Omaha Daily Bee Newspaper, August 10, 1902, Page 17

“ origin of the “D. HANDMAIDS OF PROCRESS How the Telegraph Became the Railroad's Most Usefnl Bervant. AT FIRST THE WIRE WAS UNCERTAIN le Order” System it Breakes” In- f & Noted Rall- road Executive. (Copyright, 102, by Walter Morris.) This is the story of three devices, two connected with the telegraph, and all origi- nmated by one man, which have simplified practieal raflroading immensely and are now in use wherever the locomotive puils fts way over roads of steel. The telling Is especially apropos at this time, when the relations between roads and one of the greatest telegraph systems are being dissolved. The telegraph was impressed into the service of the raflroad seon after the elec- tric wire had been taught to write, it being ween early that through its aid the running could be managed with (er ia any ot It was because of this that for many years nearly every telegraph line in the land was strung alongside some steam road, and the need of the wire on the part of the railroad brought about the extension of the lele- graph, over thousands of miles, years in advance of profitable commercial derands therofor. This was of great advantage to the coun- try in many waye. But the telegraphic eystem thus creatbd had one serious defect. ‘While a message could be sent betwoen two points on the same line almost as expedi- tiously and cheéaply as now, between distant points merally had to pass over as many separate systems of wire as there were rallroad lines between the sending and receiving slations. This in- volved relays, delays and a cost that would pow be; and was then, considered éxcessive and exorbitant. In this evolutionary world such a condition of aff naturally brought about telegraphic consolidation, one of the first, It not tho very earllest, of the gr t modern congolidations that have made the United Stales the wonder and envy of the pations of the earth. This consolidation took the pame of the Western Union Tel graph company. Western Union’'s Early Advantage. It is because the Western Union was formed by-the union of many small lines, originally buflt chiefty for the convenlence of the rallroads, that ita offices and not those of the younger Postal Telegraph company are to be found in ninety-nine of every bundred railroad stations in this country. Nor is it so very long ago that rallroad and telegriph men would have laughed ct & hint of separation between the Western Unjon and any of the great firoads, least of all the Pennsylvan! ?ot for more than a mopth now the West- ern Union folk, peremptorily ordered off, ' pave doen busily vacating their ofces and wemoving their wires from along the Penn- syivania tracke. By September 1 the tra: fer must be compiete and this Wwiii mark as interesting a od in the history of the telegraph .in as the period which was opened when the late John W. Mackay u‘u?& the Jo-.‘nl 'mm-v! "y.; 1t does 1 ,“In the view of 1 this is the begin- Western Union's " rallroads in gen- with the 's direct yearly loss of rev- epue (groes) will be about $50,000 a year, ~but the net will be much less. There is big territory and some hundreds of polnts Early Telegrap! Train Orders. The rallroads began to use the tel sraph in running trains early in the 'G0s, , Possibly In ‘49 or even '48. But the train order of the mid-century was crude and often ineffective. ~ Repeatedly it brought ., About disaster instead of Insuring safety. ‘It was so lmperfect, indeed, that some rallroads gave up the use of the wire alto- gether aftor a comparatively brief trial. 1858, 8. W. Roberts, then super- the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & the Penn- rescinding led to one of 0 forward steps ever taken in the T it of the greatest rail-’ UncleSam’s New Big Gun | The most powerful weapon In the world, which Uncle Sam is to use along with other monsters of its kind in coast de- fense, has been completed at the Watervilet arsenal after four years' labor, and now les in the seaconst gunshog there, await- Ing transportation to Sandy Hook, where its remarkable estimated strength will be proved or disproved. It is very likely that this tremendous weapon will never be fired at an enemy; but even wo, the great ex- penditure of money it hus nedessitated will not be wholly wasted, for who ean estimate tha moral foree exerted on hostile parties by & gun that Is forty-nine feet long, weighs 150 tons and can throw a mfssiie sixteen inches in diametor and five feet four inches hing 2,370 poun: ty-one miles? Such a gun ought to by to a nation what a bulldog is to an orchard or an elaborate burglar alarm system to a bank. This blg gun is so heavy that it cannot be shipped to Saudy Hook by rail like ordinary little cannon. It