Per Passenger Earnings per Mile of RR.

per Mile,

per Mile,

in Operation

Average

Average

Percentage of Expenses

Rate.

Rate.

to Earnings.

P. c.

Cents

65.22

Odds

Railway Employes and Eye Doctors.-Railway employes will have a hard time to hold their jobs in the near future if the eye doctors have their way about the matter. In the Railroad Gazette an eye doctor writes as follows: "You seem to labor under the impression that I am not in favor of allow ing railroad surgeons or oculists to decide whether or no an engineer shall be taken from his engine on account of physical defects. Nothing is further from my thoughts. I believe that these questions should be settled in the surgical department, and that the surgeon's opinion should be final, as he certainly is better qualified to estimate the importance of physical defects than any one else in authority. I believe that the surgeons and oculists should be given wider scope with which to improve the physical character of employes. I believe that all railroads should employ oculists on regular salaries, and that in their hands should be placed the ocular and aural welfare of railroads, both as to injuries and policy, believing that if oculists of good standing, common

sense and experience be thus employed,

their attention will be a continual source of gratification, profit and economy to all parties concerned."

The Magazine still contends that only practical tests of eyesight should be required by railroad companies, and these tests will suggest themselves to practical railroad officials. If an employe can demonstrate, in the presence of a railroad official, his ability to distinguish signals by day and by night in a manner satisfactorily to that official, there is no reason why eye doctors should be employed "on regular salaries." If they would be content to draw their salaries and leave well enough alone, no great harm would be done, but that they would not do; they would feel that unless they could make some poor fellow walk the plank every day the officials might think they were not earning their salary.

Government Ownership of the Simplon Tunnel.-According to a consular report from Geneva, Switzerland is extending its ownership of railways. On May 1, 1903, the Jura-Simplon, the most important railway in the republic, passed into the hands of the Swiss Confederation, the amount paid therefor being 104,000,000 francs ($20,072,000). All the large railway companies of Switzerland, with the

exception of the Gothard Railway-which can not be purchased by the government by virtue of the original contract before 1909 are now the property of the state. The tunnel through the Simplon is approaching completion despite the great difficulties encountered in the undertaking

extreme heat, the volume of water met with on the southern side, hot springs, etc.-only about 4 kilometers (21⁄2 miles) remaining to be tunneled. Already new lines are projected as feeders to handle the great traffic expected on the completion of the tunnel.

Effect of Air Resistance on Trains.-In a series of trials carried out two or three years ago on the Buffalo and Lockport electric line of the International Railway Company, it was proved that at the higher speeds it requires much more power per ton to drive a single car than it does per ton to drive a train of cars.

Thus, it was found that whereas a train made up of several cars required a consumption of 47 watt-hours per ton per mile for a sustained speed of 75 miles per hour, if one of these cars were detached and run over the same track under the same conditions at the same speed of 75 miles per hour, the consumption of energy rose to 137 watt-hours per ton per mile. That is to say, at the given speed a single car requires 2.9 times the expenditure of energy per ton that is necessary for the same car if it forms one of a train of several identical cars. Now, assuming that the track, the weather conditions, and the speed were the same for the single car as for the several-car train, the engineers who made the test were justified in their conclusion that the increased power necessary in the case of the single car was due almost entirely to air resistance. In other words, the work done by the car running alone and by the same car running in the middle or at the tail end of a train of cars was the difference, to borrow from bicycle parlance, between the work done at a given speed by a rider unpaced and by the same rider when he is behind the shelter of a pacing machine. That this view of the case is correct is further borne out by the fact that the coupling of only two identical cars for a run at 75 miles an hour, showed

