MEMOIR OF DANIEL TREADWELL. 



365 



tlie adoption of that particular improvement, or in the construction of the Massachusetts 

 railways, generally, I beg permission to say that he was one of the first to perceive, not merely 

 the economical advantaires, which were sufficiently obvious, but the practicability, sufficiency, 

 and safety of the railway constructed with a single set of tracks, and that he at once used his 

 influence in its favor, which tended greatly to procure its adoption upon the Worcester and 

 other early railways. 



As a majority of the active men of the present day can have no jtersonal knowledge of 

 the exertions of Mr. Hale, twenty-five years ago, to impress upon the public the advantages to 

 be derived from constructing railways in this country, I may be pardoned for asking a moment's 

 attention to them. 



Those who were readers of the Daily Advertiser at that period will remember his 

 numerous and elaborate articles, furnishing all the information that could be collected, from 

 foreign publications and letters, of the progress of railways in England, with estimates of their 

 probable cost, their performance, and what might reasonably be expected from their construc- 

 tion here, in promoting the intercourse, and with it advancing the productive industry, the 

 wealth and the power of the country. Of all the men who, by the labor of thought, writing, 

 or speech, have contributed to the establishment of the railways of New England, Mr. Hale was, 

 unquestionably, the earliest, the most constant, judicious, and efficient ; and it must be pleasant 

 to those who remember his old railway papers and reports to see, by his late articles upon the 

 Hoosac Tunnel, that, as yet, " his eye is not dim, nor his natural force abated." 



I trust that the public will not condemn me, as vain or presumptuous, for thus obtruding 

 these few words upon its attention, especially as I do not give them as matter of authority or 

 opinion, but as my testimony to that which has fallen under my observation ; or as a relation 

 of facts to which any man, however humble, if of fair character, may claim to be a competent 

 witness. 



Daniel Treadwell. 



Cambbidge, June 6, 1851. 



In proof of the practicability of this improvement, it may be stated that in 

 Massachusetts, in 1880, there were 1,893 miles of railroads, of which but 454 miles, 

 less than one quarter, had double tracks. The Union Pacific Railway, 1,800 miles 

 in length, extending from Council Blufls to Cheyenne, had, in 1882, but 300 miles 

 in sidings and double tracks, with gross earnings amounting to $24,000,000. 



As to the safety of the two methods of conducting railway transportation, we 

 have but few reliable statistics ; one salient fact, however, appears with regard to 

 collisions, — the accident that would be thought most likely to happen, — that out 

 of 755 English accidents no less than 406, or 54 per cent, came under the head of 

 collisions. In America, on the other hand, of the 3,763 accidents recorded, 1,324, 

 or but 35 per cent, were due to collisions. With the telegraphic appliances intro- 

 duced since Mr. Treadwell's time, the system of operating single track roads is 

 nearly perfect, and the danger reduced to a minimum.* 



• Notes on Riilroad Accidents, by Charles Francis Adams, Jr., p. 266. 