welghs more than the heaviest locomotive, and the rail- road companies will not take the risk of delivering 1t sately; 50 one of thy big New York wrecking companies will pivk it up and put it aboard a barge, and thus take it to Sandy Hook by water. It Is expected that within a few weeks the.first shot will be fired from this monster gun, and that event will be regarded with much interest by all military powers. The one thing about this sixteen-inch gun 1s not its great length or its enormous weight, but the almost inconceivable dis- tance to which it can throw a mis James M. Ingalls of the Fifth ar for many, yea structor at the artillery school for officers at Fort Monroe, 18 prob- ably the most expert’officer In this country at estinating the flight of projectiles. Somd go the British government was trying inch gun In England. Artillery ex- s from all over the world were invited to make an estimate of the range, and Major Ingalls plotted the fall of the shot only & few hundred feet short of the actual distance, while the other estimates varied from 1,500 yards Yo a few miles short. This same Major Ingalls estimates that the six- teen-inch gun will send its one-ton bullet 20078 miles. With this gun mounted on Sandy Hook it could reach all of Manhattan as far north as Central park and any part of Brooklyn; or, set up on Mount Tom it could pump shell fnto the midst of Thompsonville. Such at least is the result reached by Major Ingalls' figures. The firing table for the gun;"prepared by Major Ingalls, shows that this range is attainable with a muzsle ve- loclty of 2,800 feet per second, the n angle of elevation being forty degree: trajectory of the projective shows that in ranging to 20.978 miles the shell would reach the maximum elevation of 30,516 feet. This is enormously greater than the maximum range hitherto obtained by any other gun, which at present stands to the credit of the Krupp 9.46-inch gun, which was fired on the Meppen range, in the presence of the emperor of Germany, April 28, 1802. The measured range was found to be 22,120 yards, or, roughly speaking twelve and one- owii The greatesu i by the Krupp shell ‘in its flight was 21,458 feet, and the time odeupied between the firing of the gun and ‘the striking of the Projectile was 70.2 seéonds: 4 175 ik ' Major Ingdlls’ caluculation or prophecy is not ‘universally”atcepted. Forelgn ballistic. experts nv‘nnpuc’i._l Sayd the Scientific the wire wae t had carefully realizing these possibilities. is simplicity iteelf. “Fort Wayne" then was, involve two trains. They may be moving in oppesite directions and be scheduled to meet at & given station, or other point, where therd is a side track that will enable them to pass. Train No. 1 has lost time and to hold train No. 2 at the usual passing point till the arrival there of train No..1 will make both late. The meet- ing therefore must be at a different point than Is customary. Or a fast traln may be due to pass and overtake a slow one moving in the same direction; one or the other of these trains may have missed its schedule and therefore need instructions. Or a wild- eat train or engine (one not running on any regular schedule) may be sent out and all trains along the line it is likely to meet or pass must be . In all such cases it is the use of the telégraph alone that ensbles the business of the road to go on safely and without interruption. Before the “double order” system each conductor to be imstructed received an in- dividual message from the traln dispatcher. Sometimes the meesage was very full, tell- ing him of the movements of other trains us well as directing his own; sometimes ita meagerness was extrems, all explanatory clauses being rapidiy left out. So unskill- fully were the messages often worded that, as Mr. Layng remembers, a large propor- tion bad to be “interpreted” for the con- duetors before they would consent to go ahead. ‘ Nowadays, under the “double order” sys- tem, when messages are to be sent direct- Ing conductors of two trains, both men re- celve the same message. And this Is how the thing is dome: “Copy 1™ From the wire reports which he is con- stantly vecelving the dispatcher knows at 40 a. m., say, that train No, 1 (ea bound), which should be at station Q at 10 o'clock to meet and pass train No. 2 (westbound), bas fallen behind, and st the moment is approaching station U. Train No. 2, on time, is approaching station O. The dispatcher ecalls up the operators at stations O and U, directing them that there will be orders for the comductors of the two trains, No. 1 at Ujand Ne. 2 at O. Then he sends the one word, “Copy,” tollowing it with ao order reading something llke this, It there are no serious complications: “Trains No, 1 and 2 will