658 



SPAIN. 



STEEL CARS. 



Francisco Silvela; Minister of Foreign Affairs, 

 Marquis Aguilar de Campp; Minister of Justice, 

 Marquis del Vadillo; Minister of Finance, Senor 

 Villaverde; Minister of the Interior, Sefior Uato; 

 Minister of War, Gen. Azcarraga ; Minister of Pub- 

 lic Instruction, Sefior Garcia Alix; Minister of 

 Public Works, Senor Gasset. Other modifications 

 occurred in May. On July 6 Sefior Villaverde 

 resigned the Ministry of Finance, and was suc- 

 ceeded by Sefior Allen de San Lazar, who carried 

 to completion the negotiations with the foreign 

 bondholders regarding a reduction of interest. 

 The temper of the Spanish people was such that 

 had the foreign owners of Spanish rentes not con- 

 sented to a tax on their bonds the Government 

 would have been driven to exact the full tax that 

 Spanish bondholders had to pay, as the Cortes 

 had decreed, although it was a breach of faith to 

 demand any tax from them. On Oct. 10 Gen. 

 Azcarraga resigned his portfolio and Gen. Linares 

 became Minister of War, having first stipulated 

 that he should be allowed to introduce important 

 military reforms and entirely reorganize the army, 

 and that he should have a free hand in dealing 

 with the army and its reform. One of his first 

 acts was to appoint Gen. Weyler as Captain Gen- 

 eral of Madrid, and to make other important mili- 

 tary changes without consulting the Cabinet. 

 The appointment of Gen. Weyler to a post where 

 he was master of the liberties of every citizen of 

 the capital was so unpopular that a dangerous 

 tension in the public mind was created. The 

 ministers were not pledged, although the Premier 

 was, to let Gen. Linares do anything he liked to 

 do with the army. Sefior Silvela found himself 

 confronted with so many resignations that he saw 

 no way out of his difficulties except to place the 

 resignation of the whole Cabinet in the hands of 

 the Queen Regent. Gen. Azcarraga was then in- 

 vited to form a Cabinet, which was constituted 

 on Oct. 23 as follows: President of the Council, 

 Gen. Azcarraga; Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mar- 

 quis Aguilar de Campo; Minister of Justice, Mar- 

 quis del Vadillo; Minister of War, Gen. Linares; 

 Minister of Finance, Allen de San Lazar; Minister 

 of the Interior, Sefior Ugarte; Minister of Public 

 Works, Commerce, and Agriculture, Sanchez Toca; 

 Minister of Public Instruction, Garcia Alix; Min- 

 ister of Marine, Admiral Mozo. When he found 

 that his colleagues would not agree to an increase 

 in naval expenditure Admiral Mozo tendered his 

 resignation, and Marquis Arellano accepted the 

 post, but he resigned directly, and Admiral Ramoz 

 Izquierdo became Minister of Marine. Gen. Li- 

 nares secured the assent of his colleagues to a 

 series of decrees making radical changes in the 

 army organization and effecting many economies 

 by which money can be obtained for improving 

 the armament and instituting maneuvers and fir- 

 ing practice. The ministers decided, however, that 

 all plans for army reform must be laid before the 

 Cortes. 



A new extradition convention was arranged be- 

 tween Spain and the United States, and negotia- 

 tions were carried on during the year for a general 

 treaty of friendship, commerce, and navigation to 

 replace the old treaty, which lapsed by reason of 

 the war. In November a Spanish-American con- 

 gress assembled in Madrid. All the Spanish re- 

 publics of Contra! and South America were repre- 

 sented, and it was decided to hold similar con- 

 gresses at intervals of about three years. One 

 of the most important decisions of the congress 

 UM- 1o establish a tribunal for the arbitration of 

 any difl'rrenees that may arise between Spain and 

 any of the republics or between the republics them- 

 selves; and to facilitate the working of this tri- 



bunal it was resolved to seek to bring about the 

 greatest possible uniformity in the commercial, 

 extradition, maritime, trade-mark, and other laws 

 affecting international intercourse. Emigration 

 from Spain is to be directed hereafter exclusively 

 to Spanish-American countries, which will grant 

 special advantages to Spanish settlers. With the 

 help of academies and societies an active, intellec- 

 tual intercourse will be kept up, and the science, 

 literature, and art of the Spanish-speaking coun- 

 tries will be made as far as possible the common 

 property of all. Special attention will be given to 

 the preservation of the common language in its 

 purity, and it is hoped that the Americans will 

 recognize the Spanish Academy as the highest 

 authority, and will send over every year some of 

 their best scholars to study Spanish. In order that 

 professional diplomas shall have the same value 

 and recognition in all the countries uniform stand- 

 ards of education in all the schools will be pro- 

 moted. By preferential tariffs, subsidies to steam- 

 ship lines, reductions of consular dues, the estab- 

 lishment of bonded warehouses, the laying of a 

 Spanish-American cable, the founding of a great 

 commercial exchange bank with headquarters in 

 Madrid and branches in all the capitals of Spanish 

 America, and other similar means, the commerce 

 between the Spanish countries will be encouraged 

 and advanced. A common standard of value and 

 medium of exchange will be sought. The press 

 of the different countries will be brought into 

 closer relations by reducing postage and telegraph 

 rates. 



STEEL CABS. About thirteen years ago be- 

 gan in a small way the manufacture of pressed 

 steel parts to take the place of cast iron in freight- 

 car construction. Pressed steel parts are much 

 lighter and cheaper, and effect a large saving in 

 the weight of a car. After continued use had 

 demonstrated the practical utility of the smaller 

 steel parts, other parts such as center plates, side 

 bearings, cross-ties, and bolsters were made. 

 Then came the all-steel truck, which saved fror 

 500 to 700 pounds in the weight of a car. The 

 all-steel underframing soon followed. 



Starting with the principle that the ideal object 

 should be to transport the heaviest possible loads 

 with the smallest possible dead weights, Charles 

 T. Schoen invented and designed the all-steel car. 

 These cars were first introduced early in 1896. 

 There are many different designs in steel cars and 

 in the details, most of which are covered by pat- 

 ents. Steel cars are built in the following types: 

 Flat cars, gondolas, coke cars, ordinary coal and 

 ore cars, and also what is known as a self-clearing 

 hopper car, which is perhaps the most import ant 

 type. A very few steel box cars have been built, 

 but they are still regarded as experimental. 



Passenger cars are not made of steel, the only 

 distinct advance toward metallic coach work be- 

 ing seen in the sheathing of a considerable num- 

 ber of passenger-car bodies with copper. The con- 

 struction of steel cars differs from the construction 

 of wooden cars in that steel requires an entirely 

 different treatment in design. There arc several 

 different assemblages of inaterial used in building 

 steel cars: for example, standard rolled shapes. 

 special pressed shapes, and a combination of cast 

 -led parts, rolled shapes, and pressed shapes. 

 There are also built many cars winch in a measure 

 may be classed as steel cars. In tliis class the 

 underframing is steel, of whatever form desired, 

 and the upper part of the car body is of wood. 

 Steel cars are built with a carrying capacity of 

 30 to 55 tons, and while many of the smaller eld 

 style wooden cars carry as little as 20 tons, the 

 maximum carrying capacity of modern wooden 





