[Footnote: A paper by Prof. G.L. Vose, Member of the Boston Society of
Civil Engineers. Read September 15, 1886.]
By Prof. G.L. VOSE.
Few persons, even among those best acquainted with our modern railroad
system, are aware of the early struggles of the men to whose foresight,
energy, and skill the new mode of transportation owes its introduction into
this country. The railroad problem in the United States was quite a
different one from that in Europe. Had we simply copied the railways of
England, we should have ruined the system at the outset, for this country.
In England, where the railroad had its origin, money was plenty, the land
was densely populated, and the demand for rapid and cheap transportation
already existed. A great many short lines connecting the great centers of
industry were required, and for the construction of such in the most
substantial manner the money was easily obtained. In America, on the
contrary, a land of enormous extent, almost entirely undeveloped, but of
great possibilities, lines of hundreds and even thousands of miles in
extent were to be made, to connect cities as yet unborn, and accommodate a
future traffic of which no one could possibly foresee the amount. Money was
scarce, and in many districts the natural obstacles to be overcome were
infinitely greater than any which had presented themselves to European
engineers.
By the sound practical sense and the unconquerable will of George
Stephenson, the numerous inventions which together make up the locomotive
engine had been collected into a machine which, in combination with the
improved roadway, was to revolutionize the transportation of the world. The
railroad, as a machine, was invented. It remained to apply the new
invention in such a manner as to make it a success, and not a failure. To
do this in a new country like America required infinite skill, unbounded
energy, the most careful study of local conditions, and the exercise of
well matured, sound business judgment. To see how well the great invention
has been applied in the United States, we have only to look at the network
of iron roads which now reaches from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico,
and from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
With all the experience we have had, it is not an easy problem, even at the
present time, to determine how much money we are authorized to spend upon
the construction of a given railroad. To secure the utmost benefit at the
least outlay, regarding both the first cost of building the road and the
perpetual cost of operating it, is the railroad problem which is perhaps
less understood at the present day than any other. It was an equally
important problem fifty years ago, and certainly not less difficult at that
time. It was the fathers of the railroad system in the United States who
first perceived the importance of this problem, and who, adapting
themselves to the new conditions presented in this country, undertook to
solve it. Among the pioneers in this branch of engineering no one has done
more to establish correct methods, nor has left behind a more enviable or
more enduring fame, than Major George W. Whistler.
The Whistler family is of English origin, and is found toward the end of
the 15th century in Oxfordshire, at Goring and Whitchurch, on the Thames.
One branch of the family settled in Sussex, at Hastings and Battle, being
connected by marriage with the Websters of Battle Abbey, in which
neighborhood some of the family still live. Another branch lived in Essex,
from which came Dr. Daniel Whistler, President of the College of Physicians
in London in the time of Charles the Second. From the Oxfordshire branch
came Ralph, son of Hugh Whistler, of Goring, who went to Ireland, and there
founded the Irish branch of the family, being the original tenant of a
large tract of country in Ulster, under one of the guilds or public
companies of the city of London. From this branch of the family came Major
John Whistler, father of the distinguished engineer, and the first
representative of the family in America. It is stated that in some youthful
freak he ran away and enlisted in the British Army. It is certain that he
came to this country during the Revolutionary War, under General Burgoyne,
and remained with his command until its surrender at Saratoga, when he was
taken prisoner of war. Upon his return to England he was honorably
discharged, and, soon after, forming an attachment for a daughter of Sir
Edward Bishop, a friend of his father, he eloped with her, and came to this
country, settling at Hagerstown, in Maryland. He soon after entered the
army of the United States, and served in the ranks, being severely wounded
in the disastrous campaign against the Indians under Major-General St.
Clair in the year 1791. He was afterward commissioned as lieutenant, rose
to the rank of captain, and later had the brevet of major. At the reduction
of the army in 1815, having already two sons in the service, he was not
retained; but in recognition of his honorable record, he was appointed
Military Storekeeper at Newport, Kentucky, from which post he was afterward
transferred to Jefferson Barracks, where he lived to a good old age.
Major John Whistler had a large family of sons and daughters, among whom we
may note particularly William, who became a colonel in the United States
Army, and who died at Newport, Ky., in 1863; John, a lieutenant in the
army, who died of wounds received in the battle of Maguago, near Detroit,
in 1812; and George Washington, the subject of our sketch. Major John
Whistler was not only a good soldier, and highly esteemed for his military
services, but was also a man of refined tastes and well educated, being an
uncommonly good linguist and especially noted as a fine musician. In his
family he is stated to have united firmness with tenderness, and to have
impressed upon his children the importance of a faithful and thorough
performance of duty in whatever position they should be placed.
George Washington Whistler, the youngest son of Major John Whistler, was
born on the 19th of May, in the year 1800, at Fort Wayne, in the present
State of Indiana, but then part of the Northwest Territory, his father
being at the time in command of that post. Of the boyhood of Whistler we
have no record, except that he followed his parents from one military
station to another, receiving his early education for the most part at
Newport, Ky., from which place, on July 31, 1814, he was appointed a cadet
to the United States Military Academy, being then fourteen years of age.
