The accompanying illustration of the World's Fair train on the Cotton Belt Railroad is from a picture taken just before the train left the Texas and Pacific Railroad depot. Bro. J. W. Bain, the engineer, has been a member of Lodge 148 B. of L. F. at Tyler, Tex., for over twenty years. He is a regular attendant at lodge meetings and is in every way an active and loyal member. He was born in Tennessee, in March, 1863, and commenced railroading on the old Duck River Valley Railroad, which ran from Columbia to Petersburg, Tenn. He received $1.25 per day, and, of course, in those days he had no protection as we know it now. He had to fire up his engine before leaving, had to clean the entire engine and tank, and could be discharged by his engineer. He was a delegate to the Des Moines Convention, and served the B. of L. F. as Chairman of the Joint Protective Board for many years. Bro. Bain is a consistent church member and worker in the Y. M. C. A., and is known as the "preacher engineer." The fireman shown in the picture is Bro. W. L. Coleman, who is also a member of 148.

Their run is from Fort Worth to Texarkana, a distance of 225 miles. At Texarkana this train is transferred to the Iron Mountain Railroad, over which road it goes from Texarkana to St. Louis. The distance from Fort Worth to St. Louis is 720 miles, and this train makes the run in 22 hours and 55 minutes. MEMBER.

What Caused the Pump to Stop?

I wish to give my opinion in answer to question 178, Westinghouse Air Brake, as to what caused the pump to stop. If the trouble was not in the discharge pipe being stopped up, the only reason I can assign is that the bushing in the upper discharge air valve, that is held in place by a set-screw, may have worked loose and allowed the bushing to turn and close the opening to the discharge passage. This would allow the air to be drawn in, but not discharged, and the compression became so great that it overcame the steam pressure and stopped the pump.

Of course, if the packing rings in the

air to pass by, the pump would work slowly on one stroke, the up one, but if no air could pass the piston the pump would be stopped on an up-stroke.

J. B. GUNN.

[The writer of the above had evidently not seen the special article on this subject which was published on page 677 of the May issue, which included a report from "K. O. P." himself, who was the author of the original question, in which he states what was wrong with the pump

when taken down. The letter from J. B. Gunn is published for the benefit which the ideas contained therein may have for our readers generally.-Editor.]

The President's Special on the
Michigan Central.

On April 27, 1904, the Michigan Central Railroad ran a special train from Niagara Falls to Windsor which establishes a new world's record, eclipsing all previous records on this line, and perhaps on any American line. The train, which was composed of a baggage car and three private cars, carried President Newman of the New York Central, President Ledyard of the Michigan Central, and Superintendent H. H. Adams of the Canada Division of the Michigan Central and party. The train was pulled by engine 483 for the entire distance, Engineer Charlie Waters and Fireman Tom Little being in charge of the engine from Niagara Falls to St. Thomas, where they were relieved by Engineer James Caines and Fireman Harry O'Brien.

From Niagara Falls to St. Thomas, a distance of 115 miles, the run was made in 97 minutes. This includes eleven slow-downs, each meaning a loss of several minutes, as in nine of the slow-downs it was necessary to reduce the speed to between 50 and 60 miles an hour, and in two of them-when taking waterto between 35 and 40 miles per hour. The crossings were guarded by watch

men.

On approaching Kettle Creek bridge the special slowed down to six miles an hour on account of reconstruction work being done on the bridge, which caused it to take thirteen minutes to cover the nine miles between St. Thomas and Shed

den. From St. Thomas to Windsor, a distance of 111 miles, the run was made in 94% minutes, including five slowdowns. Considering that there were sixteen slow-downs, it will be seen that much of the time the special was running at the rate of over 90 miles an hour. From Brownsville to Springfield, a little less than 51⁄2 miles, the run was made in 3 minutes, or at a speed of 109.42 miles an hour, and from Bismarck to Rodney, a distance of 4.4 miles, the running time was 21⁄2 minutes, or at the rate of 105.8 miles an hour. The average running time for the whole distance from St. Thomas to Windsor was within a fraction of 77 miles an hour.

The previous world's record is said to have been made by a special train on the Lake Shore Railroad several months ago, 95 miles being made at the rate of 67.01 miles an hour, 86 miles at 79.92 miles an hour, and 87.04 miles at 61.38 miles an hour. It is also said that in this case all switches were spiked and the train had a clear track, while with the special train on the Michigan Central all regular passenger and freight trains were moving on time.

MEMBER.

Running in the "Pool."

