American Railway Builders in China. The energy with which railway building in North China has been pushed has diverted attention from railway enterprises in other parts of the empire. The 2,000 miles of railway in Manchooria and eastern Siberia are almost entirely of American construction. The completion of the line between Port Arthur and Pekin gives the Chinese capital railway communication with St. Petersburg, Moscow, Paris and Calais.

Thomas H. Reid, in the December number of the Engineering Magazine, predicts that by 1906 there will be railway communication between Pekin and Hankow and Canton, making an all-rail line by way of the Siberian road from Canton to Calais.

The road from Pekin southward 1,000 miles to Hankow, under construction by a Belgian syndicate, has been completed for one-half the distance. The extension line from Hankow southward 750 miles to Canton, under construction by an American syndicate, and the branch line from Canton westward to Samshui, 300 miles, are to be completed in two years. The rolling stock on the Hankow and Canton and the Canton and Samshui divisions is to be of American manufacture.

In addition to the trunk line from Pekin to Canton there are several local lines of railway under construction by German and British capitalists. The latter are also interested in an extension of the trunk line from Canton to HongKong, so as to make the latter the terminus.

Mr. Reid says that at last the business classes in China are in favor of railways and are often of great assistance in overcoming the hostility of the villagers in the interior. In the United States the residents of a village or small city are aggrieved if a railroad that passes near is not brought into the town. In China, the residents of town or city ask that the railway be kept as far from them as possible, so as not to disturb the graves of their ancestors or encroach upon the humdrum life of the living.

So it happens that many railway stations are some distance from the towns for the accommodation of whose people they have been established, the natives preferring to walk some distance to take

a train. In North China, however, the natives are so enthusiastic over railway travel that they ride back and forth between stations simply for the pleasure of it.

The conclusion is that with the government interested in railway construction and making earnest efforts to protect engineers and workmen, and with the people themselves drifting away from old prejudices, there is opening in China a new era, in which the railway is to play a conspicuous part.-Chicago (Ill.) Inter Ocean.

Principal Electric Units.-There are certain electrical units that every intelligent man ought to commit to memory and retain as closely as he does the multiplication table. They are:

The Volt, which represents pressure, the same as a head of water does, is about equal to the electro-motive force of one Daniells cell, or, to be exact, a Daniells cell is 1.07 volts.

The Ampere represents the rate of flow of electricity. It is the measure of the current produced by an electro-motive force of one volt through a resistance of one ohm.

The Ohm is the resistance of column of mercury one square millimeter of crosssection area and 106.24 centimeters long. An ordinary copper trolley wire of No. 0 American wire gauge with a diameter of 0.325 inches, offers a resistance of one ohm for two miles of length.

The Watt is the rate of work represented by a current of one ampere urged by one volt of electro-motive force-the volt ampere; 746 watts represent one electric horse power.-Railway and Locomotive Engineering.

Fast Railroading.-Our German friends are determined to hold the record for speed on electric railroads. By letting out the notch on their latest motor they have now made a record of 140 miles an hour, which is surely as fast going as the most ambitious could desire. The speed was kept up for about four miles in the middle section of a specially prepared track of a little more than three times that length. A number of scientists rode on the car

and the general opinion is that 140 miles an hour is fast enough. Indeed it is difficult to understand how a system of installation can be devised which would insure safety even at that lightning speed.

Of course these special speed tests are more interesting as mere experiments than for any other reason. Practical railroading has no particular interest in them. The German experimenters have found a new toy and they are having fun with it. They are showing the world what they can do, not demonstrating what railroads that are run for business will do for their patrons. These learned and remarkably successful experts figure that 93 miles an hour is about the safety limit for passenger service on ordinary tracks. Experimenters for the Pennsylvania Railroad recently put the extreme practical rate at 95 miles per hour. substantial agreement of authorities dealing on the one hand with the electric motor and on the other with the steam locomotive seems to remove the 100-milean-hour train for the time being from the list of speculative probabilities, but the world will probably be able to worry along at a mile-a-minute jog with complacency for some time to come.-Hartford (Conn.) Post.

Compartment Cars to Go.-The Pullman company has ceased building compartment cars, and the railroads generally are stopping using them. The passing of the compartment car was made an assured fact recently when all the Chicago-St. Louis lines entered into an agreement to discontinue their use. Soon after other railroads signified their intention of doing away with them as fast as possible. The reason for the move is not lack of opportunity with the public, but the heavily increased travel. The compartment car weighs nearly ten tons more than the standard sleeper and carries fewer passengers.-Jackson (Mich.) Patriot.

Comfort of Passengers.-American passenger cars are in a general way the most comfortable of any in the world, but they are often made almost unendurable by the carelessness of porters and brakemen who have charge of the heating apparatus. Since the general introduction of steam heat from the locomotive it is an easy matter by simply turning a valve to supply sufficient steam to heat the cars comfortably in very cold weather, and when the same amount of steam is used in moderate weather they become overheated. The result of this overheating is that passengers are not only uncomfortable during the journey but they are in the same condition they would be in the heating room of a Turkish bath, and it is just as dangerous and imprudent to go into the outside air from the car as from the bathhouse without a gradual cooling off. Numerous cases of pneumonia and bad colds are produced in this way and passengers who go on a journey for the benefit of their health do not obtain benefit but actually injury. The railroads certainly owe something better than this to their patrons. The proper regulation of the temperature of passenger cars can be easily obtained.-Railway Age.

ment for 340 motor cars and 160 trail cars for the New York Central Railroad for its underground service. The schedule speed to be met is 17 and 25 miles an hour, and the Sprague general electric control system will be used. The end cars will be motors, the central will be trailers, and the train loaded will weigh 100 tons. Two general electric 66 railway motors on one truck will be furnished on each car, as well as an automatic master controller arranged to secure automatic acceleration, and provided with a cut-off that operates air brakes, in the case the motorman removes his hands from the operating crank.-Atlanta (Ga.) Journal.

