Michael Sol Collection

December 1. 1905. THE RAILWAY AGE 619

PUBLICATION OFFICES: MONAD~OCK BLOCK. CHICAGO •

.s 110 NAlMU InlET, NEW YORK.aRANCH O,PlCU 1.10 ,1ItCK IUILOtN", ,,",au••

Pabl..hecl every Friday by the Railway Ace Compaay

aJITDm) AT P98TO:rncB, CHICAGO, ILLIXOIII, All .BOOND CLAIlIl IlAIL IlATTB-

st rlcted the number ot apprentices so that the ayailablesupply of molders is becoming too small. The NationalFounders' Association has made an appropriation for thesupport for four years J)f a new type of trade school, inwhich skilled handwork is to be taught for its own sake,for the purpose of earning good wages, and not as theadjunct of the usual manual, training school. The experi­ment will be watched with Interes~ for it. can have appl1-.cation to many trades which require better workmen andmore intelligent foremen.

SUBSCRIPTION IN ADVANCE, INCLUDINO SPECIAL DAILY EDmONS PUBLISHEDPItOM nM! TO nME IN PLACES OTHER THAN CHICAGO, POSTAGE PREE :

U.ITJID 8TATBII, C.A....DA O. Ilzxrco-One year•.••••...••••••".008iz months ••••••.••.•• 2.00Three montha... . . . . ••. 1.008burle cop, •. •. •. . . .. .. .10

POaBIOlf-CouDtries within the Postal Unfon ••••••.•••..• ~ .. 8.00Great Britain and Ireland .•...•.••••••••••••.!5 shllllncGermaDJ •• ~ 25 mar 8France••••••..•.......•••••••••.•..••...•........ S1 francs

The apprentice system in two of the most Importantof the mechanical trades has so deteriorated In this countryby intensified production and the influence of trades unionsthat methods of reform are being seriously discussed byprominent employers and engineers. Professor J. E. Sweet88)'S the apprentice system is a relic of the past, andsome other method must now be originated for trainingyoung men who expect to become expert mechanics. Inand about Syracuhe It is almost Impossible to obtainproperly equipped artisans for the large" Industries thatare growing at an unprecedented rate. Professor Sweetproposes to establish in Syracuse a school of trades andit is now understood that the great foundation made byAndrew Carnegie In Pittsburg Is to be almost entirely atl'ade school. At the recent meeting ot National Founders'Association It was stated that in and about New YorkCity the systematic training ot boys to become skilledmolders has become practically impossible. Under presentconditions in the foundry there Is neither time nor oppor­tnnlty properly to instruct apprentices and produce goodworkmen. The molders will not take the trouble to teachbeginners,. the -employers are too busy in the omce to givethe ambject proper· attention and labor unions have ra-

Edltorlal-An Apprentice System or Trade Schools 0 ••• 0 • • 679Government Waterway Improvements 0 ••••••••• 0 •• 679An Illumination ot Rallway Signals 0 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• 680The Turbine Locomotive ........•.....•..... 0 0 ••••• 0 • • • • • •• 680

ADnual Report&-Great Northern .... 0 •••••• 0 •• 0 •••••••••• o •• 0"0 •••••••••• 0 •• o. 681

The Foraker Bill to Regulate Conlmerce 0 0 ••••••• o. 682The President and the Rate Regulators 0 •••••• 0 ••••••• 0 • • • •• G83Car Shortage Regulated by Railway Commission............... 684A German Compound Locomotive with Superhent~r. (IJlus-

trated.)........... .. 0..... • ••••••••••••••••• 0 •• 0 ••••••••• 0. fiS5Colors for Signal Indications . 0 •••••• 0 ••• 0 • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• 686Government Operation of Itallan Railways. By Phllippe Ta-

janl. (Concluded.) 0 •••••••••••• 687Book Table ~ .. 0 ••••••••••••••• 0 •••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 0 • • •• 688Motor Driven Machine Tools. By Frank C. Perkins. (Illus-

trated.) . . . . . . .. . 0 ••••••••••• 0 0 • • • • • • • • •• 691News Departments-

Notes and News 0 •••• - •• 0 •• 0 ••••••••••••••••••••• 692Ra1lway Taxation In the States 0 ••• 0 •••• 692Three Condemnation Sutt Decisions o. 693

Foreign Railway Atralrs-Some English Projects 0 ••••• 0 • • •• 696

Personal Mention 0 ••••••••• 0 ••••••••••••••• 0 •• 00 •• 0 •••••••••• 697Construction ...........••................................... 699FInancial and Corporate 0 ••••• 0 ••••• 0 ••••••••••••••••••• 700Equlpmen t and Supplies 0 ••••••••-. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •• 701

A Novel Water Holst. (nlustrated.) ..............•......... 0 • •• 704A New T)·p~ of Steam Coupler. (Illustrated.) 0 •••••••• 0' ••••••• 705Improved Regrinding Vall"es. (Illustrated.) o •••• 0. 705A Combination Baker Heater Funnel Valve. (Illustrated.) 706Tra.de Publlca.tlon ..•..•........................................ 706

VOL. XL OHICAGO, DBC.8MBRR 1, 1906.