meet at 8. In the absence of further orders, No. 1 will ‘wait there untll the arrival of No. 3." This : fa given in duplicste to ore, who are signalled that orders are awaiting them as they pull is at stations U and O. Before either can TR stations to nearest sta- uews from THE OMAHA DAILY BEE: SUNDAY, AUGUST 10, 1002 American: “If we are to beflave the artile lery experts of the Krupps and n German artillery officer who writes in & recent lsste of La Revue Technique, American estimates of the extreme range of which the new six- teen-inch gun will be capable are alto- gether too sanguine. The range of this weapon us calculated by Major James M. Ingalls, the head of the artillery school for offa at Fort Monroe, Va., is 20.9 miles. But the German expert denies that the gun can range further than sixteen miles, while the writer In La Revue Technique claims that the maximum range of our few army gun 18 oniy about two-thirds of Major In- galls’ estimath, or from fourteen to fiftech miles. The latter estimate is arrived at by the method of vertical spseds expressed as functions of times of Sight.” This blg gun is the first of a series of gigantic weapons which were proposed for the seacoast defense of the United States. The Endicott board, which had the whole subject of weacoast under consideration, several years ago recommended that tem elmilar guns be mounted at San Francisco, eight at Boston and four at Hampton Roads. It has taken about four years to bulld the gun, work on it having been begun on May 14, 1698. Beesuso of the more urgent need of other classes of guns work has been sus- pended at intervals on the big gun. Five hundred and sixty days of elght hours each are the estimated time required to manu- facture a sixteen-inch gun from the time the forgings are received from the steel works. The forgings in the rough welgh 868,000 pounds. Of the estimated time of manufacture 193 days are given to varfous boring operations, 175 days to the turning and 192 days to the shrinkage, rififtng and other delieate operations. The original fn- tention was not to manufacture more than cne gun of this caliber each year. The ca- pacity of the seacoast gun shop in addition to the above work is estimated at sixteen twelve-inch, sixteen ten-inch, sixteen eight- inch and twelve twelve-inch rified mortars ech yesr. With two shifts of eight hours each the capacity of the shop would be doubled. The field and slege gun shop's out- put can readily be brought to 450 fleld guns and seventy-five eloge guns and mortars per year, in addition to the work in the seasoast gun shop. The sixteen-inch gun does not differ ma- terially, except in the proportion and dis- tribution of its parts, from the average bullt-up army guns, says the Troy Times. It consists of a long inner tube; a heavy Jacket extending from the breech to about six feet beyond the trunnions; the chase hoops, extending from the jacket to the muzzle, and the jacket hoop, enclosing the jacket, and extending from the breech for bout halt the length of the gun. Th Jength of the gun is 49 feet 2 9-10 inches; diameter of breech, 5 feet; of mussle, 3 feet 4 inches; of the bore, 16 inches. The total welght of the forgings of the gun, ag recelved from the steel works, was 368,000 pounds. The finished gun will welgh about 300,000 pounds, leaving the amount of steel rEmoyed irom diiiereni peris Guilis facture about 68,000 pounds. The projec- tile of the gun will be 6 feet 4 inches in length, and the penetration, in steel at | the muszzle, corresponding to mussle ergy, of 88,000-foot tons, is 42.3 inches. Other guns have been built before this ju other countries of larger caliber, of them ever approached in power the ; back that cutting the wire interrupted the regular transmission of niessages, thus ranging the busines: of the railroad and stopping all commercial telegraphing, if | there were but one wire, until’ linemen |could be sent for and the wire mended. | Sometimes this might not be possib peclally in the early days, for the resulting loss, confusion an intercepted messagss bocame & serious matte The “circuit breaker” wnich young Layng invented to overcome all this is as simple s his “double orders.” It is merely a sort of double clamp, not larger than a pocket knife, which is fastened to the wire that is to be cut in such & way that it may be severed between the two ends of the clamp. By this device the wire may be tapped without imterrupting the regular flow of telegrams at all, except for the brief time required to wire news of the accident to the “super.” By & slmple de- h prevents them from falling to the ground, furnishes the path over which the electric fluld travels past the point of cutting after the message for which the wire was cut