THE TRAIN WIRE.
TRAIN DISPATCHING.
The telegraph, as a means of directing the movements of trains, is a necessary railroad fixture. But for its agency the moving of the heavy traffic of some of our railroads would be impossible without large additions to the tracks and consequent increase in the cost of construction and transportation.
The train wire is thus a promoter of both economy and facility of operation. Under the supervision which it permits, the products of industry are rapidly and cheaply exchanged between distant points, while the traveler, unimpeded by the slower-moving trains, goes swiftly on his way. Steam is the noisy giant that shoulders the load and gets the praise; but the silent man, in some quiet place away from the rattle of the wheels, with his finger on the key, controls the ponderous and complicated movements, which proceed so harmoniously that one may almost imagine them to be the result of natural law.
Although the value, however, of the telegraph as a railroad appliance is daily becoming more fully realized, its capabilities for usefulness have not been developed to an extent commensurate with its importance. A well-informed writer has justly said: "Telegraphy as a handmaid of the railroad has not assumed any enduring form peculiarly adapted to this business."
This is still true in a measure, although not to so great an extent as when uttered. The circumstances must be very exceptional in which the aid of the telegraph will not be of important advantage. Machinery breaks, steam fails, connections are late, storms and floods disturb the roadway; a thousand things cause delays. The difficulties may not be great or numerous where trains are few, but they increase rapidly with the growth of traffic, and vexatious delays can only be avoided by adequate means of promptly controlling the movements of the trains. Hence the importance of securing not only the best telegraphic appliances, but the best method as well of rendering them useful in the service in question.