256 GEOGRAPHIC SERIALS 



were fitted with train brakes, as were also 17,921 of the 20,351 freight 

 locomotives, and 3,895 of the 5,656 switching and other locomotives. 



Such is the picture of the condition of the railways of the United States 

 so far as it can be derived from this report, and if it fails to meet in any 

 way with the reasonable desires of the student of transportation who 

 seeks a complete numerical, description of the business of interstate trans- 

 portation of persons and property as conducted in the United States at 

 the present time, the fault is in no way attributable to the statistician or 

 to his assistants, but to the inadequacy of the legislation which provides 

 for the collection of these statistics. The very excellence of the report 

 from a technical standpoint causes greater regret that those who have had 

 its preparation in charge have not been intrusted with the collection of 

 those data which all intelligent students of transportation so seriously 

 need. No statistical report can adequately present the business of trans- 

 portation while omitting to deal with the business of express compani s- 

 and that of interstate carriers operating via water routes. It is also to be 

 desired that the classification of the data now collected be greatly extended 

 and the supervision of the accounting of individual roads so perfected as 

 to insure greater definiteness'in the items included. 



H. T. Newcomb. 



GEOGRAPHIC SERIALS 



The Geographical Journal for March contains a summary of Mr Peary's 

 explorations in Greenland, under the title of " Journeys in North Green- 

 land." Dr Sven Hedin commences a narrative of his " Four Years' 

 Travel in Central Asia." Hon. D. W. Carnegie publishes a narrative of 

 his " Explorations in the Interior of Western Australia." 



The Bulletin of the American Geographical Society, No. 1, 1898, offers the 

 following table of contents : " Relations of Irrigation to Geography," by 

 H. M. Wilson ; " From Cairo to Beni Hassan," the location of some of 

 the most celebrated tombs of ancient Egypt, by D. Cady Eaton, and 

 " Physical Geography of New York State," the third installment of a 

 continued story, by Prof. R. S. Tarr. 



The Journal of the Royal Colonial Institute for March is largely devoted to 

 a paper by Henry Birchenongh on "Some Aspects of our Imperial Trade," 

 and an extended discussion. It is curious to find an Englishman com- 

 plaining of the greater cheapness of foreign goods, of the want of adapt- 

 ability of British manufacturers and traders, the superiority of foreign 

 methods of pushing trade, and the lower freights of foreign shipping com- 

 panies, especially when he instances the American as the chief competitor 

 and as excelling the Briton in these respects. The article is extremely 

 significant and very suggestive. Another suggestive article is by Mr 

 Everard R. Calthrop on "Light Railways for the Colonies," in which he 

 rehearses arguments in favor of cheap construction which, while perhaps 

 new to his readers, have controlled the construction of the entire railroad 

 system of this countrv- 



H. G. 



