| Show I WIDER limn RAILWAY y GAUGES G Chicago o Chronicle Much as has been heen tho tin surprise e expressed from rom various arlous points of view at al the utterances of Mi Mr Harriman at the he time of his recent examination I before the Interstate commerce commission and anil on sonic some one thing ho said was as more inure later JatoI occasions rio no remark about ch the theau I than hl really l lof Uw lie of gauge au c of out railway leks of s the lie amount of th the roads to carr carry to b be that lint th lie gauge would have ha lie he predicted to Ii I from Com 4 1 feet 8 1 4 1 incItes tIme the so called wider and feet feel feet and anti th the cu curs cars bo be made about two tuo Inches longer much wonders whether l this is I. a ca caSe p of too One or of attention to Wall all street treet to thc lie II Uninformed un- un as aJ Is not rea really lr l i or r III this indicates In- In v informed l in iii railway history hl tor In this his e country a as and anil only said this IhU to take nc tl a t from theme themo he did not want to sa say anything about sonic some of tie costly of oC sonic Home part lie Ill must have ha kno c thou though h po not old enough nough wars of oC tie the gau gauges es In iii thorn them There was a a. long to have taken much part much the same mc In anti later one struggle call it itma a as we now In this country The standard gauge some sonic say MY it ma may have h prevailed because as also other but there was to have hac more mileage than any an element of oC conomy conom or of building lit cut some In iii t. t The Erie EriC railway from Jersey City to on au Lake Lak Erie was of oC the tho root foot gauge ug and the from flom Cincinnati to East St. St Louis LouS was mae made maethe Mississippi of the same sarno in expectation of or ultimately forming part pait the tho same great through h line There wore were o other er roads tulle quite a number of or them of oC foot fool gauge The Tho conflicting conflict conflict- troubles early Two of them lug Ins widths width bro l brought ht very of oC Erie Eric In Pennsylvania a and came to together In the town the tho effort to avoid changing cars cais and transshipPing transshipping there brought ht on riots an and street lighting fighting or of yel very vei serious Herlous character The early carb attempts to remedy the lie trouble lop looked ked to laying a third tail mil within one of the he two wl wide e gauge rails and antI various clumsy attempts attempts- at couplings that would admit of trains made up of or cars cars of different widths found round Impracticable as a rule It was devices that lint were not until after the he civil JI war that the lie struggle was aban aban- abandoned abandoned and a real movement made mode to lo unify the thc gauges Within twenty years ears the railways of oC the Ilie country countr have hae been beu practically rebuilt with heavier r motive power heavier rails fitted to lo carry heavier trains and carr carrying ing capacity of oC cars more than doubled This was done at cost and that hat cost is Ig partly responsible for some recent discontent If Mr Harriman's prediction of ot returning to a dl discarded gauge sauge be carried out in action netlon this lila vast expense will have to be Incurred again and far greater ter expense Incurred for Cor III in any such change every eely roadbed will have to be he widened every tunnel and amid cut and fill don over and nearly every cry bridge wholly rebuilt To ro meet the undeniably Increased and increasing demands for COl or transportation the far Car moro more economical and effective method seems unmistakably not to dl discard card an anything anything any any- thing we now have but to give to existing roads the In Increased Increased In- In creased nc recommended by Mr 11 lull Hill an and to add new roads wherever re or the growth lowth of business demands them or th the roads loads that now re refuse or 01 neglect to adapt their theil facilities to the needs of or commerce A new lot of gauge wais WUI'S would be bo deplorable from all points of view |