Look for Blue Lights.-A press dispatch dated New Haven, Conn., December 31st, says: Posted on the bulletin board so that the engineers of the New York and New Haven Road who go out from this terminal could see it, appeared the following today:

"To Engineers-Whenever you see a blue light on or near our tracks or right of way, stop at the first telegraph station and report the fact immediately to this office, giving the location of the light and so forth. This does not apply to blue lights when used by the car inspectors or as spacing signals at stations."

In the letter, which was received by President Charles S. Mellen, about two weeks ago from what the road's officials regard as a gang of blackmailers, in which they demand $10,000, it was stated that the appearance of a blue light hanging to a telegraph pole on the line of the road meant that a package of $5,000

But the train robbers have not appeared. The company, as the notice to the engineers today indicates, has not relaxed its vigilance and is keeping a sharp

the product by 33,000. The product will be the horse power for each pound mean effective pressure in the cylinder.

Take, for instance, a locomotive with cylinders 20 inches in diameter. The area

Easy Way of Calculating Engine Horse Power.An easy way of figuring out the horse power of any engine is to use a constant, which would be the power that would be developed in the cylinder at one pound pressure. To obtain the constant multiply the net area of cylinder by speed of

Let there be 300 revolutions per minute of the driving wheels and 30 inches stroke of piston, which gives a piston speed of 1,500 feet per minute. Then you have 1,500x314.16÷33,000-14 horse power for every pound of mean effective pressure in one cylinder. An engine working at that speed with 50 pounds indicated steam pressure would develop 1,400 horse power in the two cylinders.-Railway and Locomotive Engineering.

Imperial vs. United States Standard Gallon.In making a comparison of the capacity of tanks on locomotive tenders, both American and foreign, it is necessary to remember that the British or Imperial gallon differs from the United States standard gallon, the Imperial being the larger of the two, it containing 277.274 cubic inches. The United States gallon is 83 1-3 per cent., or 5-6 of the Imperial. The liquid measure in use in the United States derives its gallon from the old English wine gallon, and contains 231 cubic inches, and is capable of holding 8.3388 pounds of pure distilled water at a temperature of 39.1 degrees F.; or 8 1-3 pounds at a temperature of 62 degrees F. The temperature of 39.1 degrees F. or 4 degrees C. is called the temperature for the maximum density of water. Water increases in volume whether it be heated above, or cooled below that temperature, and herein lies the explanation of why ice floats. Railway and Locomotive Engineering.

Statistics of Railways.-To present concisely the results of railway operations, the Commission issues each year a preliminary report on the income account of operating roads, which is published in advance of the full report on railway statistics. For the past fiscal year this report comprises returns for roads representing 201,457 miles of line, or about 98 per cent. of the mileage that will be included in the final report. The chief results of this compilation are given in the following statement:

The gross earnings of the railways for the year ending June 30, 1903, on the mileage stated, were $1,890,150,679. The gross earnings for the previous year, on 200,154 miles, as shown in the final report, were $1,726,380,267. Passenger earnings amounted to $508,683,009, and freight earnings to $1,335,768,581. Miscellaneous earnings connected with operation were $45,699,089. Gross earnings from operation averaged $9,382 per mile of line. This average is $757 larger than the average as shown in the complete report for 1902. Of the gross earnings per mile of line, $2,525 were assignable to the passenger service and $6,630 to the freight service. The operating expenses of the roads totalized $1,248,520,483. This aggregate is equivalent to an expenditure of $6,197 per mile, or of $620 more per mile than was shown in the complete returns for 1902. The net earn

ings thus shown for the year 1903 were $641,630,196. Those of essentially the same lines for the year 1902 were $607,547,926. On the same mileage basis the net earnings averaged $169 more per mile for 1903 than for the previous year.

come

The total net income of the roads included in this advance report was $734,709,435. This amount includes $93,079,239 received as income from corporate investments and miscellaneous sources. The aggregate of the deductions from inwas $643,546,723. The principal items comprised in these deductions were interest of funded debt, rents of leased lines, permanent improvements charged to income, taxes (which were $52,960,004), and dividends. The resulting surplus from operations was $91,162,712. The full report for 1902 showed a surplus of $94,855,088.

The dividends declared during the year ending June 30, 1903, by the railway companies for which returns appear in the preliminary report amounted to $159,310,010. This sum exceeds that representing the dividends of corresponding lines for 1902 by $9,589,700. It should be understood that the preliminary report, being compiled from the returns of operating companies only, does not include any statement of the dividends that are declared by those subsidiary companies which have leased their property to others for operation. The income of these companies is almost wholly derived from the rentals which they receive from their lessees and from which they make their own corporate expenditures, including dividends. The lessor companies distributed as dividends among their stockholders in 1903 probably about $35,000,000.-Railway World.

Railway Mileage of the United States.-According to the Railway Age, the total railway mileage of the United States on January 1, 1904, will be 209,855 miles, the present year having added 5,723.45. This mileage is considerably greater than that shown by Poor's Manual, and probably is nearer correct, as it takes into account all of the new track laid up to the last days of the year.

Compared with 1902, the present year is about on a parity in matter of railway construction. The construction reported was done on 380 lines and in thirty-nine States and Territories, including Alaska. Early in the year it was shown that there were 8,500 miles of railroad under con

Cylinders, 20 x 28 in.; diameter of driving wheels, 80 in.; diameter of engine truck wheels, (front) 36 in.; diameter of trailing wheels, 48 in.; total heating surface, ,247.2 sq. ft.: total weight of engine and tender, about 340,000 lbs.: tank capacity, 8,400 gal.