was the first to put to sleep a patient with ether, and remove a small
growth. The patient, upon awakening, had experienced no pain. This
method of relieving pain was christened “anæsthesia” several years
later, by the distinguished Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes, whose writings
did more than those of any other American to eradicate “child-bed
fever.” Every woman in the land owes him an eternal debt of gratitude.
To Guthrie, of Sackett’s Harbor, New York, is due the credit of first
discovering chloroform, but Sir James Simpson, of Edinburgh, deserves
the credit of first employing it in medicine.
The surgeons of America laid the foundation of gynecology, the progress
of which has been more marked than any department of medicine. The
first ovariotomy in the world was performed by Dr. Ephraim McDowell
in Kentucky, December, 1809. This was prior to the days of anæsthesia
and antisepsis, and a howling mob awaited outside, ready to murder the
brave surgeon should his patient die during the operation. “In five
days,” says Dr. McDowell, “I visited her, and much to my astonishment
found her engaged in making up her bed.” Dr. J. Marion Sims, our
illustrious genius who established an international reputation, did
much to promulgate plastic work on the female genitalia. The deeds
of medical men are soon forgotten by an ungrateful public, and the
sons of Æsculapius are the last to have monuments erected to their
memory. But four exist in America; one, in New York, to that grand old
gynecologist, Dr. J. Marion Sims; one in Washington, to Dr. Samuel
D. Gross, “the Nestor of American Surgery;” one in Bushnell Park,
Hartford, Conn., to Dr. Horace Wells, the discoverer of anæsthesia; and
one in the Public Garden in Boston to the discoverer of anæsthesia.
This last bears no name. Antisepsis and anæsthesia have played an
unusually important role in obstetrics, by alleviating the sufferings
of childbirth and eradicating child-bed fever, thus reducing the
mortality of both mother and child.
Physiology has made very rapid strides during this era. Beaumont, in
his famous work, describes digestion in the stomach and experiments on
the gastric juice. He was enabled to observe this in a voyageur who
was accidentally wounded in the stomach by the discharge of a musket,
June, 1822. Quite a large opening remained, which Nature closed with
a valve. By pushing the valve to one side, the interior of the stomach
could be explored.
Through the work of the experimental physiologists in the laboratories,
the study of the action of drugs on the lungs, heart, liver, stomach,
nerves, etc., has been greatly enhanced.
Anatomy is now being taught by the only true method, and that is
dissection. Didactic lectures are given, but the student must dissect
every part of the human body before he can receive his degree. Formerly
graves were robbed, and the bodies sold to the colleges. Now, however,
through legislative enactment, unclaimed bodies are turned over to the
colleges, where they are preserved either by injection, a pickling
process, or by cold storage.
[Illustration: J. MARION SIMS, A.B., M.D., (Late Surgeon to the Woman’s
Hospital, New York.)]
The ophthalmologists of to-day fear nothing inside nor outside the eye.
Cross eyes are straightened, cataracts removed, eyeballs taken out and
glass eyes inserted.
This article would be incomplete, were not a few remarks directed
toward the trained nurse.
The first training school for nurses in America was established in
connection with the Lying-in Charity Hospital of Philadelphia in 1828.
This school, still in existence, thus has the honor of being the oldest
in this country, and is antedated by only one abroad.
The generally recognized profession for women, that of the trained
nurse, is practically of recent development. Twenty-five years ago
the training school connected with the Bellevue Hospital, New York,
graduated a class of five nurses. This was a marked departure in the
medical history of this country. Since then the demand for the trained
nurse has been great, and no hospital is complete without such a
training school.
