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Show ELECTRIFYING RAILROADS. "The C. M. & St. Paul Railroad has demonstrated how uneconomic a steam locomotive is. By the electrification of its line over a part of the Rocky Mountain system the advantages of electrical power are made plain. It is predicted that all the western railroads rail-roads will follow by electrifying their grades, and it would seem that in time the whole American system of railroads will see the change. Cheapness Cheap-ness of coal has prevented it heretofore. hereto-fore. "The electric locomotive will haul over a mountain grade ,'iO per cent more trainload at a cost of about 40 per cent less than a steam locomotive will do the work. The speed is 16 miles an hour instead of the nine miles performed by the steam locomotive. Thus the cupacity of a single train is doubled. "Trains are able to keep closer to schedule. The cold weather prevents a steam locomotive from securing its steam cupacity. Electric locomotives plow through snow drifts which would stop u steam engine. In the mountains the electric power is obtained from water power. In other territories central stations for the generation of electricity would be necessary. But it is cheaper and more effective to draw coal to one central power plant than it is to have a steam power plant attached to every train, which is the present method throughout through-out the country. "The cost of electrification stands in the way of a change from steam to electricity, but that this is coming appears quite certain." Utica Observer. Ob-server. It might be added that one of the greatest obstacles to electrical development devel-opment is the lack of legislation in-ducive in-ducive to the investment of capital in such enterprises. So-cajled policies of conservation have these great natural resources of the west tied up in such a way that development is crippled. One of the big problems now before be-fore congress is the passage of equitable equit-able legislation which will permit and encourage waterpower development. |