that only 92 watt-hours per ton per mile were necessary, as against the 137 watthours required by a single car. This fact presents us with another parallel to bicycle conditions; for all of us who have ridden a tandem are well aware that, where two riders may be unable to make much headway against a strong gale of wind when they are riding separate wheels, they can make good speed if they couple up for united effort on a tandem. As a matter of fact, on level roads and a well-made track, by far the most serious element of resistance will be found to be the inertia of the air, and the higher the speed, the greater will be this resistance. The front face of a moving car has to open a path for the vehicle, and set the surrounding envelope of air through which it passes more or less in motion in its own direction. The car immediately behind it has no such head resistance to encounter, and is simply affected by the sliding friction ("skin friction" it would be called in considering the case of a sailing vessel), and, of course, the surplus power of the car is thus available to assist the leading car in overcoming the head resistance. Consequently, it follows that the larger the train, supposing the cars to be similar in weight, form, and power, the greater is the power available against head resistance and the less the expenditure of energy per car necessary to maintain a given rate of speed.-Scientific American.

Coal vs. Oil as Fuel.-The general superintendent of the Southern Pacific Railroad denies the current rumor to the effect that all the locomotives of the system are to be equipped with oil burners. "You can depend on it," said General Superintendent Fay, recently, "that until the price of oil is lower than the price of coal, coal will be used on the Southern Pacific system."

Coal is by no means low-priced on the Southern Pacific Railroad, a good share of it being drawn from the Alabama mines, but still it is cheaper than oil. The entire Beaumont field is not producing at present as much as a single well formerly gushed out. All are pumpers now. The day of gushers was long ago ended, and the prospect of cheaper oil is simply nil.

At one time it seemed as if Texas oil would drive Alabama coal out of Texas markets altogether, and even out of Louisiana, but all such expectations long ago

disappeared. King Coal is still in the ring in good shape, and coal oil is a declining quantity. The Beaumont field will become less and less a competitor of coal, and the oil-burning locomotives will doubtless soon be equipped with coal burners. Coal is nature's own fuel, and it never has had a staying rival and probably never will have.-Birmingham (Ala.) Age-Herald.

Combustion Chamber or Long Tubes.-The advent of the trailer and the desire for a great amount of heating surface has induced a general use of exceptionally long locomotive boiler tubes, running up to 20 feet in length, or from 105 to 120 diameters. To what extent this excessive tube length has increased their tendency to leak is indeterminate, but there is hardly any question that this tendency has been thus increased. The steam generating efficiency gained by the excess length is equally indeterminate, though a consideration of the temperature of the gases at their point of exit from the tubes certainly indicates that there is plenty of heat to be taken advantage of by a long tube. Considering the matter from another standpoint, however, it would seem as if a more satisfactory and efficient use could be made of the long barrel space than by filling it up with excessively long tubes. It is well accepted that firebox heating surface is more valuable than tube heating surface, more especially than the far end tube heating surface. Then why not stay within the 90 diameter length given by a 15-foot tube and obtain the advantage of the shorter tube by using the other 5 feet of length for a combustion chamber which would add both to the volume and extent of area of the firebox. The total heating surface would not be as great, but the efficiency of that thus disposed would, we believe, prove more than a compensation, while much benefit would be derived in removing the rear tube sheet and its tube ends from their present proximity to the bed of fire. The combustion chamber has a hard name, and was abandoned as superfluous. It was superfluous with anthracite coal, which did not require a large firebox volume for combustion purposes. It was also less necessary with fireboxes whose heating area provided 6 or more feet of heating surface to each square foot of grate, especially where the water is good, as is the case in the districts where the combustion chamber

face from the proportion of 3 square feet per square foot of grate area (to which it has now dropped) back to the proper proportion of 6 or more square feet per square foot of grate. It is believed a combustion chamber can be provided which will not exhibit much tendency to crack or leak, if it is put in solely as a combustion chamber and not as a vehicle for unnecessary attachments, and in view of the shortened tube length and tube sheet protection its installation will afford its renewed consideration is certainly worth while.-Railway and Engineering Review.

Stock Investing by Employes. In these days when the diverse interests of capital and labor threaten to prostrate many

eration or by the purchase of stock in companies. Co-operation is the proper manner for workmen to secure interests in production business, but there seems to be very little tendency, more's the pity, toward that form of self-help among the people who take the lead in organizing the nation's workmen. So far the work of these leaders has been principally to cultivate antagonism between capital and labor, with disastrous results to both sides.