The progress of medicine in the nineteenth century has been far
more rapid, creditable, and momentous than during any like period
of the past. This is true not only in the United States, but in
every civilized country. Its entire scope, meaning, and purpose have
undergone changes equivalent to revolution. Antique superstitions,
idle theories, foolish speculations, absurd practices, the ridiculous
jealousies and incriminations of opposing schools, have been largely
eliminated. Medical institutions are upon the loftiest plane in their
history. Teachers are better endowed than ever before. Periods of
scholastic preparation have been lengthened and curriculums enlarged,
thus securing for the fields of practice a higher mental equipment and
more conscionable devotion to duty. Never before have the auxiliary
and material agencies been turned to so frequent and preventive
account. Electricity, the microscope, anæsthesia, antisepsis,
laboratory experiment, hospital opportunities, etc., are ever constant
inspirations to skilled treatment and fresh researches. As the grand
army of humanitarian workers was never so large as at the end of the
century, so it was never better fortified for attack upon the enemies
of health, fuller of enthusiasm or more deeply established in the
public confidence. One may not, as yet, assert that medicine is ridding
itself of empiricism with a satisfactory degree of rapidity, or that
it has arrived at the stage of an exact science, but it surely has
approached such a stage as nearly as conditions will allow.
EVOLUTION OF THE RAILWAY
BY E. E. RUSSELL TRATMAN, C.E.,
_Assistant Editor of “Engineering News,” Chicago_.
The railway as a means of rapid transportation and general
intercommunication is one of the most important factors in the
development of modern commerce and civilization, and, after reviewing
what it has done and become in the nineteenth century, one cannot
help wishing for the opportunity to review the railway wonders of the
twentieth century.
While the history of the railway dates back far beyond the nineteenth
century, yet the railway, as we know it to-day, is essentially a
product of this century. It dates, in fact, from England in 1830, when
the Liverpool & Manchester Railway, 31 miles long, was opened, and
was operated from the beginning by steam locomotives. The Stockton &
Darlington Railway, 37 miles, was opened in 1825, but this line was
intended only for private coal traffic, while the other line was built
for general passenger and freight service, and for the use and benefit
of the public.
The United States followed this lead very closely. In 1828 the Delaware
& Hudson Canal Company built a line from its mines to its canal at
Honesdale. This was a private coal road, however, and may best be
compared to the Stockton & Darlington Railway. The first public railway
operated by steam was the Mohawk & Hudson Railway, from Albany to
Schenectady, 16 miles, which was opened in 1831. The Baltimore & Ohio
Railway was the first railway enterprise of more than local character,
being designed to open communication with the Ohio River, a distance of
400 miles. It was chartered in 1827, commenced in 1828, completed to
Ellicott’s Mills (13 miles) in 1830, and to Washington (40 miles) in
1834. It is one of the great monuments of the American railway system,
and it was examined by government commissions from Russia and Austria
in 1831 and 1849.
In speaking of the railway we unconsciously associate with it the steam
locomotive, since the two are so entirely interdependent. Railways
operated by horses, or by cables and stationary engines, could never
have become the great civilizing and commercial medium which the
railway operated by swift locomotives has become. Similarly, the
development of the locomotive grew apace, as soon as it was recognized
that the smooth track of the railway—and not the rough track of the
highway—was to be its field of operation.
At the end of the nineteenth century, after seventy years of
development, the world has nearly 500,000 miles of railway, on which
locomotives of 80 to 110 tons in weight (without their tenders) haul
freight trains of 1000 to 3000 tons. Passenger trains, too, are run
at speeds of 40 to 75 miles per hour in regular daily service, and
even make bursts of speed at 80 to 100 miles per hour. The fact that
in 1890 Europe and North America had about 320,000 miles of railway
out of a grand total of 370,000 miles, indicates that this phase of
nineteenth-century progress has been due mainly to peoples of Christian
civilization, and besides this, it must be remembered that the
railways of Asia, Africa, Australia, and South America have been mainly
built by the same peoples. The central regions of these four latter
geographical divisions are fields for twentieth-century development.
The great trunk lines of railway communication are hardly more
important than the vast network of branch and minor lines which connect
and intersect them. These latter lines bring the people of smaller
towns and country districts into closer relation with the large cities,
the centres of industrial and intellectual energy, enterprise, and
wealth. They thus tend to reduce isolation and dependence upon purely
local resources.
[Illustration: THE OLD STAGE COACH.]