The course of the student at West Point was a very satisfactory one. Owing
to a change in the arrangement of classes after his entrance, he had the
advantage of a longer term than had been given to those who preceded him,
remaining five years under instruction. His record during his student life
was good throughout. In a class of thirty members he stood No. 1 in
drawing, No. 4 in descriptive geometry, No. 5 in drill, No. 11 in
philosophy and in engineering, No. 12 in mathematics, and No. 10 in general
merit. He was remarkable, says one who knew him at this time, for his frank
and open manner and for his pleasant and cheerful disposition. A good story
is told of the young cadet which shows his ability, even at this time, to
make the best of circumstances apparently untoward, and to turn to his
advantage his surroundings, whatever they might be. Having been for some
slight breach of discipline required to bestride a gun in the campus for a
short time, he saw, to his dismay, coming down the walk the beautiful
daughter of Dr. Foster Swift, a young lady who, visiting West Point, had
taken the hearts of the cadets by storm, and who, little as he may at the
time have dreamed it, was destined to become his future wife. Pulling out
his handkerchief, he bent over his gun, and appeared absorbed in cleaning
the most inaccessible parts of it with such vigor as to be entirely unaware
that any one was passing; nor did the young lady dream that a case of
discipline had been before her until in after years, when, on a visit to
West Point, an explanation was made to her by her husband.
It was at this time of his life that the refinement and taste for which
Major Whistler was ever after noted began to show itself. An accomplished
scientific musician and performer, he gained a reputation in this direction
beyond that of a mere amateur, and scarcely below that of the professionals
of the day. His _sobriquet_ of "Pipes," which his skill upon the flute at
this time gave him, adhered to him through life among his intimates in the
army. His skill with the pencil, too, was something phenomenal, and would,
had not more serious duties prevented, have made him as noted an artist as
he was an engineer. Fortunately for the world this talent descended to one
of his sons, and in his hands has had full development. These tastes in
Major Whistler appeared to be less the results of study than the
spontaneous outgrowth of a refined and delicate organization, and so far
constitutional with him that they seemed to tinge his entire character.
They continued to be developed till past the meridian of life, and amid all
the pressure of graver duties furnished a most delightful relaxation.
Upon completing his course at the Military Academy he was graduated, July
1, 1819, and appointed second lieutenant in the corps of artillery. From
this date until 1821 he served part of the time on topographical duty, and
part of the time he was in garrison at Fort Columbus. From November 2,
1821, to April 30, 1822, he was assistant professor at the Military
Academy, a position for which his attainments in descriptive geometry and
his skill in drawing especially fitted him. This employment, however, was
not altogether to his taste. He was too much of an artist to wish to
confine himself to the mechanical methods needed in the training of
engineering students. In 1822, although belonging to the artillery, he was
detailed on topographical duty under Major (afterward Colonel) Abert, and
was connected with the commission employed in tracing the international
boundary between Lake Superior and the Lake of the Woods. This work
continued four years, from 1822 to 1826, and subsequent duties in the
cabinet of the commission employed nearly two years more.
The field service of this engagement was anything but light work, much of
it being performed in the depth of winter with a temperature fifty degrees
below zero. The principal food of the party was tallow and some other
substance, which was warmed over a fire on stopping at night. The snow was
then removed to a sufficient depth for a bed, and the party wrapped one
another up in their buffalo robes, until the last man's turn came, when he
had to wrap himself up the best he could. In the morning, after warming
their food and eating, the remainder was allowed to harden in the pan,
after which it was carried on the backs of men to the next stopping place.
The work was all done upon snow-shoes, and occasionally a man became so
blinded by the glare of the sun upon the snow that he had to be led by a
rope.
Upon the 1st of June, 1821, Whistler was made second lieutenant in the
First Artillery, in the reorganized army; on the 16th of August, 1821, he
was transferred to the Second Artillery, and on the 16th of August, 1829,
he was made first lieutenant. Although belonging to the artillery, he was
assigned to topographical duty almost continually until December 31, 1833,
when he resigned his position in the army. A large part of his time during
this period was spent in making surveys, plans, and estimates for public
works, not merely those needed by the national government, but others which
were undertaken by chartered companies in different parts of the United
States. There were at that time very few educated engineers in the country,
besides the graduates of the Military Academy; and the army engineers were
thus frequently applied for, and for several years government granted their
services.
Prominent among the early works of internal improvement was the Baltimore &
Ohio Railroad, and the managers of this undertaking had been successful in
obtaining the services of several officers who were then eminent, or who
afterward became so. The names of Dr. Howard, who, though not a military
man, was attached to the Corps of Engineers, of Lieut.-Col. Long, and of
Capt. William Gibbs McNeill appear in the proceedings of the company as
"Chiefs of Brigade," and those of Fessenden, Gwynne, and Trimble among the
assistants.
In October, 1828, this company made a special request for the services of
Lieutenant Whistler. The directors had resolved on sending a deputation to
England to examine the railroads of that country, and Jonathan Knight,
William Gibbs McNeill, and George W. Whistler were selected for this duty.
They were also accompanied by Ross Winans, whose fame and fortune, together
with those of his sons, became so widely known afterward in connection with
the great Russian railway. Lieutenant Whistler, says one who knew him well,
was chosen for this service on account of his remarkable thoroughness in
all the details of his profession, as well as for his superior
qualifications in other respects. The party left this country in November,
1828, and returned in May, 1829.