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

No. 22

Government waterway improvement work contrasts some­,,-bat with private railway construction. For example: In1~79 the state of Kentucky ceded to the United States theililprovements which it had made on the Kentucky River.c.onslstlng of five locks and dams, and the government,\'ent to work to build more locks and dams and make 'thH river navigable from its mouth to the head. of naviga­tion, a distance of 261 miles. In the 26 years four Dewdams and locks have been built, the old ones have beenrepaired, two or three more have been commenced, much"snagging In the pools" has been done and 176 miles ofrlyer are now open to tramc, leaving 85 miles, or one..thirdct the whole distance, st111 "unnavigable. On this work thegovernment has expended $2,479,615, which on the 176miles open would be equivalent to $14,000 per mile; thisiu addition to the unknown amount previously exp~nded

by the state. To complete the remalniBg 85 miles to Beatty­vUle it Is found will require a large addition to the author­ized amount, and judging from the past rate of progressthe LouisvlIle Courier-Journal fears that it wlIl be a decadeyet before navigation will be extended to that point. Whenthe long contemplated work is completed the governmentwill have a winding, tedious waterway 261 mlles in length.covering an airline distance of about 110 miles. Mean­tJme private enterprise has paralleled the general courseof this crooked stream with railways which are takingtbe traffic to all parts of the country, near and far, atvastly greater speed and probably at lower cost, con­sidering first investment and time required, than thishalf artificial waterway can ever afford. The KentuckyRiver is only one of numerous 'examples that might becited of rive~ improvement works upon which the govern­ment Is yearly expending tens of millions with scarcelyappreciable results, while private capital has covered thesame country with railway lines which have made Interiorriver navigation practically unnecessary and obsolete.

The Chicago Milwaukee & St. Paul will be the firstcompany to own a continuous railway from Chicago topuget Sound. Its intention, long entertained, Is now pub­Hcly announced and work will soon be in progress along1,500 miles of new road between the Missouri River and thePacific coast. This company already owns a Une fromChicago to Evarts, S. D., due west from Saint Paul, 805miles from Chicago, one..thlrd the distance to the coast.From the Missouri River It wUI push westward across theremaining half of South Dakota and over the entire widthof Montana and Washington to some point near Tacomaand Seattle, from whence It wlU fork to each of thoseterminI. Running nearly due west to Butte, the great min­ing center of Montana, the Une will at first lie parallel toand about 125 mUes south of the Northern Pacific andnearly twice that distance south of the Great Northern.But in western Montana the three great competitors willbegin to approach, and the new Une will touch each of theothers at various points untl1 at the two great poInts OD

Puget Sound it comes Into active competition with both.From Chicago to the Puget Sound cities' the distance' by

Michael Sol Collection

680 THE RAILWAY AGE December 1, 1906.

the new route will probably be close to 2,300 miles, or prac­tically the Bame as that by the Northern Pacific and perhaps50 or 75 miles more than by the Great Northern. The SaintPaul Company will lose no time in pushing this great en­terprise, which will enlarge it Into a system of nearly9,000 miles, stret.ching from Lake Michigan to the Pacificand from Lake Superior to Kansas. Extensive terminalproperties have been acquired at Tacoma and Seattle, andsurveying parties are scattered along the entire route. Thecontract for bulldlng 700 miles from the Missouri River westhas been awarded, work bas begun on the western end,·and in about three years this long expected line is likelyto be In full operation.

THE ILLUMINATION OF RAILWAY SIGNALS.

To trace the growth of an idea always is an interest­ing process, but in the statistics which have been collectedconcerning "colors for signal indications," printed in anotherpart of t.his issue, we flnd a truly remarkable rate of prog­ress. When It 1s remembered that for nearly 60 yearsrailway men were educated to regard red as the sign fordanger, green as the sign for caution and white a~ anindication of safety, we have before us in the presenttendency a splendid example of the power of abstractreason, because a comparative few really have experiencedany disaster due to the mistaking of a foreign white lightin place of a semaphore. Therefore, _reViEwing the Ust otrailways which already have adopted green for "proceed"and yellow for "cautlon," some surprise is justified at alist which contains so many great names after so short aspace of effort.