In the May issue of the Magazine appeared an article in Echoes from the Firing Line under the head of "Bumping the Youngest Man." I would like to differ with the brother who wants to pick out his engineer when the runs are in the pool.

He says that the runs are pooled, and he wants to be changed from the second to the first district. Now, suppose this fireman wanted the oldest man's run in that district. This fireman of course being older, that man would be compelled to take the next engineer whom he liked best, and so on all the way down the line, making a complete change in all the crews, simply because this man wanted to fire for some special engineer. Possibly if he would do the right thing he wouldn't be afraid to fire for any of them.

On the P. V. & C., our runs are in the pool, and we find that the most satisfactory way all around is for the youngest man to lose out at all times. Therefore, I think the roundhouse foreman is right. MEMBER 465.

Large Canal Schemes.-Two $100,000,000 canal schemes have been sprung by enthusiastic promoters in the last few days. One contemplates a ship canal to connect the navigable waters of the Ohio and James rivers, and thus "to afford uninterrupted transit from the Gulf and Mississippi River to Hampton Roads, Chesapeake Bay and the Atlantic seaboard." The Virginia Legislature will be asked to charter a company for this purpose. Much more imposing is the undertaking of Mr. E. W. Blaine, of Pratt, Kan., who has brought out the project of an interstate grain canal from the middle of South Dakota to the Gulf of Mexico at Galveston, with "an irrigating and grain canal branch." The length of the main canal is to be 1,250 miles, and of the branch 350 miles, making a total of 1,600 miles of canal work which Mr. Blaine guesses will cost approximately $100,000,000, and for which he wishes Con

gress to make an appropriation. The old project of a ship canal across Florida is also before Congress.-The Railway Age.

Electric Railway Building in Cuba.-A project is now under consideration by local and American capitalists for the construction of an electric railway extending from Cienfuegos, Cuba, into the interior, a distance of 30 miles or more, which would give rapid transit between Cienfuegos and several important villages in the sugarproducing belt, these towns now having very inadequate communication with that port. A company has been organized to carry the project into effect, a charter has been applied for and obtained, and it is expected that only a short time will elapse before the beginning of active work on the grading of the road. The name of the company undertaking this work is the

Cienfuegos, Palmira and Cruces Electric and Power Company, with headquarters at Cienfuegos.-The Railway and Engineering Review.

Cars and Locomotives. - Official returns from all but two car-building plants in the United States show that 154,808 cars were built during the year 1903. This figure includes all freight and passenger cars built for elevated and steam railroads, exclusive of those built by the railroads at their own shops, and exclusive of those built for street and other electric service. Of this total, approximately 152,801 are freight cars, and 2,007 are passenger coaches; 153,195 for domestic use, and 1,613 for export. In 1902 the total number of cars built was 164,547, which is about 9,700 in excess of last year. The decrease has occurred in the last two months, as up to that time the output for 1903 was equal to the output for the first ten months of 1902.

During the year just closed 5,152 locomotives were built at the various locomotive works in the country, as against 4,070 in the previous year. The number includes 88 electric locomotives. The increase over 1902 is the largest that has ever occurred in one year, and is possibly due to the fact that the locomotive works in the country had such a volume of orders placed during 1902 that they were unable to make immediate deliveries, and many of the orders were held over until 1903.

International Railway Journal.

Banquet in the Chicago Subway.-On February 11th more than 500 members and friends of the Chicago Press Club accepted an invitation from the Illinois Telephone and Telegraph Company for a trip through the tunnels under the Chicago streets. The occasion was the formal opening of the tunnel system for business. The party were taken on a train of electric cars over part of the system, and the affair was wound up with a banquet, with tables spread in the tunnel under Jackson street. An orchestra was present, and a number of after-dinner speeches were made. President Wheeler, in some remarks, declared that, contrary to the custom in London, Paris and Boston, Chicago is to carry its freight instead of its people underground. "The first transportation business to be done, by the company," he said, "will be to deliver coal to all the office buildings and