In the course of the following year the organization of the Baltimore and
Ohio Railroad, a part of which had already been constructed under the
immediate personal supervision of Lieutenant Whistler, assumed a more
permanent form, and allowed the military engineers to be transferred to
other undertakings of a similar character. Accordingly, in June, 1830,
Captain McNeill and Lieutenant Whistler were sent to the Baltimore and
Susquehanna Railroad, for which they made the preliminary surveys and a
definite location, and upon which they remained until about twenty miles
were completed, when a lack of funds caused a temporary suspension of the
work. In the latter part of 1831 Whistler went to New Jersey to aid in the
construction of the Paterson and Hudson River Railroad (now a part of the
Erie Railway). Upon this work he remained until 1833, at which time he
moved to Connecticut to take charge of the location of the railroad from
Providence to Stonington, a line which had been proposed as an extension of
that already in process of construction from Boston to Providence.
In this year, December 31, 1833, Lieut. Whistler resigned his commission in
the army, and this not so much from choice as from a sense of duty.
Hitherto his work as an engineer appears to have been more an employment
than a vocation. He carried on his undertakings diligently, as it was his
nature to do, but without much anxiety or enthusiasm; and he was satisfied
in meeting difficulties as they came up, with a sufficient solution.
Henceforward he handled his profession from a love of it. He labored that
his resources against the difficulties of matter and space should be
overabundant, and if he had before been content with the sure-footed facts
of observation, he now added the luminous aid of study. How luminous and
how sure these combined became, his later works show best.
In 1834 Mr. Whistler accepted the position of engineer to the proprietors
of locks and canals at Lowell. This position gave him among other things
the direction of the machine shops, which had been made principally for the
construction of locomotive engines. The Boston and Lowell Railroad, which
at this time was in process of construction, had imported a locomotive from
the works of George and Robert Stephenson, at Newcastle, and this engine
was to be reproduced, not only for the use of the Lowell road, but for
other railways as well, and to this work Major Whistler gave a large part
of his time from 1834 to 1837. The making of these engines illustrated
those features in his character which then and ever after were of the
utmost value to those he served. It showed the self-denial with which he
excluded any novelties of his own, the caution with which he admitted those
of others, and the judgment which he exercised in selecting and combining
the most meritorious of existing arrangements. The preference which he
showed for what was simple and had been tried did not arise from a want of
originality, as he had abundant occasion to show during the whole of his
engineering life. He was, indeed, uncommonly fertile in expedients, as all
who knew him testify, and the greater the demand upon his originality, the
higher did he rise to meet the occasion. The time spent in Lowell was not
only to the great advantage of the company, but it increased also his own
stores of mechanical knowledge, and in a direction, too, which in later
years was of especial value to him.
In 1837 the condition of the Stonington Railroad became such as to demand
the continual presence and attention of the engineer. Mr. Whistler
therefore moved to Stonington, a place to which he became much attached,
and to which he seems during all of his wanderings to have looked with a
view of making it finally his home. While engaged upon the above road he
was consulted in regard to many other undertakings in different parts of
the country, and prominent among these was the Western Railroad of
Massachusetts.
This great work, remarkable for the boldness of its engineering, was to run
from Worcester through Springfield and Pittsfield to Albany. To surmount
the high lands dividing the waters of the Connecticut from those of the
Hudson called for engineering cautious and skillful as well as heroic. The
line from Worcester to Springfield, though apparently much less formidable,
and to one who now rides over the road showing no very marked features,
demanded hardly less study, as many as twelve several routes having been
examined between Worcester and Brookfield. To undertake the solution of a
problem of so much importance required the best of engineering talent, and
we find associated on this work the names of three men who in the early
railroad enterprises of this country stood deservedly in the front rank:
George W. Whistler, William Gibbs McNeill, and William H. Swift. McNeill
had graduated from the Military Academy in 1817, and rose to the rank of
major in the Topographical Engineers. Like Whistler, he had been detailed
to take charge of the design and construction of many works of internal
improvement not under the direction of the general government. These two
engineers exercised an influence throughout the country for many years much
greater than that of any others. Indeed, there were very few works of
importance undertaken at that time in connection with which their names do
not appear. This alliance was further cemented by the marriage between
Whistler and McNeill's sister. Capt. William H. Swift had also graduated
from the Military Academy, and had already shown marked ability as an
engineer. Such were the men who undertook the location and construction of
the railroad which was to surmount the high lands between the Connecticut
and the Hudson, and to connect Boston with the Great West.
The early reports of these engineers to the directors of the Western
Railroad show an exceedingly thorough appreciation of the complex problem
presented to them, and a much better understanding of the principles
involved in establishing the route than seems to have been shown in many
far more recent works. In these early reports made in 1836 and 1837, we
find elaborate discussions as to the power of the locomotive engine, and a
recognition of the fact that in comparing different lines we must regard
the _plan_ as well as the _profile_, "as the resistance from curves on a
level road may even exceed that produced by gravity on an incline;" and in
one place we find the ascents "_equated_ at 18 feet, the slope which
requires double the power needed on a level road," resulting in a "_virtual
increase_." We find also a very clear expression of the fact that an
increased expenditure in the power needed to operate the completed road may
overbalance a considerable saving in first cost. To bear this principle in
mind, and at the same time to work in accordance with the directors' ideas
of economy, in a country where the railroad was regarded very largely as an
experiment, was by no means an easy task. The temptation to make the first
cost low at the expense of the quality of the road in running up the valley
of Westfield River was very great, and the directors were at one time very
strongly urged to make an exceedingly narrow and crooked road west of
Springfield; but Major Whistler so convinced the President, Thomas B.
