Comparisons Showing Length of Railroads and Bulk of Track. THE GREAT RAILROAD SYSTEM OF THE UNITED STATES.

Rock and Gravel Ballast.-After the ties and rails have been laid in the construction of a railroad the ballast cars pass over it and unload their broken rock or gravel, which is tamped beneath and filled around the ties to form a solid but well-drained foundation. On some of our Eastern roads the depth of the ballast will exceed 18 or 20 inches; on the other hand, some of the Western roads have none at all, although of late years a vast advance has been made in the ballast ing of the more cheaply constructed systems. Assuming an average depth of 12 inches of ballast, we find that if the railroad builders of the United States had concentrated their efforts, as did the Egyptians of old, on a single structure on the banks of the Nile, they would, in a period of years not much greater than that required to build the Pyramid, have raised a pyramid of their own 135 times greater in bulk than the tomb of Cheops. This vast pile would measure 3,900 feet on each side at the base, and would lift its head nearly half a mile into the air, or to be exact, just 2.500 feet. Were the spirit of the great Cheops to return to earth, and attempt to pace off the distance around the base, it would have to step out some 5,000 paces, or say three miles, to make the circuit; and should it climb to the summit, it would have to make a journey of about three-quarters of a mile. So much for the roadbed and the track. Now let us turn our attention to the equipment.

Locomotives.-At the close of the fiscal year 1901, there were in service on the United States railroads 39,729 locomotives. Assuming that the av erage locomotive fills a block 10 feet wide by 15 feet high by 50 feet long, and that all these locomotives could be brought into review at Gizeh and there piled up into one great block, a locomotive that would fill that block would be 510 feet in height and 1,700 feet, or, say, a third of a mile, in length, its smokestack towering 29 feet above the summit of the Pyramid.

Passenger Cars.-There are 35,800 passenger, mail and baggage cars on our railroads, and a typical car representing the space occupied by these would be 500 feet high and 1,950 feet in length, and it would take 3 1-2 great Pyramids to equal it in bulk.

Freight Cars. As far as the equipment is concerned it is in the extraordinary number of the freight cars employed that we get the best idea of

the great scale upon which our railroads are operated. The total number of cars is 1,409,472. They vary, of course, considerably in size, capacity and type, there being in addition to the familiar box car, the coal cars of various size and type, the freight cars, and a small number of miscellaneous cars for railroad construction and other purposes. A single box car representing the space occupied by all these freight cars would be two-thirds of a mile in length and one-quarter of a mile in height. The Pyramid of Cheops would reach about to the floor of the car. Were the Eiffel Tower set alongside of it, it would reach only two-thirds of the distance to its roof, while the whole Brooklyn Bridge, with its anchorages, could be placed bodily inside the car, and if the foundations of its piers rested upon the car floor, the summit of its towers would still reach only half way to the roof of the

car.

Employees. It requires over one million employees for the maintenance and operation of our railroads. Of these nearly one-half are engaged upon the track and roadbed, in proportions made up as follows: There are 33,817 section foremen, each of whom has a stretch of a few miles of track under his charge, and a gang of from five to eight or ten section men, his duties being those of maintaining the track in proper level and line, seeing that the track bolts are kept tight, the joints in good order, and that the roadbed is properly trimmed, graded and drained. The total number of trackmen employed in the section gangs, as they are called, is 239,166. There are also 47,576 switchmen, flagmen and watchmen, who are engaged in switching work at the yards, in guarding the level crossings, and in patrolling the track. There are also over 7,423 men employed on work trains and other work incidental to track maintenance. In addition to these there are 131,722 laborers engaged in construction and repair and maintenance work of various kinds, making a total engaged on track work and general labor connected therewith of 459,704 men. Carrying out our system of comparison with some standard of bulk, we have chosen the Park Row Building, New York, which has a total height of 390 feet. If this army of trackmen and laborers were combined in one typical giant, he would be some 385 feet in height and of proportionate weight and bulk. The next largest item is the

THE EMPLOYEES AND THE MONEY VALUE OF THE UNITED STATES RAILROADS.

stationmen.

Station agents and

Conductors

and brakemen.

and firemen.

Enginemen

Clerks, etc.

operators.

Telegraph

officers.

General

machinists, of which there are 34,698, the carpenters, of which there are 48,946, and various other shopmen engaged in the repair and general maintenance of the rolling stock to the number of 120,550, making a total number of skilled and unskilled men in the railroad shops of 204,194. The next largest total is that of the station agents, baggage masters, porters, etc., there being 32,294 station agents and 94,847 baggage masters, porters, etc. Then follow the conductors and brakemen, 32,000 of the former and 84,493 of the latter. There are 92,458 enginemen and firemen, 45,292 of the former and 47,166 of the latter. Employed in the general offices of the various railroad companies, in performing the vast amount of clerical work required, there are 39,701 clerks, while sheltered under the same roof is a body of men upon whom as much as or more than any other in the whole

army of railroad employees falls the responsibility of the safety of trains and passengers-the telegraph operators and dispatchers, of whom there are altogether 26,606. The smallest in number, but controlling the whole of this vast organization, are the general officers, presidents, vice-presidents, treasurers, secretaries, etc., of whom there are 4.780.

Money Value.-Perhaps, after all, the most remarkable figures are those which show the total value of the railroad system of the United States, which expressed in figures is 13,308,029,032 dollars. If this sum were represented in ten-dollar gold pieces, and these pieces were set on edge, side by side, they would reach more than half way from New York to San Francisco, or 1,700 miles. Or, were this coin melted and run into a single casting, it would form a column 15 feet in diameter and 259 feet in height.

The total single-track railway mileage in the United States on June 30, 1903, was 207,977.22 miles, having increased 5,505.37 miles in the year ending on that date. This increase exceeds that of any previous year since 1890. The nineteen states and territories for which an increase in mileage exceeding 100 miles is shown are Arkansas, California, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, Texas, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Indian Territory, New Mexico, and Oklahoma. Most of the railway mileage of the country, excepting that of street lines, is covered by reports rendered to the Commission by the carriers.

For the year under consideration the operated mileage concerning which substantially complete returns were made was 205.313.54 miles, including 5,902.87 miles of line on which trackage privileges were exercised. The aggregate

length of railway mileage, including tracks of all kinds, was 283,821.52 miles, being classified as follows: Single track, 205,313.54 miles; second track, 14,681.03 miles; third track, 1.303.53 miles; fourth track, 963,36 miles; and yard track and sidings, 61,560.06 miles. Thus it appears that there was an increase of 9.626.16 miles in the aggregate length of all tracks, of which 3,339.13 miles, or 34.69 per cent, were due to the extension of yard track and sidings.

Of

The number of railway corporations included in the report was 2,078. this number 1,036 maintained operating accounts, 805 being classed as independent operating roads and 231 as subsidiary roads. Of roads operated under lease or some other form of contract, 316 received a fixed money rental, 150 a contingent money rental, and 275 were operated under conditions not readily classified. In the course of the year railway companies owning 11.074.19 miles of line were reorganized, merged, consolidated, etc. the year 1902 the corresponding item was 7,385.99 miles.

For

The length of mileage operated by receivers on June 30, 1903, was 1,185.45 miles, showing a decrease of 289.87 miles as compared with the previous year. The number of roads in the hands of receivers was the same as at the close of the previous year, 9