Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 February 1914 — DOING A GREAT WORK [ARTICLE]

DOING A GREAT WORK

RAILROAD SUPPLY MANUFACTURERS DESERVE PRAISE. Their Duty It Is to See That Small Details of Safety Devices, That Mean so Much, Shall Always Be Up to 'the Mark.

That the -automatic railway signal of today is where it is, is due to the needs of modern transportation being supplied by the railroad supply manufacturer. He is the one who has dug deep into this problem; to him we look for its final solution. One has only to go back to a few years ago to remember the famous Burlington tests, remember who gave to the railroads the air brake, without which today even fast freight trains, to say nothing of the passenger trains, would be impossible. Like a victorious army, the manufacturers of railway supplies of this country march on to conquer and subdue all before It. Here and there are leaders who stand out more prominently than the rank and file, but nevertheless the rank and file Is doing the work and doing Important work. The greatest general in the world can accomplish nothing with an undisciplined army of ignoramuses and cowards. Credit is due, then, not only to the manufacturers of railway supplies whose names are known world wide, but also to the individuals who are unknown outside of their own little spheres. The automatic railway signal is valueless to a large extent if the signal lamp, which Is to do duty ajt night, fails. The signal lamp is a small thing, prosaic, only a link in the chain, but nevertheless it must do Its work, and do. It properly. That It does do the work for which it is intended is to the credit of the. railway supply manufacturer. The co-operat-ing with the railway officers hp.s in this, as in a thousand other things, developed modern railway transportation in all its branches, until today It stands as the eighth wonder of the world. We who are a part of all this are too close to it to get the right perspective, to gain an adequate idea of the wonderful opportunities and the important part that we are playing in the advancement of civilisation. Water and coaling stations, draft gear and brake beams, tie plates and car curtains, signal lainps and rail anchors, play their part in advancing civilization, and the school and the church and the college are not the only factors that make for progress in the life of any nation. We had schools and churches and colleges thousands of years before we ever had railroads, and we never had the modern twentieth century until the railroads made It possible for groups of people In various parts of the world to get acquainted with various other groups. It Is the railroads that have given the human race the opportunity for co-operation.—Bruce V. Crandall, Secretary National Railway Appliances Association.