Wales, of the folly of such a course, that the latter declared, with a most
emphatic prefix, that he would have nothing to do with such a two-penny
cow-path, and thus prevented its adoption.
Mr. Whistler had many investigations to make concerning the plans and
policy of railroad companies at a time when almost everything connected
with them was comparatively new and untried. When he commenced, there was
no passenger railroad in the country, and but very few miles of quarry and
mining track. If at that time an ascent of more than 1 in 200 was required,
it was thought necessary to have inclined planes and stationary power. It
was supposed that by frequent relays it would be possible to obtain for
passenger cars a speed of eight or nine miles an hour. Almost nothing was
known of the best form for rails, of the construction of the track, or of
the details for cars or engines. In all of these things Major Whistler's
highly gifted and well balanced mind enabled him to judge wisely for his
employers, and to practice for them the truest economy.
Major Whistler's employment upon the Western Railroad began while he was
still engaged upon the Stonington line. In connection with his friend
McNeill he acted as consulting engineer for the Western road from 1836 to
1840. From 1840 to 1842 he was its chief engineer, with his headquarters at
Springfield. The steep grades west of the Connecticut presented not only a
difficult problem in location and construction, but in locomotive
engineering as well. At the present day we can order any equipment which
may best meet the requirement upon any railroad, and the order will be
promptly met by any one of our great manufactories. But in the early days
of the Western Railroad it was far otherwise, and the locomotive which
should successfully and economically operate the hitherto unheard of grade
of over 80 feet to the mile was yet to be seen. The Messrs. Winans, of
Baltimore, had built some nondescript machines, which had received the name
of "crabs," and had tried to make them work upon the Western road. But
after many attempts they were given up as unfit for such service.
These "crabs" were eight wheeled engines, weighing about 20 tons, with a
vertical boiler. The wheels were 3½ feet in diameter, but the engine worked
on to an intermediate shaft, which was connected with the driving axle in
such a way as to get the effect of a five foot wheel. These engines did not
impress Major Whistler at all favorably. And it is related that one Sunday
the watchman in charge of the building in which some of them were kept,
hearing some one among the engines, went in quietly and overheard Major
Whistler, apparently conversing with the "crab," and saying: "No; you
miserable, top-heavy, lop-sided abortion of a grasshopper, you'll never do
to haul the trains over this road." His experience in Lowell was here of
great value to him, and he had become convinced that the engine of George
Stephenson was in the main the coming machine, and needed but to be
properly proportioned and of sufficient size to meet every demand.
With Major Whistler's work upon the Western Railroad his engineering
service in this country concluded, and that by an occurrence which marked
him as the foremost railroad engineer of his time. Patient, indefatigable,
cautious, remarkable for exhaustless resource, admirable judgment, and the
highest engineering skill, he had begun with the beginning of the railroad
system, and had risen to the chief control of one of the greatest works in
the world, the Western Railroad of Massachusetts. Not only had he shown the
most far-sighted wisdom in fixing the general features of this undertaking,
but no man surpassed him, if, indeed, any one equaled him, in an exact and
thorough knowledge of technical details. To combine the various elements in
such a manner as to produce the greatest commercial success, and to make
the railroad in the widest sense of the word a public improvement, never
forgetting the amount of money at his disposal, was the problem he had
undertaken to solve. He had proved himself a great master in his
profession, and had shown how well fitted he was to grapple with every
difficulty. He was equally a man of science and a man of business. And to
all this he added the most delicate sense of honor and the most spotless
integrity. He was in the prime of manhood, and was prepared to enter upon
the great work of his life.
It was not long after the introduction of the railroad that intelligent
persons saw very plainly that the new mode of transportation was not to be
confined to the working of an already established traffic, in densely
populated regions, but that it would be of equal service in awakening the
energies of undeveloped countries, in bringing the vast interior regions of
the continents into communication with the seaboard, in opening markets to
lands which before were beyond the reach of commerce. And it was seen, too,
that in event of war, a new and invaluable element had been introduced,
viz., the power of transportation to an extent never before imagined.
Especially were these advantages foreseen in the vast empire of Russia, and
an attempt was very early made to induce private capitalists to undertake
the construction of the lines contemplated in that country. The Emperor,
besides guaranteeing to the shareholders a minimum profit of four per
cent., proposed to give them, gratuitously, all the lands of the state
through which the lines should pass, and to place at their disposal, also
gratuitously, the timber and raw materials necessary for the way and works
which might be found upon the ground. It was further proposed, to permit
the importation of rails and of the rolling stock free of duty. Russian
proprietors also came forward, and not only agreed to grant such portions
of their land as the railroads might pass through, gratuitously, but
further to dispossess themselves temporarily of their serfs, and surrender
them to the use of the companies, on the sole condition that they should
be properly supported while thus employed.
With regard to the great line, however, which was to unite the two
capitals, St. Petersburg and Moscow, it was decreed that this should be
made exclusively at the expense of the state, in order to retain in the
hands of the government and in the general interest of the people a line of
communication so important to the industry and the internal commerce of the
country. The local proprietors agreed to surrender to the government,
gratuitously, the lands necessary for this line.
It was very early understood that the railroad problem in Russia was much
more analogous to that in the United States than to that in England. The
Emperor, therefore, in 1839, sent the Chevalier De Gerstner to the United
States to obtain information concerning the railroads of this country. It
was this person who obtained from the Emperor the concession for the short
railway from St. Petersburg to Zarskoe Selo, which had been opened in 1837,
and who had also made a careful reconnoissance in 1835 for a line from St.