Railways also serve important military and strategic purposes. In India
many of the railways have been built with a view to the defense of the
northeastern frontier, and many European governments assume certain
military authority over the railways. The first trans-continental
railways of the United States and Canada were largely assisted by
government subsidies on account of their great importance for the
transportation of troops. The railway also serves purposes of pleasure,
as well as of commerce and war. Not only do the ordinary railways carry
much tourist and pleasure travel, but lines are built exclusively for
such travel. Some of these take people to the summer and pleasure
resorts, while others cater to the inherent desire of man to ascend
great altitudes and to behold the world in its beauty and grandeur
spread below them. For this purpose alone have railways been built to
the summits of the Rockies, the Alps, and other mountain ranges.
At the end of the century the United States has about 185,000 miles
of railway, which have cost about $53,000 per mile and earn $6500 per
mile. Great Britain has about 22,000 miles, which have cost $225,000
per mile and earn about $20,000 per mile. A large proportion of this
high cost of construction is due to the high prices for land and to the
preliminary parliamentary proceedings which are necessary in securing
the right to build railways. The average cost per mile of railways in
different countries is as follows:—
United States $53,000
India 75,000
Japan 92,000
France 100,000
Germany 101,500
Switzerland (ordinary) $119,300
Do (mountain) 162,500
Russia 122,000
Austria-Hungary 125,400
Great Britain 225,000
One of the great economic purposes of railways in new countries is
to reduce the cost of rapid transportation in bulk far below that of
slow transportation in small quantities. Train speed is a matter of
secondary importance in such cases, the traffic accommodation and
capacity of the slowest train being far beyond that of road or canal
transportation. Traffic will be served better and at much less cost by
being carried in bulk on 500 miles of railway at 10 miles per hour,
than on 100 miles of railway at 35 miles per hour, and then in small
lots on wagons or canal boats at 3 miles per hour for 400 miles.
The advantages of the rapid transportation of perishable freight by
rail, especially in regard to food supplies for cities, were early
recognized, and by 1854 the trains brought car-loads of country milk
into London every day. Previous to this, the supply was obtained from
cows kept in stables, which was an unsanitary and expensive plan.
Another immediate result of railway service was that people began
to live farther out of the towns, and then began the growth of the
suburban residence districts, which are such a feature of modern cities
and city life.
[Illustration: FIRST TRAIN OF STEAM CARS.]
The early railways were built merely as local lines, and there was
little idea of their ultimate connection or extension. These small
individual lines, however, with their own rate-making powers and
systems of management, have been consolidated into great systems, thus
effecting material economies and facilities in operation. Thus the
Mohawk & Hudson Railway of 1831 was the first of a series of lines
now consolidated to form the New York Central Railway; while the
Liverpool & Manchester Railway of 1830 was the beginning of what is
now the London & Northwestern Railway system. Not only is there this
consolidation, but also a most comprehensive system for the interchange
of traffic between different systems. Thus passengers can purchase
through tickets and travel through from Paris to St. Petersburg, or
from Boston to San Francisco, while freight cars can be sent through
in a similar way. This is really a wonderful feature of railway
development. The following are a few examples of the great railway
systems of the world:—
-------------------------------------+------+--------+---------+-------
Railway. |Miles.| Loco- |Passenger|Freight
| |motives.| Cars. | Cars.
-------------------------------------+------+--------+---------+-------
Pennsylvania (U.S.A.) | 8882 | 3594 | 3847 |146,060
Chicago & Northwestern (U.S.A.) | 7996 | 1380 | 1176 | 49,484
Chicago, Burlington & Quincy (U.S.A.)| 7462 | 1205 | 936 | 40,720
Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fé (U.S.A.) | 7120 | 1036 | 655 | 29,837
Great Western (England) | 2576 | 1837 | 6201 | 53,156
London & Northwestern (England) | 1912 | 2851 | 8446 | 65,456
Paris, Lyons & Mediterranean (France)| 5594 | 2624 | 5837 | 87,320
Western (France) | 3464 | 1492 | 4378 | 26,487
Mediterranean (Italy) | 3568 | 1314 | 3706 | 23,077
Northwestern (India) | 3371 | 602 | 2121 | 10,312
-------------------------------------+------+--------+---------+-------
In some countries the government owns and operates all, or nearly
all, of the railways, as in Germany, Belgium, and the African and
Australian colonies. Switzerland, in 1898, decided that its government
should acquire the railways. In Holland and Italy the government owns
the railways, but leases them to operating companies. France, Brazil,
and the Argentine Republic have both state and private lines, with a
greater or less degree of state assistance and control of the latter.