has been sent. Mr. Layng might i increased his weelth a lot through this device had he ‘wished, since it is now in universal use by the raliroads, but he took out no patent and has been quite content with the knowl- edge that his ingenuity has made raliroad operation simpler. R “Ciringing Time Tables. ‘The third simplification of raflroad opera- tion due to Mr. Layng is the use of threads, pegs and a big board, representing a rail road line, or division thereof, in time table making. In the early deys, when there were only two or three trains & day each way to be got over amy raliroad, the making of the time table was simplicity itself, but as raliroad business grew the practical m Wwho had to blaze the way in all executive rallroad matters were much pussled for a simple time table making scheme. No one knows who thought of the use of “cross- section paper,” the vertical lines standing for hours and minutes and the horizontal ones for the stations and sidings on the road, while the trains were represented by lines running diagonally. At all events, this method was I use In the 'G0s, and George W. Fulton, superintendent of the Steubenville & Indiana railroad, now a part of the Panbandle system, taught its mys- teries to young Layng. To him the sys- tem seemed the simplest that cuid be de- vised, but the method was slow and cum- bersome, the diagonal lines for the trains Baving to be drawn in. Often these lines bad to be drawn, erased and redrawn re- peatedly before they were got ia perfeot Sbape, and thus the making of a time table ‘Was an exceedingly slow job. Ome day young man had & bright idea, which he once carried into execution by haviag smooth board made, which he fastened the wall. Then he divided the vertically with horizontal lues, each representing one mile and the whole of them the total length of the road. Then | On the first experiment this method was | found (ar superior to the old one, and to- jday it is used by every raflroad in the jworld that runs tralos enough to make the preparation of its time table & complicated stringing of the threads ls gem- ertaken on cach road by oficlale . but none , Cannen Which Throws a One. Ton Shot Twenty-One Miles. new sixteen-inch rifie. A gun built for the Italian government had a caliber of 17.75 inches and threw a projectile weighing 2,000 pounds, but its muasle energy was only 40,000-foot” tons as compared with $5,000-foot tons, which is the muxzle en- ergy of the Waterviiet gun. France built & gun with a ecaliber of 16.5 Inches, with a projectile weighing 1,700 pounds, but it developed a mu: energy of only 86,000~ foot tons and a mu: velocity of only 1,700 fest per second. A gum bullt by the Armstrongs for the British navy had a caliber of 16.95 inches and throws a projecs tile weighing 1,800 pounds, with a muszle velocity of 2,100 foet per second. The Pritish gun comes the nearest to rivaling the new gun in power, but it falls short 85 per cent. The gun will be méunted upon a dlsap- plaring carrfage equipped with a counter- poise, weighing 130 tons, for elevating the gun to the firing position. In spite of its enormous bulk and welght, the gun is as easily handled as the lightest fleld plece. The breech block welghs an even tom, but a chila operate the machinery which opens 1t and swings it clear of the gun. Three separate movements are required to open the breech, but they are all controlled by & set of worm gearing that is very sim- ple in operation and requires only a few turns of the crank. When the crank is first set In motion the brecch makes a half turn, releasing the threads of the Inter- rupted screw by which it is held In place in the breech, a few more turns suffice to withdraw the block from the breech and then the entire breech block wung clear of the breech on & heavy hinge or comsul, leaving the chamber open to recelve the charge. Hvery part of the gun is built as accurately as the works of a watch. To prevent the possibility of a premature dis- charge there two cunningly devised safeguards, The gun may be fired either by electrieity or by an ordinary friction primer. When the breech starts to open the very first movement disconnects the electrical firing apparatus, and it remains dilsconnected until the last movement In closing the breech. The first movement to open the breech also prevents the inaer- tion of a friction primer. As the breech block makes its first turn a thin, flat piece of steel slides over the it and remains there until the last turn of the erank that locks the breech. If smokeless powder is used 576 pounds will be required for a charge; if the old-fashioned black powder is used 1,176 pounds will be necessary. Colonel Joseph Pearson Farley, com- mandant at Watervilet, has been