Petersburg to Moscow, and had very strongly urged its construction on the
American plan. The more De Gerstner examined our roads, the more impressed
he was with the fitness of what he termed the American system of building
and operating railroads to the needs of the empire of Russia. In one of his
letters in explaining the causes of the cheap construction of American
railroads, after noting the fact that labor as well as material is much
dearer in America than in Europe, he refers to the use of steep grades (93
feet to the mile) and sharp curves (600 feet radius), upon which the
American equipment works easily, to the use of labor saving machinery,
particularly to a steam excavating machine upon the railroad between
Worcester and Springfield, and to the American system of wooden bridge
building, and says: "The superstructure of the railroads in America is made
conformable to the expected traffic, and costs therefore more or less
accordingly;" and he concludes, "considering the whole, it appears that the
cheapness of the American railroads has its foundation in the practical
sense which predominates in their construction." Again, under the causes of
the cheap management of the American roads, he notes the less expensive
administration service, the low rate of speed, the use of the eight wheeled
cars and the four-wheeled truck under the engines, and concludes: "In my
opinion it would be of great advantage for every railroad company in Europe
to procure at least one such train" (as those used in America). "Those
companies, however, whose works are yet under construction I can advise
with the fullest conviction to procure all their locomotive engines and
tenders from America, and to construct their cars after the American
model."
Notwithstanding this report, the suggestions of De Gerstner were not at
once accepted. The magnitude of the enterprise would not admit of taking a
false step. Further evidence was needed, and accordingly it was decided to
send a committee of engineer officers to various countries in Europe, and
to the United States, to select such a system for the road and its
equipment as would be best adapted to Russia. These officers, Colonels
Melnikoff and Krofft, not only reported in the most decided manner in favor
of the American methods, but also stated that of all persons with whom they
had communicated, no one had given them such full and satisfactory
information upon all points, or had so impressed them as possessing
extraordinary ability, as Major George W. Whistler. This led to his
receiving an invitation from the Emperor to go to Russia and become
consulting engineer for the great road which was to connect the imperial
city upon the Baltic with the ancient capital of the Czars.
When we consider the magnitude of the engineering works with which the
older countries abound, we can but regard with a feeling of pride the fact
that an American should have been selected for so high a trust by a
European government possessing every opportunity and means for securing the
highest professional talent which the world could offer. Nor should it be
forgotten that the selection of our countryman did not arise from any
necessity which the Russian Government felt for obtaining professional aid
from abroad, growing out of a lack of the requisite material at home. On
the contrary, the engineers of the Russian service are perhaps the most
accomplished body of men to be found in any country. Selected in their
youth, irrespective of any artificial advantages of birth or position, but
for having a genius for such work, and trained to a degree of excellence in
all of the sciences unsurpassed in any country, they stand deservedly in
the front rank. Such was the body of men with whom Major Whistler was
called to co-operate, and whose professional duties, if not directed
specially by him, were to be controlled by his judgment.
Accepting the position offered to him in so flattering a manner, he sailed
for St. Petersburg about mid-summer in 1842, being accompanied on his
voyage by Major Bouttattz, of the Russian Engineer Corps, who had been sent
to this country by the Emperor as an escort. Arriving in St. Petersburg,
and having learned the general character of the proposed work, he traveled
partly by horse and partly on foot over the entire route, and made his
preliminary report, which was at once accepted.
The plan contemplated the construction of a double track railroad 420 miles
long, perfect in all its parts, and equipped to its utmost necessity. The
estimates amounted to nearly forty millions of dollars, and the time for
its construction was reckoned at seven years. The line selected for the
road had no reference to intermediate points, and was the shortest
attainable, due regard being paid to the cost of construction. It is nearly
straight, and passes over so level a country as to encounter no obstacle
requiring a grade exceeding 20 feet to the mile, and for most of the
distance it is level. The right of way taken was 400 feet in width
throughout the entire length. The roadbed was raised from six to ten feet
above the ordinary level of the country, and was 30 feet wide on top.
One of the most important questions to settle at the outset in regard to
this great work was the width of the gauge. At that time the opinion in
England as well as in the United States among engineers was setting very
strongly in favor of a gauge wider than 4 feet 8½ inches, and the Russian
engineers were decidedly in favor of such increased width. Major Whistler,
however, in an elaborate report to the Count Kleinmichel argued very
strongly in favor of the ordinary gauge. To this a commission of the most
distinguished engineers in Russia replied, urging in the most forcible
manner the adoption of a gauge of six feet. Major Whistler rejoined in a
report which is one of the finest models of an engineering argument ever
written, and in which we have perhaps the best view of the quality of his
mind. In this document no point is omitted, each part of the question is
handled with the most consummate skill, the bearing of the several parts
upon the whole is shown in the clearest possible manner, and in a style
which could only come from one who from his own knowledge was thoroughly
familiar with all the details, not only of the railroad, but of the
locomotive as well.
In this report the history of the ordinary gauge is given, with the origin
of the standard of 4 feet 8½ inches; the questions of strength, stability,
and capacity of cars, of the dimensions, proportions, and power of engines,
the speed of trains, resistances to motion, weight and strength of rails,
the cost of the roadway, and the removal of snow are carefully considered.