In Great Britain the railways are owned entirely by private companies,
but their operation is subject to government supervision in the public
interests. In the United States there was at first almost absolute
freedom of construction, but the consequent abuses and financial
disasters, owing to unnecessary lines and cut-throat competition,
have led some of the States to wisely exercise some degree of control
over railway affairs. The interference of the federal government in
railway affairs has been slight but important. In 1862 it aided the
construction of the first transcontinental railway; in 1887 it passed
the act for the regulation of rates, etc., in interstate traffic; and
in 1893 it passed the act making compulsory the use of power brakes and
automatic couplers on freight cars.
Government ownership and operation of railways is rarely satisfactory
from a financial or a traffic point of view, but, on the other hand,
an absolutely unrestricted railway element is liable to become a
serious evil. The best system is undoubtedly that in which the railways
are owned and operated by private enterprise, but subject to state
supervision, like steamships, factories, etc. It must not be forgotten,
however, that private enterprise is not always available. In Russia,
for example, the development of railways would have been but slow on
such a basis; and in India, government backing was needed to induce
British capitalists to enter the field. It is unfortunate for China
that neither the government nor the people have been competent or
enterprising enough to deal with the railway question. The present
system of development by rival interests of various nationalities
seems almost certain to lead to the eventual dissolution of the empire
and its partition among other nations, as Africa is already in large
measure partitioned.
In the United States railway construction has gone by leaps and bounds,
and there is now a vast network of lines,—main, secondary, branch, and
local. The highest records of construction within the past twenty years
were 12,800 miles built in 1887, and 11,600 miles in 1882, while the
lowest record was 1750 miles in 1896. The growth from 1886 to 1899 has
been as follows, the relatively small increase in number of locomotives
being due to the greater power of modern engines:—
---------------------+-------------+--------------+----------
| | | Increase,
| 1886. | 1899. | per cent.
---------------------+-------------+--------------+----------
Mileage | 133,600 | 185,000 | 88.47
Tonnage carried |482,000,000 | 780,000,000 | 62.00
Number of cars | 871,500 | 1,330,000 | 52.61
Number of locomotives| 26,400 | 36,000 | 36.30
---------------------+-------------+--------------+----------
Perhaps the railway of most recent interest is the first line in
Alaska, which is twenty miles long, and was built as a result of
the rush to the Klondike gold fields. This was opened on February
20, 1899. The great transcontinental railways, however, are of much
broader interest. In 1835 the Rev. Samuel Parker, a missionary in
the Northwest, suggested a railway from the Atlantic to the Pacific,
and Dr. Samuel E. Barlow proposed one from New York to the Columbia
River, 2000 miles, to cost $10,000 per mile, and to carry traffic at
about seven miles per hour. From 1844 to 1849 Mr. Asa Whitney urged
Congress to grant land to aid him in building a line from Lake Michigan
to San Francisco, 2030 miles, to cost $20,000 per mile. Between 1853
and 1861 Congress had surveys made of five routes, but no definite
action was taken until after the outbreak of the Civil War, in 1861,
when the federal government soon recognized the importance of having
direct communication with the Pacific States, which were at that time
isolated. Companies were organized in 1862, and work commenced in 1864,
under government subsidies and military aid and protection. On May 10,
1869, the Union Pacific Railway (from the east) and the Central Pacific
Railway (from the west) met at Promontory Point, Utah, 1186 miles from
the Missouri River and 638 miles from Sacramento, Cal.
[Illustration: A RAILWAY TRAIN IN BELGIUM.]
Now, thirty years later, we have six so-called transcontinental
railways, no one of which, however, has its own line from ocean to
ocean, and none of which run through trains or cars. In Canada,
however, the Canadian Pacific Railway (opened in 1887) has a through
line from St. John and Montreal to Vancouver, with through trains daily
between the latter points, 2905 miles. The principal transcontinental
lines, with the total distances from ocean to ocean, are shown on the
following page.
