Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 173, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 July 1912 — WOULD BUILD ROAD TO MOON [ARTICLE]

WOULD BUILD ROAD TO MOON

Total Trackage of the United States Is 350,000 Mile*— Rails Weigh 43,000,000 Tons,""” The trackage of the United States, 350,000 miles, would build a railroad (from the earth to the moon, and ..IMJ&0 —BstHes- beyond,7Hor"T33~Tfall r continental railroads. The rails of the 350,000 miles of our tracks weigh approximately 43,000,000 tons, and would counterbalance the weight of tbree-fourths of the people of the earth. There are enough to form eighty-two steel roads with which to skewer the earth. To hold the rails to the ties, in round numbers, thirty times as many spikes are necessary, 300,000.000, as the number of stars which even the keen lens and the sensitive film of the camera have been able to reveal. The cost of these spikes alone Is approximately $30,000,000. Practically 900,000,000 ties, 7,650,000 feet long, receive these spikes. To transport each passenger the railroads move four and a half tons of equipment, or dead weight, useful only in making it possible to carry a passenger in safety and comfort. For each family in the United States the railroads ship seventy-five tons annually; this is equal to one ton being shipped a total distance of 11,325 miles. ' a Each inhabitant of the United States takes approximately ten trips on the railroads yearly of thirty-three miles each. The cost of this service is only 17-10 cents per day per capita, and nothing if he does not choose to travel.