The various claims of the advocates for a wider gauge are fairly and
critically examined, and while the errors of his opponents are laid bare in
the most unsparing manner, the whole is done in a spirit so entirely
unprejudiced, and with so evident a desire for the simple truth, as to
carry conviction to any fair minded person. The dry way, too, in which he
suggests that conclusions based upon actual results from existing railways
are of more value than deductions from supposed conditions upon imaginary
roads, is exceedingly entertaining. The result was the adoption of the
gauge recommended by him, namely, five feet. Those who remember the "Battle
of the Gauges," and who know how much expense and trouble the wide gauge
has since caused, will appreciate the stand taken thus early by Major
Whistler; and this was but one among many cases which might be mentioned to
show how comprehensive and far-reaching was his mind.
The roadbed of the St. Petersburg and Moscow Railway was made 30 feet wide
on top, for a double track of 5 foot gauge, with a gravel ballasting two
feet deep. The bridges were of wood, of the Howe pattern, no spans being
over 200 feet in length. The stations at each end, and the station and
engine houses along the line, were on a plan uniform throughout, and of the
most ample accommodation. Fuel and water stations were placed at suitable
points, and engine houses were provided 50 miles apart, built of the most
substantial masonry, circular in form, 180 feet in diameter, surmounted by
a dome, and having stalls for 22 engines each. Repair shops were attached
to every engine house, furnished with every tool or implement that the
wants of the road could suggest.
The equipment of rolling stock and fixed machinery for the shops was
furnished by the American firm of Winans, Harrison & Eastwick, who from
previous acquaintance were known by Major Whistler to be skillful,
energetic, and reliable. Much diplomacy was needed to procure the large
money advances for this part of the work, the whole Winans contract
amounting to nearly five millions of dollars; but the assurance of Major
Whistler was a sufficient guarantee against disappointment or failure.
In 1843 the plans for the work were all complete, and in 1844 the various
operations along the line were well under way, and proceeding according to
the well arranged programme. In 1845 the work had progressed so far that
the construction of the rolling stock was commenced. The locomotives were
of two classes, freight and passenger. The engines of each class were made
throughout from the same patterns, so that any part of one engine would fit
the same position on any other. The passenger engines had two pairs of
driving wheels, coupled, 6 feet in diameter, and a four wheeled truck
similar to the modern American locomotive. The general dimensions were:
Waist of boiler, 47 inches, 186 two inch tubes 10½ feet long; cylinders, 16
× 22 inches. The freight engines had the same capacity of boiler and the
same number and length of tubes, three pairs of driving wheels, coupled, 4½
feet in diameter, a truck and cylinders 18 × 22 inches, and all uniform
throughout in workmanship and finish. The passenger cars were 56 feet long
and 9½ feet wide, the first class carrying 33 passengers, the second class
54, and the third class 80. They all had eight truck wheels under each, and
elliptic steel springs. The freight cars were all 30 feet long and 9½ feet
wide, made in a uniform manner, with eight truck wheels under each. The
imperial saloon carriages were 80 feet long and 9½ feet wide, having double
trucks, or sixteen wheels under each. They were divided into five
compartments and fitted with every convenience.
Early in 1847 the Emperor Nicholas visited the mechanical works at
Alexandroffsky, where the rolling stock was being made by the Messrs.
Winans, in the shops prepared by them and supplied by Russian labor.
Everything here was on the grandest scale, and the work was conducted under
the most perfect system. Upon this occasion the Emperor was so much
gratified at what had already been accomplished that he conferred upon
Major Whistler the decoration of the Order of St. Anne. He had previously
been pressed to wear the Russian uniform, which he promptly declined to do;
but there was no escape from the decoration without giving offense. He is
said, however, to have generally contrived to hide it beneath his coat in
such a manner that few ever saw it.
Technically, Major Whistler was consulting engineer, Colonel Melnikoff
being constructing engineer for the northern half of the road, and Colonel
Krofft for the southern half; but as a matter of fact, by far the larger
part of planning the construction in detail of both railway and equipment
fell upon Major Whistler. There was also a permanent commission having
general charge of the construction of the road, of which the president was
General Destrem, one of the four French engineers whom Napoleon, at the
request of the Emperor Alexander, sent to Russia for the service of that
country.
The year 1848 was a very trying one to Major Whistler. He had already on
several occasions overtasked his strength, and had been obliged to rest.
This year the Asiatic cholera made its appearance. He sent his family
abroad, but remained himself alone in his house. He would on no account at
this time leave his post, nor omit his periodical inspections along the
line of the road, where the epidemic was raging. In November he had an
attack of cholera, and while he recovered from it, he was left very weak.
Still, he remained upon the work through the winter, though suffering much
from a complication of diseases. As spring advanced he became much worse,
and upon the 7th of April, 1849, he passed quietly away, the immediate
cause of his death being a trouble with the heart.
Funeral services were held in the Anglican (Episcopal) Church in St.
Petersburg. His body was soon afterward carried to Boston and deposited
beneath St. Paul's Church; but the final interment took place at
Stonington. The kindness and attention of the Emperor and of all with whom
Major Whistler had been associated knew no bounds. Everything was done to
comfort and aid his wife, and when she left St. Petersburg the Emperor sent
her in his private barge to the mouth of the Baltic. "It was not only,"
says one who knew him weil, "through his skill, ability, and experience as
an engineer that Major Whistler was particularly qualified for and
eminently successful in the important task he performed so well in Russia.
