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THE COURIER
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The Courier
Published Every Saturday
Eatarad In the PoatofHoa at Lincoln m second
cUm matter.
OFFICE POO-BIO P STREET
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SUBSCRIPTION HATES:
Par anaum, In adTnaa, ILOO
SlnglaCopy, 06
for this type of engine until he is told
that it has a pull of from 16 to 30 tons,
as against 919 pounds! A locomotive
built not Ion? ago for the Santa Fe road
weighed 133K tons. Trevethlck's engine,
built Just a centruy ago, weighed five!
Stephenson's "Rocket" (1829) was several
hundred pounds lighter. Even between
1850 and 1860 the average weight of a
passenger locomotive was twenty tons
and of a freight engine thirty.
One of the first advances In American
locomotive construction was to mount
the front end of the boiler by a stout
pivot upon a small independent truck or
bogle. Previously the forward wheels
were secured to the whole frame. That
plan made the machine exceedingly
rigid and awkward on sharp curves,
where derailment often resulted. An
other improvement was the "link mo
tion" for reversing, for which the credit
has been claimed both for an American,
James, and Stephenson. A more even
distribution of weight on the wheels was
secured by another Tankee notion,
"equalizing levers."
At the close of the fiscal year 1901
there were in operation in the United
States 195.887 miles of track, or within
about 25,000 miles of the total for North
America. If these roads could be stretch
ed out Into one continuous line, they
would be long enough to encircle the
globe at the equator about eight times,
or to reach nearly nine-tenths of the dis
tance from the earth to the moon.
In Its "Transportation" edition. "The
Scientific American" makes some strlk
lng comparisons to Indicate the bulk of
material used in the construction of
these roads. It takes the Great Pyra
mid of Egypt as the starting point in its
calculation. That mighty structure Is
756 feet square at its base, and rises 481
feet, and contains about 91,500,000 cubic
feet. If a shell of the same shape and
dimensions were manufactured It could
be let down over the capltol at Wash
ington without touching, and the apex of
the pyramid would be two hundred feet
or more above the dome of the building.
If the steel rails used in laying the
track of these American roads were
melted up into a single lump of a shape
that would admit of measurement it
would be found to contain 15 per cent
more material than the Great Pyramid.
Another comparison can be made with
the Washington Monument, which rises
550 feet above its base. This same mass
of steel would equal it In height If cast in
a rectangular block 436 feet square at
the bottom. Some of these rails weigh
from 80 to 100 pounds to the yard, but
most of the track west of the Mississippi
is considerably lighter. Probably 25,000,
000 tons would not be a wild estimate of
the total weight.
One can't mould wood like steel, and
even if one could It would doubtless be
Impossible to cast in one chunk the tim
ber now employed for railroad ties. One
can compute volumes, though, and it is
estimated that all the wooden, ties in
service to-day occupy a space equal to
twenty-four great pyramids. A similar
calculation for rock and gravel ballast
on these American roads gives a bulk
135 times as great as the above mention
ed standard of comparison. Following
the ratio of length to height which Is
found In the pyramid of Cheops, the heap
of ballast would measure 3,900 feet on
each side at the base, and rise to a
height of 2,500 feet, or about half a mile!
When It comes to rolling stock, equally
Impressive results are reached. The
39,729 locomotives In service are equiva
lent to three great pyramids, 35,811 pas
senger cars to three and a half pyra
mids, and 1,409,472 freight cars to forty
two pyramids.
Over a million employes are required
to operate and keep in running order
the railways of the United States. Nearly
half of them (459,704) are trackmen and
laborers. These figures Include switch
men, flagmen and watchmen as well as
section bosses and track repairers. Then
there are 204,194 machinists and shop
workmen, 127,141 station agents and sta
tion men, 116,585 conductors and brake
men, 92,458 engineers and firemen, 39,701
clerks, 26,606 telegraph operators and 4,
780 general officers.
Just now the United States does not
enjoy the superiority which she once had
in shipping. Her clippers were at- one
time the speediest sailing vessels in the
world. To Germany belongs the honor
of having built the fastest steamships In
the merchant marine today. England
has made the best record for speed In
naval vessels, and an American private
yacht, the Arrow, owned by Charles R.
Flint, has made the best time achieved
by a craft of any description in the
world that is prop'elled by steam. The
two fastest Atlantic liners, the Deutsch
land and Kronprlnz Wllhelm, have de
veloped an average speed of about 23
knots for a whole voyage. The Kaiser
Wllhelm IL of the North German Lloyd
line, now undergoing the finishing touch
es in her equipment and decoration, Is
expected to beat this speed by half a
knot. Two Cunarders, whose construc
tion has been planned in a general way,
although their designs are not yet on pa
per, are to make 25 knots. The bulkiest
ship afloat Is the Cedrlc, of the White
Star line, which displaces 37,870 tons, is
seven hundred feet long and 75 feet wide.
This country can boast, however, of run
ning nearly a score of lines of American
built steamers to foreign ports, in ad-
EDISON GRAPPLES PERPLEXING PROBLEM
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Having given to the world his latest invention, which is in the form of
a storage battery, Thomas A. Edison, America's famous inventor, Is now try
ing to solve the problem of how to derive power direct from coal. If the
great inventor is able to achieve success in this line hfs discovery will un
doubtedly be one of the greatest triumphs of modern science.
V.
dltlon to several others engaged in the
coasting trade. The best time made by
any of the vessels In this service Is 21
knots, achieved by the St Paul and St.
Louis In their best days. These steam
ships run from New York to Southamp
ton. On the Pacific ocean the Korea has
for several months been winning honor
for her builders by a speed of 19 knots.
She will soon be joined by the Siberia, a
sister ship In size, power and equipment.
Two recent additions to the Red Star
line, the Kroonland and Finland, are a
trifle longer than the Korea, but are
good for only about seventeen knots.
A couple of the most notable American
steamships are now approaching comple
tion at New London, Conn. They are
Intended for the Pacific service, and will
establish connection between J. J. Hill's
railway system and Asiatic ports. These
closely approach the Cedrlc In size, be
ing 630 feet long and 73 feet wide. If
loaded so as to draw 33 feet of water,
their displacement will be 33,000 tons, but
at 36 feet they will displace 37,000 tons.
Naggsby It's funny how women will
change their minds. When I first met
the girl who eventually became Mrs. N.,
she declared she wouldn't marry the best
nan In the world. Within a year she
married me.
Waggsby But what makes you think
she changed her mind? Baltimore
American.
TO RIDE A MILE IN FORTY SECONDS.
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Henri Fournler, France's famous chaffeur, is in this country attending the great automobile show at New York.
He is arranging several big auto races, among them one with W. K. Vanderbllt, Jr. He will also represent his country
in the great international auto race. Fournler announces his determination to make a dash of a mile In forty seconds.
He feels confident that he can perform this feat. He expects to fly over a long course at the rate of one hundred and
six miles an hour.
B " jBakes short roads.
AXLE
JL ' JbW light loads.
ftHEASE
ilU.
C I Wbod for everything
that runs on wheels.
Said Everywhere.
"UmMm by STAHD ARD OXU CO. 1
HAPNESSo
HORSE COLLARS
ASKYDUD DEALERTOSHOWTHfM
BtFOREL. YOU BUY.
MNurACTURED BY
NARPHAM BR0S.C0.
Lincoln, Neb.
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