Words and Phrases.

Star (Christchurch), Volume LXVI, Issue 20561, 12 March 1935, Page 6

Words and Phrases.

JN A DECISION of the Berlin High Court a railroad is defined as follows: A railroad is an undertaking devoted to the repeated moving along of people, or goods, over not entirely unessential distances, and upon a metallic base which by its consistency, construction and smoothness is meant to make possible the transportation of heavier weights, or to achieve a comparatively great speed of motion, and which through this particular qualification in connection with the natural forces used for the generation of the motive power (namely, electricity, animal or human muscular activity, or, on a slight down grade, even by the momentum of the vehicle itself or its cargo) is in a position (according to circumstances, useful to a limited degree, or destructive of human life or dangerous to human health) to exercise a comparatively important function by the operation of the enterprise. The Standard Dictionary definition of a railroad is shorter and simpler: “A graded road, having one or more tracks, usually of metal rails, supported by sleepers, and designed for the passage of rolling stock.” TOUCHSTONE.