His military training and bearing, his polished manner, good humor, sense
of honor, knowledge of a language (French) in which he could converse with
officers of the government, his resolution in adhering to what he thought
was right, and in meeting difficulties only to surmount them, with other
admirable personal qualities, made him soon, and during his whole residence
in Russia, much liked and trusted by all persons by whom he was known, from
the Emperor down to the peasant. Such is the reputation he left behind him,
and which is given to him in Russia to this day."
In 1849 the firm of Winans, Harrison and Eastwick had already furnished the
road with 162 locomotives, 72 passenger and 2,580 freight cars. They had
also arranged to instruct a suitable number of Russian mechanics to take
charge of the machinery when completed. The road was finished its entire
length in 1850, being opened for passenger and freight traffic on the 25th
of September of that year, in two divisions, experimentally, and finally
opened for through business on November 1, 1851. In all of its construction
and equipment it was essentially American of the best kind, everything
being made under a carefully devised system, by which the greatest economy
in maintenance and in management should be possible. The use of standard
patterns, uniformity in design and duplication of parts was applied, not
only to the rolling stock, but to the railroad as well, wherever it was
possible. Indeed, the whole undertaking in all its parts bore the impress
of one master mind.
On the death of Major Whistler the government with jealous care prevented
any changes whatever being made in his plans, including those which had not
been carried out as well as those already in process of execution. An
American engineer, Major T.S. Brown, was invited to Russia to succeed Major
Whistler as consulting engineer. The services of the Messrs. Winans also
were so satisfactory to the government that a new contract was afterward
made, upon the completion of the road, for the maintenance and the future
construction of rolling stock.
While the great railroad was the principal work of Major Whistler in
Russia, he was also consulted in regard to all the important engineering
works of the period. The fortifications at Cronstadt, the Naval Arsenal and
docks at the same place, the plans for improving the Dwina at Archangel,
the great iron roof of the Riding House at St. Petersburg, and the iron
bridge over the Neva all received his attention. The government was
accustomed to rely upon his judgment in all cases requiring the exercise of
the highest combination of science and practical skill; and here, with a
happy tact peculiarly his own, he secured the warm friendship of men whose
professional acts he found himself called upon in the exercise of his high
trust in many cases to condemn. The Russians are proverbially jealous of
strangers, and no higher evidence of their appreciation of the sterling
honesty of Major Whistler, and of his sound, discriminating judgment, could
be afforded than the fact that all his recommendations on the great
questions of internal improvement, opposed as many of them were to the
principles which had previously obtained, and which were sanctioned by
usage, were yet carried out by the government to the smallest details.
While in Russia Major Whistler was sometimes placed in positions most
trying to him. It is said that some of the corps of native engineers, many
of whom were nobles, while compelled to look up to him officially, were
inclined to look down upon him socially, and exercised their supposed
privileges in this respect so as to annoy him exceedingly, for he had not
known in his own country what it was to be the social inferior of any one.
The Emperor, hearing of this annoyance, determined to stop it; so, taking
advantage of a day when he knew the engineer corps would visit a celebrated
gallery of art, he entered it while they were there, and without at first
noticing any one else, looked around for Major Whistler, and seeing him,
went directly toward him, took his arm, and walked slowly with him entirely
around the gallery. After this the conduct of the nobles was all that could
be desired.
Major Whistler's salary while in Russia was $12,000 a year; a sum no more
than necessary for living in a style befitting his position. He had
abundant opportunity for making money, but this his nice sense of honor
forbade. It is even stated that he would never allow any invention to be
used on the road that could by any possibility be of any profit to himself
or to any of his friends. He was continually besieged by American
inventors, but in vain. The honor of the profession he regarded as a sacred
trust. He served the Emperor with the fidelity that characterized all his
actions. His unswerving devotion to his duty was fully appreciated, and it
is said that no American in Russia, except John Quincy Adams, was ever held
in so high estimation.
Major Whistler married for his first wife Mary, daughter of Dr. Foster
Swift of the U.S. Army, and Deborah, daughter of Capt. Thomas Delano of
Nantucket. By her he had three children: Deborah, his only daughter, who
married Seymour Haden of London, a surgeon, but later and better known for
his skill in etching; George William, who became an engineer and railway
manager, and who went to Russia, and finally died at Brighton, in England,
Dec. 24, 1869; Joseph Swift, born at New London, Aug. 12, 1825, and who
died at Stonington, Jan. 1, 1840. His first wife died Dec. 9, 1827, at the
early age of 23 years, and is buried in Greenwood Cemetery, in the shade of
the monument erected to the memory of her husband by the loving hands of
his professional brethren. For his second wife he married Anna Matilda,
daughter of Dr. Charles Donald McNeill of Wilmington, N.C., and sister of
his friend and associate, William Gibbs McNeill. By her he had five sons:
James Abbot McNeill, the noted artist, and William Gibbs McNeill, a well
known physician, both now living in London; Kirk Boott, born in Stonington,
July 16, 1838, and who died at Springfield, July 10, 1842; Charles Donald,
born in Springfield, Aug. 27, 1841, and who died in Russia, Sept. 24, 1843;
and John Bouttattz, who was born and who died at St. Petersburg, having
lived but little more than a year. His second wife, who outlived him,
returned to America, and remained here during the education of her
children, after which she moved to England. She died Jan. 31, 1881, at the
age of 76 years, and was buried at Hastings.
