PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 27 
it does not exist are said to become quite smooth again; 
they are to be found on straight roads as well as curves. 
Again it is curious to note that while some assert that the 
process takes place owing to too much elasticity of the 
road, others attribute it to too much rigidity, so that there 
is evidently a great deal more to be learnt before a final 
judgment can be passed. 
Noise of Trains.—The question of the noise of train and 
tram travelling is one that deserves more attention than 
it receives, as noisiness diminishes very greatly the comfort 
of the traveller. That a great deal of it is unavoidable 
there can be no doubt. The latest types of carriages, 
Pullman, Mann and Oorridor, are certainly much quieter 
to travel in than some of the older and cheaper carriages, 
and those to the design of which less attention has been 
paid. Rolling stock provided with six-wheeled bogies run 
much more smoothly and quickly than that supported on 
four-wheeled bogies. Generally speaking, our roads are 
more noisy than those of the old country, perhaps because 
everything is drier as a rule, and there is more reverber- 
ation. Then the passenger in Australia hears more noise 
because the windows are mostly all open, whereas in the 
old country, the chilliness and moisture of the climate 
require that they should be generally closed. Inthe United 
States of America, travelling is mostly done in Pullman 
cars, and to these there are double windows, which are 
nearly always kept closed to keep out heat and dust in 
summer and cold in winter, and effectually exclude noise 
from outside. There is one thing certain, that some types 
of cars are quite unnecessarily noisy, I refer to our suburban 
type of American car and most tramway cars. The roofs 
and floors of these cars act like the back and belly of a 
fiddle; they seemed designed to give forth sound. 
Composition of Steel Rails.—The composition and hard- 
ness of steel rails is a subject of itself, and it is impossible 
