THE WuiPl.! (..:AJL!1.NET AFTEK THE FlUE 



The cards and guides were in perfect condition. Absolutely no evi- 

 dence of fire inside the cabinet. Note the envelope in back of the cards, 

 which contained celluloid. Very little heat would have caused the com- 

 bustion of this celluloid. 



THE STEEL CABINET AFTER THE FIRE 



Note the condition of the cards; charred and powdered. The guides 

 v/ere practically consumed. It can be seen how the heat warped the 

 metal, allowing the flames to come into direct contact with the cards 

 and the guides. 



' ^|pyj>a?myA;;^x:>s:)JOWtty.'tvgCTH^^^ 



STEEli VS. WOODEN CAES 



The editor of Hardwood Kf.curd had a call a few daj's ago from 

 a gentleman allied with a large steel producing company, who, 

 during the conversation, observed: "This country has gone 

 mad on steel and concrete. We who are interested in furthering 

 sales in these lines are fully aware that many new uses to which 

 these products are being applied are experimental in their 

 character. We know that neither the steel freight nor passenger 

 car can yet be counted a success, although we have a belief that 

 <?ventually a type of construction will be conceived and executed 

 that will make steel cars cheaper, safer and better than the old 

 type of wooden ones or the recently evolved steel cars. 



"I will confess that you are more than two-thirds right in your 

 analysis and deductions covering the frailties of steel cars as 

 made at the present time, but I believe that these weaknesses will 

 be corrected. I can say to you (with the reservation that my 

 name in connection with the steel industry shall not be given) 

 that the greatest besetting evil of the use of steel for many pur- 

 poses today lies in the quality of the material. We steel men 

 are willing to make better steel, and want to make better steel. 

 We urge the use of better steel on manufacturers, but everyone 

 is insistent upon .'heapnoss, and the result is that the character of 

 the steel that is going into the majority of work today is deficient 

 in quality." 



The above, to the best .recollection of the writer, are substantially 

 substantially the statements made by this man allied with the 

 steel industry. These facts as he presents them certainly- are 

 worthy of thought, and should be the subject of investigation. 



The verity of these statements is borne out by the official report 

 of the Eailroad and Warehouse Commission of the state of Minne- 

 sota, in the matter of the recent collision at Odessa, on the 

 Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul railroad, in which it is stated: 



The equipment of the passenger train consisted of what is termed 

 all-steel construction. Thi.? is a misnomer. The underframing of 

 these particular cars is made up of two rolled-steel girders which 

 extend between the trucks only and are joined on the ends with cast- 

 steel combined body bolster and platform. The platform and bolster 

 frame of the sleeping car broke into pieces from the shock of the col- 

 lision, and the rolled-steel girders were uninjured. Although steel car 

 construction is still in the experimental stage, it appears that it is 

 necessary to have rolled^steel girders extend clear through to the 



buffers, and that it is unwise to combine cast, steel with rolled steel 

 and e.xpect the casting to uphold its portion of the responsibility. The 

 casting on the sleeper "Beverly" was shattered to pieces, and its 

 broken parts exposed to view defective metal, including several blow 

 and sand holes. The body of the sleeping car had steel sides of Vs-inch 

 plate to hold the car together. Tliere were no steel uprights, steel 

 longitudinals nor cross-bracing used, and interior finish of the car con- 

 sisted of wood and paper. Apparently too great reliance was placed 

 upon the steel plate sides. Had the rolled-steel girders extended 

 through to the buffers, the chances are that the car would not' have 

 been telescoped, and the attendant loss of life might have been 

 averted. 



As constructed, this type of car is probably no safer than the mod- 

 em wooden sleeping car, and does not meet with the public idea of 

 modern steel equipment. 



This accident and the other similar one on the Illinois Central a 

 few days ago, in which several prominent railroad men were killed, 

 confirm the contention of Habdwood Eecoed that the present type 

 of steel cars is no safer to the traveling public, owing to their 

 being built of steel, than the modern wooden sleeping cars, and, 

 beyond this, there are many other well-substantiated reasons indi- 

 cating that steel ears are not nearly as desirable for the trans- 

 portation of passengers. Notably among these other reasons is 

 the apparent inability of a rigid steel car to take cross-overs and 

 switches with safety, their excessive cost, the increased haulage 

 expense, their comparatively unsightly appearance as compared 

 with wooden cars, their uncomfortableness to passengers in both 

 winter and summer, and their general unhealthfulness to the 

 traveling public. 



The public has been beguiled into a belief that steel passenger 

 and sleeping cars are safer vehicles, and, without studying or 

 analyzing the matter, has simply let the steel trust, the steel car 

 builders and the railroads, who have purchased this equipment, do 

 its thinking. When the public finally does awaken to both the 

 increased dangers and extravagant cost of steel car equipment, 

 there will be an uprising on its part, and an absolute refusal to 

 ride in this type of car until such a time as it is out of the experi- 

 mental stage, and that a certainty of increased safety is offered to 

 passengers. 



THE STEEL FUENITUEE GAME 



It was the famous Phineas T. Barnum who observed that "the 

 public likos to bo humbugged," and his observation follows as a 



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