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used by railways, has fallen in forty-three years—that is, from 1870 to 1912-from £78 per ton to £12 per ton. It may here be stated that the superiority of steel as compared with the old iron rail has resulted in a decrease of labour. The impermanence of the “ permanent way " is no longer a joke.

Mr. R. Price-Williams, formerly manager to Sir Henry Bessemer, tells us that three years was a long life for one of the old iron rails. Mr. F. R. Johnson, of the Great Northern Railway, tells us that an 80-lb. per yard steel rail taken from the Great Northern Railway had borne the heavy traffic of the main line for eighteen years, on a rising gradient, with an estimated tonnage of not less than 100,000,000 tons traffic, and probably 120,000,000 tons traffic. The abrasion of the rail in depth was nine-sixteenths of an inch.

It will thus be seen that the benefits of the steel rail have been, to say the least of it, enormous; not only does the greater durability of steel lessen the number of renewals of rails, but also the labour charges for doing the work, thus effecting an economy in both material and labour. This double advantage would appear to have escaped Sir Charles Owens.

So far from the introduction of steel rails having injured railways, as this expert would have the public believe, it has been the main counteracting influence which has enabled them to survive their bad administration.

The fact, as stated above, that the greater durability of steel has relieved railways of a heavy labour charge for relaying the permanent way, does not appear to help Sir Charles Owens-indeed, it is in flat contradiction to his statement.

It has been stated, and the statement has not been contested, that there has been a decrease in expenditure on rails, of £80,000,000 over a short period of years.

If it had not been for Sir Henry Bessemer it would

appear that railways must have put up their shutters years ago.

So far, so much for steel.

Timber does not quite tell the same story, but there is nothing here to nullify the advantage which should have been derived from the fall in the price of steel.

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Nothing approaching argument in this direction can be advanced.

The cost of paper, including millboard, has decreased between the years 1871-1914. In fact, this decrease amounts to 63 per cent. This is one of the most important items of railway expenditure.

Coal has undoubtedly risen from time to time. It has also sunk from time to time. Comparing the period 1897 to 1907 with the period 1877 to 1887, it has risen by one-third. Against this, the locomotive,

1 See letter to A. W. Gattie from D. R. Cooper, Esq., Editor of The Electrician, Appendix XI., p. 337.

amongst other improvements, now uses less coal to do more work. This fact has many times been most conveniently forgotten.

Sir Charles Owens' ascription of the increased cost of coal, as a factor in the rise of railway expenditure, becomes of no value when we are informed, on the authority of locomotive builders, that the efficiency of the locomotive, that is, the amount of steam power generated per ton of coal consumed, has increased by from 15 per cent. to 25 per cent. during the last ten years, or a mean increase of 20 per cent.

So, knowing what the locomotive has achieved, viz., a mean gain in efficiency of 20 per cent., we now examine the prices of coal for the last forty-four years compared in two groups of twenty-two years each.

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Showing a rise in price of coal of less than 5 per cent. over the whole period of forty-four years.

Therefore, bearing in mind that there has been a rise in efficiency of the locomotive during the last ten years of 20 per cent., we know that steam production is 15 per cent. cheaper than formerly. That is to say, for railway purposes coal itself is 15 per cent. cheaper.

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This figure would represent an economy to the railway companies of about £1,000,000 per annum. But this is not all.

In addition to this 15 per cent. economy there is the further economy due to the increased tractive power of the modern locomotive. This increase now amounts to as much as 97 per cent., and consequently allows an engine-driver and his train staff to do double the amount of work he did formerly.

If the foregoing figures are incorrect it is the

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