A certain class of social economists are constantly prating about the interest of capital and labor being identical. The only identical interest is that the one can not produce without the other, but in other respects it is to the interest of each to get all he can out of the other. That is

the way the case works in practical life. If anything could be done to curtail this grasping spirit it would greatly enhance the comfort of millions of people.

Several attempts have been made of late by capitalists to invite labor to sail in the same boat as their employers, but no great success has been achieved. One

of the most ambitious of these schemes was made about a year ago by the United States Steel Corporation inviting its employes to become stockholders in the company and offering them inducements which seemed highly advantageous. Special incentives were offered to those who "are charged with the responsibility of managing and operating these vast companies." The stock was offered at $82.50 a share, when during the same week the offer was made it sold in the market as high as $87 a share. Quite a number of the employes of the company availed themselves of this offer and purchased the water laden stock which shortly afterward displayed a decided tendency to drop toward its natural level and it went down to about $60 a share.

United States Steel stock became badly discredited and it looked as if the enterprising employes who bought of the stock were likely to lose a large share of their investment. At this juncture the finance committee of the corporation stepped in and guaranteed the value of the stock to their employe purchasers. This was a wise and sagacious action. "All's well that ends well," may remark those stockholders, but to us it carries the lesson for workmen of all kinds, "don't invest in your employer's stock or in any other."

There are some railroad companies that have urged their employes to invest their savings in the stock of the company, but it is unwise policy. Very few railroad presidents or the president of any other corporation have assurance that the stock they represent will not soon fall into other hands or even into the hands of Wall street gamblers, who may manipulate it with as little consideration for small holders as if they were merely poker chips. If a railroad magnate wishes to have the employes financially interested in the property he ought to make some arrangement by which they could purchase bonds even if it were done by installments. Bonds are as safe as mortgages and their value is little influenced by market gambling. Those who are holders of stock would be very wise to convert their shares into bonds as soon as convenient. The indications are that rail

road stocks will follow the industrials in the near future and be worth less money than they are today.-Railway and Locomotive Engineering.

Grabirons on Locomotives. The following is the report of the special committee, consisting of Messrs. Quereau, Morris and Milliken, appointed by the Master Mechanics' Association to ascertain the requirements of the Safety Appliance law, as last amended:

Your committee has acquainted itself with the requirements of the law regarding safety appliances as it relates to grabirons on the front ends of locomotives in road service, as interpreted by the Interfollowing report this has been kept in state Commerce Commission, and in the view. In addition to this, we have undertaken to answer the various questions raised by superintendents of motive power. Your committee learns there is a widespread opinion among operating and motive power officials that grabirons and steps on the pilots of locomotives in road service, instead of being a safety appliance, are dangerous because they invite employes to place themselves unnecessarily in a dangerous position. This view was urged by your committee on a representative of the Interstate Commerce Commission, but without avail.

The law does not require the application of steps, either to the pilot or on the tender.

or

The law does not refer to handholds on the smoke arch, but to handholds grabirons on the pilot or front bumper beam.

A grabiron at the front end of the engine, on the side, is not required.

The Master Car Builders' standards for grabirons on freight cars cover the following points, which we would recommend to apply in the case of grabirons on locomotives:

Grabirons should be secured by lag screws, rivets or bolts not less than 1/2 inch in diameter.

The diameter of the iron used for grabirons should be not less than inch.

The clearance between the grabiron and the piece to which it is fastened should be not less than 21⁄2 inches.

If the uncoupling rod meets these requirements, and has a diameter sufficient to give the required stiffness, it will answer as a grabiron.

If the uncoupling rod extends across the front end of the engine, no other grabiron is required there. We recommend this construction.

A flag standard is not a satisfactory substitute for a grabiron.

Though a foothold or step on the pilot is not required by the law, inasmuch as grabirons are considered necessary, your committee recommends the application of a convenient step on the pilot, to reduce to a minimum the danger to employes riding the pilot.