Although the change in llghting has not followed thescheme devised by Mr. E. C. Carter, chief engineer of theChicago & Northwestern, most of the credit for our changedattitude lies in his two-lig)lt indication for caution, whichfor many )'ears remained the sole exponent of a morerational conception, and has proved so satisfactory thatprobably it w1l1 persist long after every other importantrailway shall have abandoned the practice of half a century.

Of the 13 ltnes which are included within the phrase~'adhering to green for caution but preferring the laterform," many are highly representative; but, unfortunately,whtle many of them are considering a change, It is not.declded :ret. In the case of some others, the favorable opin-ion Is that of an individual who, although clothed withauthority, is not able to prevail In a matter of so muchimportance. Yet, even excluding such a hopefUl state ofaffairs as Is shown by 13 replies for, compared with 12repUes against, a change, of all the responses received, 45per cent already have adopted the new method. And ifthe. rate at which sentiment has altered during the pastyear or two is sustained, it will not be lo~g before "theexception proves the rule" in a somewhat novel sense.

In seeking for causes which may have contributed todela)~ in the adoption of green as an Indication for "pro­ceed," three are evident at once and they will be namedinYersely to their importance. Inertia, therefore, is the firstand In this Instance is a surprisingly small factor, since.of 53 separate organizations we discover but four whosespokesmen faU to state a decided preference. As the secondcause, it seems a far cry to the expectation of a successfulilluminated blade which will give a signal of position bynight as well as by day. Who that has dwelt for a dozenyears within the signaling fold does not remember the"parabollc" . semaphore ot Ignoble fame, and others morerespectable but not the, less fallures from a practical stand­point. If the illuminated blade was an ignis fatuus, cer­tainly Its light shone with an encouraging beam, and it was'Worth eyery effort to att~mpt the perfection of a device

which represents the ideal in semaphore lighting. There­fore, the sole reply· to our circular which mentions this arerangement may mark its recrudescence In palpable form.

But the most Important restraint to any change is thecomplication which is brot:ght about by train markers, tra1Dorder boards and switch lamps, with the multitudinous dif­ferences of opinion which. qualify the use and arrangementof these devices. Many ·difficult questions are introducedhere which cannot be ignored, but granting them their entireforce, it is evident that they have been subdued on alarge proportion ot our mileage, to which fact Is subtendedthe probability that the use of green for proceed and yellowfor caution ,viII prevail upon most of the railways in thiscountry within a very short space of time.

THE TURBINE LOCOMOTIVE.

The successful and extensive application of the steamturbine to most of the purposes for which the reciprocatingsteam engine Is used has led engineers to speculate uponthe possibility of its use as a locomotive engine, and seVeeral designs for such an application by prominent buildershave already appeared in foreign technical journals. Theprincipal objection to the usual design for the simple engineIn locomotives Is the destructive effect of the counterbal­ance for the reciprocating parts at high speed which Isdamaging to the track and to the engine. There is also the",-ear and expense for repairs, much of it due to the con­stant stopping and starting of the piston crosshead andvalve twice during every revolution. The former objection,relating to counterbalance, Is successfully overcome by theuse of four cylinders with pistons arranged so that the recip­rocating parts balance each other, but it Is at the expenseof a dupllcatlon of parts which still retain the longitudinalmotion of piston and cro8shead, and the expense for therepairs of these parts must increase with the number.There is also the constant uncertainty of the crank axle,,-ith the restricted surface of the main rod bearIngs alidthe inaccessibility of bearings when they require removalfor the adjustment of wear or on account of heating.

Although the four-cylinder balanced locom'otlve Is amarked improvement Ip its operation,· In the matter ofmaintenance and repairs it must of necessity be a moreexpensive machine. At present It Is regarded by many asthe ultimate improvement in the steam locomotive and itsfinal form before giving way to the electric motor. Theadvantages ot the rotary engine In having a uniform turn­ing moment, perfect balance, simplicity and fewer mov­ing parts and Its ready adaptation to high speed, appealto engineers as attractive features in the further improve­ment of the steam locomotive for competition with itselectric rival.

The most favorable conditions for the steam turbineare high velocity, constant speed and revolution in onedirection. In its application for driving electric generato~

these conditions are easily met and app~ar to be a naturaldevelopment. The steam locomotive, however, requires theengine to work under conditions entirely opposite to allthese, that is, It must have a variable speed, much of itswork done at slow speed. and it must be reversible. Are,,-ersible turbine has been developed in connection withits use for marine purposes and it Is now in successfuloperation. The most difficult feature In the applicationof the turbine to the locomotive is the posslbilttr of gettinga maximum turning moment for starting and one of sum­cient magnitude to develop a high tractive power at slowspeed. This must be combined with economical operationat high speed, and thus far steam turbines have J;lot beendeveloped along these lines. The condltlona of engine loadin marine serviCe" are somewhat similar to those ID the