-------------------+-------+------------------------+-------+---------
| | | | Total
Railway. |Opened.| Route. |Length.|Distance.
-------------------+-------+------------------------+-------+---------
1. Canadian Pacific| 1887 |Montreal to Vancouver | 2905 | 2905
2. Great Northern | 1893 |St. Paul to Seattle | 1827 | 3157[6]
3. Northern Pacific| — |St. Paul to Tacoma | 1912 | 3242
4. Union Pacific | 1869 |Omaha to San Francisco | 1928 | 3340
5. Union Pacific | — |Omaha to Portland | 1823 | 3235
6. Atchison, Topeka| | | |
& Santa Fé | — |Chicago to San Francisco| 2577 | 3497
7. Southern Pacific| 1883 |New Orleans to San | |
| | Francisco | 2489 | 4164[6]
-------------------+-------+------------------------+-------+---------
[6] In Nos. 2 and 7 the total distance is given from New York.
Of the various completed and partly completed interoceanic railways
across Central America, the most important by far is the Panama
railway, in Colombia, 47½ miles long. This was opened as long ago as
1855, and was originally intended as a link in a route between New
York and San Francisco, 5450 miles. In South America there are few
railways of great importance, and the interior yet remains undeveloped,
with the exception of the great plains of the Argentine Republic. A
transcontinental line between Buenos Ayres and Valparaiso, 850 miles,
is nearly completed, but work has been stopped for some years, leaving
50 miles yet to be built at the summit of the Andes. An interesting,
but as yet visionary, scheme is that for an intercontinental railway
through Central and South America. The distance from the southern
frontier of Mexico to Buenos Ayres would be 5500 miles. About 1280
miles of this are built, but comprise many small lines which would have
to be rebuilt. The total cost would be about $220,000,000, at a low
estimate, and the total distance from New York to Buenos Ayres would be
10,300 miles by rail.
In Europe there is a vast and comprehensive network of railway lines,
but the distances are less, even St. Petersburg and Constantinople
being but about 1600 and 1800 miles from Paris. While the development
of railways has been remarkable, the most striking features are
the lines which cross the Alps to connect the interior with the
Mediterranean ports. The first of these was the Semmering railway, on
the route between Vienna and Trieste (1854). The Mont Cenis railway
(1867) was mainly a surface line, with heavy inclines operated on the
Fell grip-rail system. Its route followed the great carriage road built
by Napoleon in 1803–10. The railway over the Brenner Pass was opened
in 1868; in 1871 the Mont Cenis tunnel superseded the high-level line,
and in 1880 the Great St. Gothard railway was opened. This was followed
by the Arlberg railway in 1884, and the Simplon railway is now under
construction.
Europe has the only railway within the Arctic Circle. It runs from
Lulea, on the Gulf of Bothnia, northwest to the Gellivara iron mines,
44 miles within the circle. As the port is closed by ice during the
winter, the line is to be extended to the Atlantic coast at Ofoten, 69°
north latitude, where the influence of the Gulf Stream keeps the ports
open. This end of the line will be 130 miles north of the Arctic Circle.
[Illustration: LOOP IN THE SELKIRKS, SHOWING FOUR TRACKS.]
The countries of Asia (with the exception of India) are but scantily
supplied with railways. Even Palestine—the Holy Land—has, however,
been invaded, and has now two railways. One of these is from Jaffa
(the biblical Joppa) to Jerusalem, 54 miles (1892); the other
is from Beirut to Damascus, 70 miles. British interests have long
advocated an “all-rail-to-India” project. The line would start opposite
Constantinople, pass down the Euphrates valley, across Persia, and
along the coast of Baluchistan to Kurrachee, connecting there with
the Indian railway system. This great system aggregates 25,000 miles,
and extends up to the Bolan Pass and the Khyber Pass, on the Afghan
frontier. Southward, it has been proposed to connect with the Ceylon
railways by a line of bridges and embankments along the reefs and
shoals known as Adam’s Bridge.