the new lines glide trains that never could have been hauled on the old. The work la only well under way, for not all the roads have been built or rebuilt, and the heavy grading outfit are likely to be kept busy for some year to come. The pictures published with this article were taken at a point near Omaha where the contractors are Just getting ready to build the new line for the Union Paclflo road that I to do away with tho famous Ox Bow curve and shorten the road some ten miles In the stretch between Omaha and Fremont Work Is hardly un der way yet, although the contractor have three steam shovels and two locomotives on the' site of their operations. The pre liminaries have Introduced the element of high explosives, though, for dynamite has -been used In breaking up the frozen dirt, and many huge chunks have been hauled away without any proceeding save attach Ing a big chain, much a is done In han dling saw logs. At present the steam shovels are loading dump wagons, which are spilling the dirt not far away. Just as soon a the weather will permit the con tractor expect to put a large force of men at work and during the early spring months dirt will fly at a rate that will make it worth while to visit the scene, lying before the summer I well advanced the new line will be finished and modern method will have overcome an obstacle that waa considered Insurmountable when the Union Pacific road was originally laid out. The flight of the fast mall on a strslsrht line and an even grade from Omaha to Fremont will be another tri umph for the Bfeam shovel. to a daughter of Hon. S. Bloch, who was one of the Iowa commissioner to the Pari exposition and later made a member of the Legion of Honor by the French govern ment. MISS ALICE ROOSEVELT OF IOWA FALLS. IA. Poor Richard, Jr., Philosophy A straight life 1 the shortest distance be tween honesty and honor. Of the five lenses, common-sense and aerae of humor are the rarest Those who get into society can't rub be price-mark off the admission ticket -. The marriage relation would take car of Itself if It were not for the married rela tions. ''. . A man who aettles Into misery and calls it philosophy is an optimist standing on his head. The letters marked "personal and confl dertlal" are the one the private secretary opens first. If George Washington were to come back and see congress be would lose no time de lUering another farewell address. When a man tries to drown troubles on hi way home, he always finds them sitting and grinning on his doorstep Uks drenched, oats. Saturday Evening Fust,