At a meeting held in the office of the Panama Railroad Company in New York,
August 27, 1849, for the purpose of suggesting measures expressive of their
respect for the memory of Major Whistler, Wm. H. Sidell being chairman and
A.W. Craven secretary, it was resolved that a monument in Greenwood
Cemetery would be a suitable mode of expressing the feelings of the
profession in this respect, and that an association be formed to collect
funds and take all necessary steps to carry out the work. At this meeting
Capt. William H. Swift was appointed president, Major T.S. Brown
treasurer, and A.W. Craven secretary, and Messrs. Horatio Allen, W.C.
Young, J.W. Adams, and A.W. Craven were appointed a committee to procure
designs and estimates, and to select a suitable piece of ground. The design
was made by Mr. Adams, and the ground was given by Mr. Kirkwood. The
monument is a beautiful structure of red standstone, about 15 feet high,
and stands in "Twilight Dell." Upon the several faces are the following
inscriptions:
_Upon the Front_.
IN MEMORY OF
GEORGE WASHINGTON WHISTLER,
CIVIL ENGINEER,
BORN AT FORT WAYNE, INDIANA, MAY, 1800,
DIED AT ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA, APRIL, 1849.
_Upon the Right Side_.
EDUCATED AT THE U.S. MILITARY ACADEMY. HE
RETIRED FROM THE ARMY IN 1833 AND BECAME
ASSOCIATED WITH WILLIAM GIBBS M'NEILL.
THEY WERE IN THEIR TIME ACKNOWLEDGED TO
BE AT THE HEAD OF THEIR PROFESSION IN THIS
COUNTRY.
_Upon the Back_.
HE WAS DISTINGUISHED FOR THEORETICAL AND
PRACTICAL ABILITY, COUPLED WITH SOUND
JUDGMENT AND GREAT INTEGRITY. IN 1842 HE
WAS INVITED TO RUSSIA BY THE EMPEROR
NICHOLAS, AND DIED THERE WHILE CONSTRUCTING
THE ST. PETERSBURG & MOSCOW RAILROAD.
_Upon the Left Side_.
THIS CENOTAPH IS A MONUMENT OF THE ESTEEM
AND AFFECTION OF HIS FRIENDS AND COMPANIONS.
While the monument thus raised to the memory of the great engineer stands
in that most delightful of the cities of the dead, his worn-out body rests
in the quaint old town of Stonington. It was here that his several children
had been buried, and he had frequently expressed a desire that when he
should die he might be placed by their side. A deputation of engineers who
had been in their early years associated with him attended the simple
service which was held over his grave, and all felt as they turned away
that they had bid farewell to such a man as the world has not often seen.
In person Major Whistler was of medium size and well made. His face showed
the finest type of manly beauty, combined with a delicacy almost feminine.
In private life he was greatly prized for his natural qualities of heart
and mind, his regard for the feelings of others, and his unvarying
kindness, especially toward his inferiors and his young assistants. His
duties and his travels in this and in other countries brought him in
contact with men of every rank; and it is safe to say that the more
competent those who knew him were to judge, the more highly was he valued
by them. A close observer, with a keen sense of humor and unfailing tact,
fond of personal anecdote, and with a mind stored with recollections from
association with every grade of society, he was a most engaging companion.
The charm of his manner was not conventional, nor due to intercourse with
refined society, but came from a sense of delicacy and a refinement of
feeling which was innate, and which showed itself in him under all
circumstances. He was in the widest and best sense of the word a gentleman;
and he was a gentleman outwardly because he was a gentleman at heart.
As an engineer, Whistler's works speak for him. He was eminently a
practical man, remarkable for steadiness of judgment and for sound business
sense. Whatever he did was so well done that he was naturally followed as a
model by those who were seeking a high standard. Others may have excelled
in extraordinary boldness or in some remarkable specialty, but in all that
rounds out the perfect engineer, whether natural characteristics,
professional training, or the well digested results of long and valuable
experience, we look in vain for his superior, and those who knew him best
will hesitate to acknowledge his equal.--_Journal of the Association of
Engineering Societies_.
* * * * *
PRINTING LANTERN PICTURES BY ARTIFICIAL LIGHT ON BROMIDE PLATES FROM
VARIOUS SIZES.
By A. PUMPHREY.
[Footnote: Read before the Birmingham Photographic Society. Reported in the
_Photo. News_.]
There can be no question that there is no plan that is so simple for
producing transparencies as contact printing, but in this, as in other
photographic matters, one method of work will not answer all needs.
Reproduction in the camera, using daylight to illuminate the negative,
enables the operator to reduce or enlarge in every direction, but the
lantern is a winter instrument, and comes in for demand and use during the
short days. When even the professional photographer has not enough light to
get through his orders, how can the amateur get the needed daylight if
photography be only the pursuit in spare time? Besides, there are days in
our large towns when what daylight there is is so yellow from smoke or fog
as to have little actinic power. These considerations and needs have led me
to experiment and test what can be done with artificial light, and I think
I have made the way clear for actual work without further experiment. I
have not been able by any arrangement of reflected light to get power
enough to print negatives of the ordinary density, and have only succeeded
by causing the light to be equally dispersed over the negative by a lens as
used in the optical lantern, but the arrangements required are somewhat
different to that of the enlarging lantern.
The following is the plan by which I have succeeded best in the production
of transparencies:
[Illustration]
B is a lamp with a circular wick, which burns petroleum and gives a good
body of light.
C is a frame for holding the negative, on the opposite side of which is a
double convex lens facing the light.