Railroads

185

The special advantage of street railways is that they serve people almost
 from their own doors, and thus help many who are not reached
by steam railroads. In some districts, such as the rich central plain
of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, they not only take the suburban people
to their work, but help the farmer get his products to market and his
children to school. Electric railways can there be built and operated
so cheaply and the population is so numerous and prosperous that interurban,
 as well as suburban, lines are common. With only an occasional
change of cars one may travel hundreds of miles.

QUESTIONS, EXERCISES, AND PROBLEMS
A. Railroad mileage of the world.
1. Let each pupil select one of the continents and explain why it has many
or few railways (Fig. 133). Use the following outline :
Size of the continent
Number of people and their ability to pay for railborne goods
Recency of occupation by civilized people
Extent to which the resources have been developed
Extent to which oceanic and inland waterways make railroads unnecessary

Future prospects for railroad building
Explain this saying: Railroad mileage is an index of civilization.”
How far does your study of railroads confirm it?
The growth of large cities has depended largely upon the inventions of
such men as Watt, Stephenson, Bessemer, Pullman, and Westinghouse.
Explain what this statement has to do with railways. Let members of
the class report on what these men invented or discovered.
Make a diagram to illustrate the statement of railroad mileage given on
page 183. Draw a line for each country mentioned, letting a quarter of
an inch stand for one per cent.

1

B.

How relief and distribution of population have determined the location
of the main railroads in the United States.
Which do you consider more important in railroad building, the highest
or lowest point in a mountain range? Why? Consider both business and
pleasure. Point out places in New York, California. Colorado. and two
foreign countries that prove your point.
Compare the map of the railroads in the United States (Fig. 134) with the
map showing density of population (Fig. 161).
3. Explain the great difference in the railroad net in the eastern and western
 halves of the United States.
Which quarter of the country contains the densest network? Why?

2.