Couldn't Arrest Him.-General Budde, minister of railways in Germany, was some time ago traveling incognito to Hamburg. In his compartment a countryman entered and at once proceeded to light an enormous and rank cigar. General Budde remarked to him that the rules of the road prohibited any one from smoking in a compartment without the consent of the other occupants. The smoker did not seem to understand, and continued to exhale fumes like a small volcano. Upon finishing his first cigar he immediately lit another. The General, by this time thoroughly vexed, exclaimed: "I am well acquainted with the rules of the road, because I am the minister of railways!" At the same time he handed his card to the smoker. The latter condescended to cast a glance at it and stuck it in his pocket, without ceasing for an instant to exhale enormous puffs of smoke. When the train stopped the countryman silently got out. General Budde by this time was overcome with anger. Calling one of the station officials, he told him to go to the countryman and learn his name, as he intended to have him arrested. Asked his name, the smoker of the big and rank cigars pulled from his pocket a card— that of General Budde-and handed it to his questioner, who, upon glancing at it, at once gave most respectfully the military salute. Afterward, returning to the General, he said: "I believe, my dear sir, that you would do well not to insist about that man breaking the rules of the road. You couldn't arrest him, anyhow, seeing as it is the minister of railways himself!" The General did not insist.-New York Tribune.

How Radium is Obtained. In spite of the fact that the marvels of radium have been so widely discussed and have created such

a flurry of excitement not only in the scientific world, but among the general public, probably very few people are acquainted with the method by which it is secured in the minute quantities that are as yet available. That the element is obtained from pitchblende is generally known, but some details of the exact process will be of interest. According to the "Lancet," operations for the extraction are commenced by crushing the pitchblende, and then roasting the powder with carbonate of soda. After washing, the residue is treated with dilute sulphuric acid; then the sulphates are converted into carbonates by boiling with strong carbonate of soda.

The residue

contains radium sulphate, which is an exceedingly insoluble salt. The soluble sulphates are washed out, and the residue or insoluble portion is easily acted upon by hydrochloric acid, which takes out, among other things, polonium and actinium. Radium sulphate remains unattacked, associated with some barium sulphate. The sulphates are then converted into carbonates by treatment with a boiling strong solution of carbonate of soda. The carbonates of barium and radium are next dissolved in hydrochloric acid and precipitated again as sulphates by means of sulphuric acid. The sulphates are further purified and ultimately converted into chlorides, until about 15 pounds of barium and radium chloride are obtained by acting upon one ton of crushed pitchblende. Only a small fraction of this mixed chloride is pure radium chloride, which is finally separated from barium chloride by crystallization, the crystals from the most radio-active of the solutions being selected. In this way the crystals ultimately obtained are relatively pure radium chloride of a very high degree of radio-activity. The Telegraph Age.

Train Lighting on the C., M. & St. P. Ry.-The Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway recently received an inquiry upon the subject of train lighting, and the information gathered brings out the following facts of general interest: The lighting of trains by electricity on this road was begun over sixteen years ago, and during that time the managers have experimented with many different systems. They have found, however, that the most successful and reliable and efficient system for solid trains is that in which a dynamo is operated by a small engine located in the

baggage car and taking steam from the locomotive. Each car of the train is equipped with an auxiliary storage battery. By this means it is made possible for the lighting to continue uninterruptedly when locomotives are changed at terminals. The road has nine such trains in service every night, each train consisting of an average of ten cars of all kinds. The chief electrician states that the failures from all causes have averaged about 5 per cent. of the hours of lighting, and that 4 per cent. of this is due to the failof locomotives in severe winter weather. Altogether the company has 283 cars equipped for this method of lighting. In addition to this number the company has eight coaches and nine sleepers which are lighted entirely by storage batteries. The electrical department is now experimenting with axle lighting devices, with which it has equipped three cars with as many systems.-The Railway and Engineering Review.

ure

An Old-Time Railroad.-Out in Topeka the charter board of the State has just granted articles of incorporation to the Topeka-Council Grove Electric Railway Company. This incident recalls to the older settlers in Kansas the fact that one of the earliest railroad ventures in the State was a line to connect these two cities. George P. Moorehouse, State senator from Morris County, familiar with the history of the old railroad, told the following story of it the other day:

"The company was known as the Topeka, Salina and Western, and the object of its organization was to build a line from Topeka to Salina and then to the Rocky Mountains. In the company were such men as Dr. Stormount and Judge Safford, of Topeka. The business men of Council Grove induced the company to begin its operations there, and from the twelve miles of track laid on the prairie grew the Missouri Pacific lines in Kansas.

"The company had constructed only twelve miles of track, when its funds became exhausted. It had purchased an old engine which would discredit the scrap heap of a respectable railroad of these times, and this engine, with two flat cars and a decrepit box car comprised the equipment of the road. The box car was used as a passenger coach and there was some travel on the line. The farmers shipped a little produce and some stock over it. The service was uncertain. It was known as the 'try daily' train serv