In this country the first radical departure from the time interval and flagging method of operation came in 1851. The New York & Erie Railroad had established a single line of telegraph between Piermont, on the Hudson River, and Dunkirk, on Lake Erie, for company business. The Superintendent of Telegraph, Mr. Luther C. Tillottson, and the Division Superintendent were together in the Elmira depot on an occasion and learned that the westbound express from New York was four hours late. At Corning an eastbound stock train and a westbound freight at Elmira waited for the express. With this information, Mr. Tillottson suggested that the freight train at Elmira could be sent to Corning and the stock train at that point ordered to Elmira, with perfect safety, before the arrival of the express. The move was successful and encouraged similar operation, which shortly led to the adoption, with some modifications, of this train-dispatching method on the Susquehanna Division of the Erie. Its adoption over the entire line followed, in spite of the great opposition which Mr. Charles Minot, the General Superintendent, met when planning for its introduction. Some of the conductors and enginemen went so far as to resign rather than run on telegraphic orders against the time of another train. This system spread rapidly to other lines and, in company with other features of railroad operation, has been progressively developed and improved. One of the important elements of safety in the dispatching practice has been the tendency to the same words in the same sequence to convey the same instructions, insuring a uniform understanding of the instructions instead of permitting a discretionary phraseology in originating or a misunderstanding in construing the order transmitted. The rules for train dispatching now prescribe the use of standard forms of expression for orders governing the movement of trains. Within the past few years experiments have been made with a system of train dispatching by telephone, now in successful operation upon some important lines, and growing in extent. Advantage lies in the ability to use trained railroad employes who cannot work under the telegraph system, not being telegraph operators. The telephone-dispatching system not only insures a rapid distribution of information, but by its greater capacity enables a more complete knowledge of the state of the line to be had in the controlling office, as well as in all the offices tributary to the dispatching system. DEVELOPMENT OF THE LOCOMOTIVE. While it is not our intention to take up your time with the recital, even in condensed form, of the development of all the items which go to make up the parts of a railroad, we cannot forego the opportunity to speak briefly about the locomotive, the motive power, giving action and effect to transportation.