responsi- ble for the successful construction of the sixteen-inch gun. His initials are counter- sunk in the steel face of the gun and he is ald to have remarked that he would rat! have his name there than any other place in the world. Colonel Farley served dur- ing the civil war with the army of the Potomee and in the slege of Charleston, 8. C. Bince the war his service has been nals and foundries, as * o, In addition to his Cutles as commanding officer of the arsenal, Colonel Farley is president of the board for the examination of ordnance officers for promotion and president of the statutory bosrd for the test of rifled cannon. No type of gun is accepted for the service without passing the tests prescribed by .this board. on the "i‘m Wayne" | that in-case of accident the line eould be|of some consequence fn. the exeoutive de< t out the best way of [cut and the news wired promptly. This|partment. After §t § The scheme plan worked admirably, but it had the draw- {the working out of been aceomplished time table, as the passenger sees it, 1§ merely a matter of" clerical application. Elementary Time Table Board. The diagram given. with this article repre- ts the time table board of the imaginary ‘Annandale & Lancaster Raliroad,” eighty miles long, for the six hours beginning at 12 o'clock noon and ending at 6 p. ;. There are four trains each way, the I senting threads) running dlagonally down- ward from left to right representing threads that stand for southbound trains, and the lines running in the opposite direction (up- ward from left to right) ding for nerth- bound tra Southbound trains take odd Bumbers, northbound even numbers. Train One js an express leaving Annandale at 12 m., making forty miles an hour and only Lwo stops between terminals. Its diagonal is more vertical than that of the slower trains, and it {s off the rails and out of the way in two hours. VItain Three is a freight train leaving “Annandale,” the northern terminal, at the same time as Train Oné. It is supposed to get over the road in six hours, the running time being about,thirteen miles an hour. Trains Fivé and Seven are local passenger traine, making all stops and mn-nh‘ st about twemty-elght miles an . Treins Two, Four, Six and Eight, north< bound, are the opposites of the southbound trains and run on practically similar time, but as the southbound trains have the right ©of way, the northbound trains are, at times, run faster, or slower, as the necessities of the case demand, in order that they may meet at stations (where there are side- tracks, of course, for passing) or at special sidings put in where there are no stations for the exproas purpose of ailowing meet- ings and passings. There are two of these extra sidings oo the “Annandale & sidings are to be found on all single track ronds. The freight trains are supposed to stop several minutes at each of the meeting and passing stations, hence the double pegs &t such stations. The regulation time table worked out from the board is appended. It should be understood that the board for the full day would represent twenty-four hours and that the speed of the trains in actusl practice would not be as uniform as here shown, variations Delng neceseary for grades, curves, ete.: “ANNANDALE MCMHB RAIL- SOUTHBOUND TRAINS. N T M. i “E Stations l Miles. 12:00 o camiotere i | WALTER MORRIS. B e e by The feud between the Hargls and Cock. rell families In and around Jackson, Ky., has borne unexpected frult. Fire insurance companies doing business In that disturbed section are policies because of threats of arson made by the opposing fac- VARICOGELE Rervors of *1 Gure Varicocels without thus avolding the surgery.” HAVE YOU ANY OR ALL OF THESE SYMPTOMS? The characteristic llen condition of the scrotal envre sexual reglon; sharp, shooting aorces the amall of o wer; sorotum and testacles; pains ‘sradual decline of vifiie por shrunken organs; blue rings night; disziness and falling POOr memory; no ambition Rem despondency. The e accompanying menta form of my under ye. l‘?ptoml of varicocels are: A knotted and yelne: a wensation in ins in the ok & atrophled or am or itel g } _ prematureness; the eyes; t; nervous lon to ladies’ soclety loal suffering is equ only by istress, whleh‘m"flfi'y.