p. 844-5.) The total railroad mileage of
the world is 729,845. More than one-third of this mileage (266,381
miles) is in the United States. Russia (1916) comes second with 48,950
miles; Germany (1914) third, with 38,600 miles and Canada (1916) fourth
with 37,437 miles.

The world's total mileage of telegraph wire (Ibid.) is 5,816,219, of
which the United States has more than a fourth (1,627,342 miles). Russia
(1916) is second with 537,208 miles; Germany (1914) is third with
475,551 miles; and France fourth with 452,192 miles.

The Bureau of Railway Economics has published a compilation on
"Comparative Railway Statistics" (_Bulletin 100_, Washington, 1916) from
which it appears that the United States is far ahead of any other
country in its railroad equipment. The total number of locomotives in
the United States was 64,760; in Germany 29,520; in United Kingdom
24,718; in Russia (1910) 19,984; and in France 13,828. No other country
in the world had as many as ten thousand locomotives. If these figures
also showed the locomotive tonnage as well as the number, the lead of
the United States would be even more decided as the European locomotives
are generally smaller than those used in the United States. This fact is
clearly brought out by the figures from the same bulletin showing
freight car tonnage (total carrying capacity of all cars). For the
United States the tonnage was (1913) 86,978,145. The tonnage of Germany
was 10.7 millions; of France 5.0 millions; of Austria-Hungary 3.8
millions. The figures for the United Kingdom were not available.

The United States also takes the lead in postal equipment. (_Stat.
Abstr._, 1918, pp. 844-5.) There are 324,869 post offices in the world;
54,257 or one-sixth in the United States. The postal routes of the world
cover 2,513,997 miles, of which 450,954 miles are in the United States.
The total miles of mail service for the world is 2,061 millions. Of this
number the United States has 601.3 millions.

The most extreme contrast between transportation capital in the United
States and foreign countries is furnished by the number of automobiles.
_Facts and Figures_, the official organ of the National Automobile
Chamber of Commerce (April, 1919) estimates the total number of cars in
use on January 1, 1917 as 4,219,246. Of this number almost six-sevenths
(3,500,000) were in use in the United States. The total number of cars
in Europe as estimated by the Fiat Press Bureau, Italy, was 437,