This table shows a marked tendency towards uniformity in gauge of track in the United States. The five-foot gauge, which in 1880 was used by ninety-one roads, and represented 11.4 per cent of total mileage, has nearly disappeared. The gauges, 4 feet 8 inches to 4 feet 9 inches, inclusive, which in 1880 were adopted by eight hundred and seventyfour roads, representing 79.8 per cent of total mileage, are now used by one thousand three hundred and seventy-one roads, representing 93.3 per cent of total mileage. The three-foot narrow gauge track in 1880 was used by one hundred and forty-four companies; in 1889, this gauge was used by two hundred and thirty-four companies, representing 6 per cent of the total mileage of the country. It thus appears that at the present time over 99 per cent of railway mileage in the United States is adjusted to what, for all practical purposes, may be regarded as two gauges of roadway. This fact is significant for two reasons. It shows, in the first place, that the railways of the United States are being welded, by the need of interchange of traffic, into a system, so far at least as conditions of operation are concerned. And, in the second place, it indicates a movement towards uniformity in physical conditions, which, working its way into uniformity of structure of cars, will do something 'to remove obstacles that thus far have defeated all attempts to bring certain safety appliances into general use.

EQUIPMENT.

In the table which follows will be found the number of locomotives, classified as passenger, freight, and switching locomotives; and the number of cars, classified as cars in passenger service, cars in freight service, cars in company's service, and cars assigned to fast freight lines for purpose of operation. The number of cars leased from equipment companies is also stated. And, as a matter of interest from many points of view, the same table shows what portion of equipment of the several classes named is fitted with automatic couplers, and with automatic train brake:

The property above described gives employment to 704,743 workers, most of whom are men. It is a safe estimate to say that, independently of stockholders, the railway industry of the United States provides a living for three million persons, or about one in twenty-two of the total population of the country.

These employés are distributed among the various sub-employments of the railway industry as follows:

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From the facts given above it is possible to appreciate the degree of efficiency attained on American railways through the organization and direction of their working force. As compared with foreign railway administration, the number of employés per 100 miles of line is remarkably small. England, for example, which has 19,820 miles of railway, gave employment in the year 1888 to 346,426 men, or 1,748 men per 100 miles of lines It may be instructive to give at this point the numbers of employés by classes on English railways. The following summary is taken from the general report to the Board of Trade, published in 1889:

*

The fact that American railways are managed with a smaller number of employés per 100 miles of line is partly explained by the sparseness of population through which many railway lines in this country run, and also by the fact that the length of haul for freight and passengers is greater in this country than in any other country. It might, however, be well to hold in mind the comparison brought to notice by the above tables when considering the statistics of accidents for railways in the United States.

The marked efficiency attained by the labor engaged in operating the American railway systems is more clearly appreciated by making an exhibit, as is done in the table below, of the amount of freight and passenger traffic per engineman, per fireman, per conductor, and the like, through the list of employés directly connected with conducting transportation.

TABLE SHOWING EFFICIENCY OF RAILWAY EMPLOYÉS.

TABLE No. 25.

CLASSIFICATION OF RAILWAYS ON THE BASIS OF OPERATED MILEAGE.

The following is a list of the companies whose operated mileage exceeds one thousand miles:

Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe R. R. | Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Ry. (proper).

Gulf, Colorado, and Santa Fe Ry.

Baltimore and Ohio R. R.

Boston and Maine R. R.

Burlington, Cedar Rapids, and Northern
R. R.

Canadian Pacific Ry.

Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy R. R.
Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Ry.
Chicago and Northwestern Ry.

Fremont, Elkhorn, and Missouri Valley
R. R.

Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific Rymaha
Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Omaha
Ry.

Denver and Rio Grande R. R.

Louisville and Nashville R. R.
Michigan Central R. R.

Missouri Pacific Ry.

St. Louis, Iron Mountain, and Southern
R. R.

Missouri, Kansas, and Texas Ry.

New York Central and Hudson River R. R.
New York, Lake Erie, and Western R. R.
Northern Pacific R. R.
Pennsylvania Company.
Pennsylvania R. R.

Richmond and Danville R. R.
St. Louis and San Francisco Ry.
St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Manitoba Ry.
Southern Pacific Company.
Texas and Pacific Ry.

East Tennessee, Virginia, and Georgia Ry. Union Pacific Ry.
Illinois Central R. R.

Wabash Western Ry.

From this list it is to be observed that twenty-one of the thirty-three roads named lie in the territory west of the meridian of Chicago. There is perhaps no single fact which suggests to an observing mind the function of railways in the development of the country, more clearly than the one thus disclosed. The companies whose names appear in the above list have persistently pushed their lines westward, reclaiming territory that otherwise would have been inaccessible for years to come, and preparing it for settlement.