‘lfln the forebodings of in.pending ter. Our Electro-Medical Treatment Improvea the patient from cease; the Longest Established, Most SBuccess- ful and Reliable Spectalists in Diseases of Men, Medical Diplomas, UMT and News- paper Records Show. ve! natural drains cease, all the ve H"."I’. Al s of stagmant bloo? lbr:"f' from ¢ ins, which rapldly assume their normal mfllfln a van! oflnlfilfi:fw. and In pleasure of perfeot health lal he un- ln‘i;;l'fil\(!:“.f X ‘weal » comes o, er and und restored manhood. T oyt " weakness We do mot treat all diseases, but we cure all we treat; we treat men only and oure them We cure to stay eured Varicocele, Stricture, Lost eases and weaknesses of me! to hold for our promises. men, and to which countiess tomgues gladly testify? te stay wod, Atrophied or Shrunken Organs, + Urinary Diseases, and ail assoclate dls- ‘We charge nothing for private counsel and give to each patient & LEGAL CONTRACT Is it not worth your while to Investigate a cure shat has made life e YOUNG, MIDDLE-AGED AND OLD MEN—ecall at our ofice ow to multitudes ot tedny, or write for our book, FREE, which will explain the diseases we cure, and how we cure them to stay cured when others fail. STATE ELECTRO-MEDICAL INSTITUTE 1308 Farnam 8t., bet. I3th and i4th Streets, Omaha, Neb. Consultation Fres and Confidential STt References—Best hanks and leading business men of the city, Officially Geclared ihe best whiskey in the world. Impartial judges awarded Gold Medals to HARPER WHISKEY at Cotton Exposition, New Orleans, 1885; World’s Fair, selle, Paris, 1900. BERNWEIM BROS.. Distiflors. Chicago, 1803; Expesition Unjver ) Loutsville, Ky. V. 8. A (lssued Under Authority of the Rallroads of Nebraska.) Statement Showing the Great Wealth of BUTLER, COUNTY, NEBRASKA, And the Small Proportion Returned for Taxation. Statement showing variations in assessments in Butler county, between 1893 and 1900: Returned for Assessment im 242,858 acres improved land .. 167,008 acres unimproved land 11,003 horses . 21,685 cattle 19,358 hogs . Agricultural implements Rallroad and telegraph . All other pro perty .... Total assessment . 1898, Value. 948,469 821,646 102,944 Per Unit. 891 3.00 1116 3.60 133 Returned for Assesament in 1000, Valus. The census report for 1900 gives the following returns for agricultural wealth in Butler county: 366,507 acres land Agricultural jmplements Live stock Products not fed to live stock. . Percentage of land value retus Percentage of agricultural implemeent value retu Percentage of ive stock value returned for taxation For the purpose of confirming these figures, we give a Jist of property sold lately in Butler county, showing con- sideration pald and amount returned for assessm Sectlon Town- or Lot. ship. B Range or Block. [ ¥ 15 15 15 1 % " " 15 1% A 113 From the best information we can get for lands are assessed at but 7 per cent of their ceunty. ZRpZZAYNZRZ PLE LT T wEEBERaaBRE - Consider- Assessed ation. Val, 1902 the present year, true value in this In Butler county the taxes are quite gemerally paid; the county is in default but $4,313.80 state tax and $1,985.04 of this amount has been owing for over thirty years; as'a matter of pride, it nothing ek county as rich as this should wipe out the little amount delinquent, as it would not be a hardship to de so. It Is the delinguent taxes that have caused the state debt. This is another one of the rich countles the statement that the banks made in July, in Nebraska and 1901, to the bunk directories show that the whole copaty is prosperous, Val. Farm Bldgs. 91,764,310 We give a statement of the condition of the banks in the county in July, 1901: +Central Neb. Natl. Bank Bank of Bralnard. «Platte Valley Bank. $1,227,520 The ridiculous amount returned for taxation in this county can'be readily seen when it is known that in that year ail other property {n the county than rallroad and telegraph prop- erty was returned for adsessment in & sum amounting to 91,736,005, while this bank statement shows that the capital and eurplus and deposits of money in the benks slone amounted to $1,567,880. According to the report of the suditor, the banking insti- tutlons returned the following amounts for taxation in this county: Moneys of bankers and brokers Credits of bankers and brokers . Bonds, stocks and warrasts Shares of capital stock .... 7,670 2,807 n m The statement of the condition of the banks shows that they were conservatively managed and had their funds well in hand, and this statement ahows that they are comservative i operations: Apparyot profit in operstion.......... Out of which the rallroads pald tekos amounting to $256,652.72 in Butler county. estimating values for taxation as well. Nome of the rallroeds in Butler county pay much profit. In 1900 they report the foliowing as the result of their ' Net Barnngs. Total Net Bar- ings in County. §72,083.38 12,045.40 380410 $98,022.94 ol 489,005.93 Pitts,, Bess, & L K. R. R pays 1 310 per cent net chrsings for taxes, Pemusylvania B. R. Co. pays 3 7-10 per cent met carmings for tazes, B. & 0. R. . pays 6 per cent net carnings for tazes. Rallroads of Nebraska pay 10 6-10 per cent . aska, pay 38 m of Butler County, N raings for taxes. Per cont met cxrnings for taxes