258 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



from that of primitive man, supplied directly where he lives, to the 

 highly varied diet found in a civilized community to-day, to which dis- 

 tant latitudes are made to contribute their local delicacies. Nowhere 

 has man given a more striking exhibition of his ingenuity in meeting 

 and overcoming, at least partially, the obstacles put in his way by 

 climate than in his construction and operation of railroads. Trans- 

 portation by rail is necessarily closely affected by climatic conditions, 

 for trains have no protection against snow, wind or heat. The trans- 

 Siberian railway was constructed with great difficulty because of 

 frozen soil, spring thaws and upheaved tracks. Across the rivers and 

 across Lake Baikal, rails were laid on the ice during construction times. 

 Later, the trains were carried across the lake in winter on ice-breaking 

 ferry-boats. The snow-blockades on the northern railroads of America 

 led to the invention and use of the ingenious and effective rotary snow- 

 plough, and to the construction of snow fences and of the highly in- 

 teresting modern snow sheds, made in sections, which may be " tele- 

 scoped " into one another in summer, in order to prevent the destruction 

 of many miles of these sheds by fire. The campaign of a modern street 

 railway system against the winter's snow is carefully planned in the 

 previous summer, and a mild, open winter means a saving of money, 

 time and labor, which results in increased earnings and larger divi- 

 dends. The freezing of harbors at the termini of the northern railroads 

 is a serious handicap in many countries. Russia's desire for an ice-free 

 port at the terminus of the trans-Siberian railway on the Pacific led 

 to her acquisition of Port Arthur, and ultimately to the war with 

 Japan. The construction of railroads across deserts presents many 

 difficulties. Ties dry up and twist; the danger from fire is greatly in- 

 creased; fire patrols are often necessary; fuel is expensive and must be 

 imported; water, for men and for locomotives, must be brought in by 

 water-trains, tank cars or pipe-line; drifting sands cover the track and 

 must constantly be shoveled off; the blowing sand hinders seeing, and 

 increases friction and wear on the rolling-stock; watchmen are em- 

 ployed to guard against accidents from blowing sand on the track. A 

 curious effect of sand-blasting is noted in the California desert, where 

 the telegraph poles along the railroad are so worn near their bases by 

 the blowing sand that they have to be protected by piles of stones. In 

 the dense vegetation of the tropics, the roadway is constantly being 

 overgrown, and men must be kept at work cutting down the weeds and 

 underbrush. This involves great expense, and seriously reduces the 

 earnings of the roads. Recently, tank-cars, which frequently spray the 

 right of way with a strong poison, have come into use, as on the Guay- 

 aquil-Quito line in Ecuador, and elsewhere. 



All this man has brought about in his combat with climatic condi- 

 tions. But he can not change his climate. Slight local modifications 

 may be secured here and there, as by planting trees to serve as wind- 



