HOW EASTERN RAILROADS KEPT ALOOF FROM THE WESTINGHOUSE BRAKE.
The growth of the Westinghouse brake into public favor furnishes a curious commentary on the different degrees of enterprise to be found among railroad companies in the various sections of this country. It was natural to suppose that railroads in the thickly settled States, where trains had become too numerous for being safely operated with crude brakes, and no signals, would have been the first to adopt an improved appliance which gave promise of increased safety. Yet the railroads in the Eastern States, with a few creditable exceptions, were among the last to patronize the Westinghouse brake; and they adopted it only when the influence of public opinion could no longer be ignored. Western railroads that ran through sparsely settled prairies, where trains were rare, and stopping room generally ample, were among the first to encourage the inventor of the brake with their support.