Origin and Development of the Railway Rail

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Excerpt from Origin and Development of the Railway Rail: English and American Wood, Iron and SteelSince the very beginning of man's existence he must, of necessity, have had some means of transporting both himself and material for his use. This at first consisted of what he was able to do by the aid of his body and phy sical exertion. No doubt the first effort to improve this condition came 'way back in the ages, long before the writ ten history of man, when some primitive man in his efforts to make for himself and mate a home, conceived the plan of placing a round section of a small tree under a stone or other obstruction to lighten the burden of its removal. Thus was made the first step toward the production of the wheel and axle, the basis of all successful land transportation.The next step was taken by some prehistoric genius who, in an effort to still further lighten his burdens, with infinite patience and labor, produced a pair of rough wheels by either burning or cutting them from the trunk of a large tree and piercing them with holes for an axle. Thus, step by step, improvements have been made from the roller and primitive cart and rough trails of our cave ancestors to the wonderful railroads and palatial cars of today. We have become so accustomed to their use and presence that few stop to consider their origin and history and the in¿u ence they have contributed to the progress and happiness of mankind.Today we are more, in need of transportation facilities than at any other time in the history of the world.As is well known, all the products of nature do not exist at the place where they are consumed, but must be trans ported to and from the place of manufacture before they can be used for man's wants. This makes man dependent upon the means of transportation at his command.This is probably best illustrated by the late Otis Tufton Mason, Curator of the Department of Ethnology, U. S. National Museum, who in one of his reports on primi tive travel and transportation describes the first sleeping car by a picture of an Indian woman with a sleeping baby slung upon her back. When we compare this picture with our modern sleeping cars, we have a most vivid and lasting impression of what the rail and railway have accomplished for the welfare of man.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully, any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.