, 1863-01-10


reds to whom life was :.s ,lcar as to hin; Ills
post was at the head; to he great law Of self
preservation, that most people put first in
their code Of practice, lis stern duty required
Him to forswear allegiance, and to act On the
principle, .sothers first, myself afteruards."~
go, with bravery Of heart such rs is seldom,
found in other ranks Of men, hu stuck to his
iron stced, transformed them into the whit.,
steed Of death, and spent the Lust energies Of
Ills Life, the strength Of his last pulse striving
to mitigate the suffering which would fol.
low the collision. Ills death was Instantly.
heons; ,l. ~, he had no time for regrets at leag-
lng lie and the friends he loved so dearly.
When we found him, one hand grusped the
throttle, bis engine was reversed, and with
the other hand he still held on to the handle
Of the sand-box lever. The whole middle and
lower portion Of his body was crushed, but
face still wore L resofute, self-sacriffcing ex-
preston, snch as must have lit up the connie
narcc Of Arnold Ninkleried, when crying,
make way for liberty" he threw himself
upon sheat Of Austrian spears and broke the
column Of his enemies"
And The men in IN humber sphere of rail-
road life also are The subjects Of the authors
enlogium: il. -
,. TIE F1REMAt.
The fireman, the engineers lsj1 hand man,
his trump card, without whom 1t would be
difficult for hf1n to get over the road. seen but
little, aud thought but little Of HI is usually
dirty and greasy, wearing a ragged pair Of
oyertlls, originally blue, utnow embroidered
so with oil and dust, that they are become
srnutty brown. Just before the train leaves
the station, you will Sec his facc, down which
streams the perspiration, looking back, which.
ing for the signal to start; for f.,is il one of
his many duties. His head is usually orna-
mented I'm his opinion) with some outlandi-h
eeap or bat; though others regard il as it,
tingly outrageous cap-shcaf to his general
dirty and outTc appearance. But LITTLE cares
Mr. Fireman; he runs the firG.bON Of that
"mnchlne-H He feels pride III the whole en-
gine; and when hc sees any one aduiring ita
polished snrface, cleaning so brightly in the
sun, flashing so quickly BY the farm houses on
the road, Tin each Of which Mr.. Fireman has
acquaintance Of the opposite sex; to whom he
must needs swing his handkerchicf), lie feels
a glow Of honest satisfaction; and tho really
splendid manner in which his efforts have
caused it to shine--whie1l Il evidently one
great reason for tic admiration bestowed
upon it-so ILLS him with self lfgratnasion t1ld,
in lis great anodesty. which le fears will be
overcome Il he stays there much longer watch
ing people as they admire Ills handiToFl1, aud
lie be led to tell them all about it, how he
scrubbed and secured to bring her to that
pitch Of pcrf.ction-hc turns away, and begins
to pitch the wood abont in til. n.''st reckless
manner imaginable; yet every stick goes just
His aspirations land he has them, my liiJ-
handed friend, as well as you, and pcr::,'s
though not SO c1eyatcd, more Memorable than
yours) arc, that lie may, by attending to hi:
own duties, 50 attract the attcn-
ton Of the ones III authority tllat he may
be placed in position where he Gail learn. the
business, and, by.nnd-by, himself have charge
If an engine as its. runner, It does not seem
4 very high ambition; but, to attain it, he un-
dergocs d probation seldom Of less than three,
frequently Of seven or eight years, ut tue
hardest kind Of work, performed, too, where
dangers arc thick around him, and his chances
to avert them very slim. His duties are man
ifold and various but long years Of attend
and irksome, and be would soon weary Of
them did not the hope Of one day being hinl-
self sole master Of the "iron horse" actuate
him 10 renewed diligence and continued
etforts to excel. He ID on duty longer than
any other man connected with the train. He
must be on hand before the engine comes out
right about the engine. Usually he brings it
out upon the truck; and then when
all is ready, he begins the nborious work uf
throwing wood; which amounts to the hand
ling Of from four to seYen cords per diem,
while the engines and toAder are pitching and
rolling so TINT q 'green-horn'' would find it
ilg, while so standing, to keep TINT fiery fur
mace supplied with fuel. The worse the day,
the more the snow or rain blows, the harder
his work. His hands become callouscd with
the numerous wounds he receives from splin-
tcrs on the wood. He it Is who has to 20 out
engine is running full speed. No matter how
cold the wind may blow, how rain, hail, sleet
or SNOW may beat down upon lin, covering
everything with fcc, nor how dark the nigh, out
there he must 60 and crawl along the slippery
side Of the engine to do his work. At sta
tions he must take water, and wien ut
last, the train arrives at its destination, and
others arc ready to 20 home, he must stay. II
a little too much wood is In the f1re-b0x, he
must take 1t out, and then go to work clean
in. and securing the dust and rnst from of
the bright work, and from the boiler, the run.
board, the cylinders and steam chest.
For performing these manifold duties, he re.
ceiyes the magnificent sum of (uSually) thirty
dollars per month; and lie knows no Sundays,
no hol1idays-on long roads he scarcely know:
sleep. He has not the responsibility resting
on him that there is on the engineer; but II
is required Of him, when moi otherwise ell
gagged with Ills duty Of firing, to assist the ell
sitfon is one Of the most dangerous on tllt
train, as is proved by the frequent occurrence
Of accidents where only the fireman Is killed
and Ills only obituary, no matter how earnest
lie may have been, how faithful in the per
for7nanec Of his duties, is iii item III the telc
such :: railroad smash. lie may have bee,
one Of NATURES uoblcmcn. 4 fond nlothc
and sweet sisters n,ay hive been dcpenden
on his scanty earnings for their sup
purt. No matter; tue great surging tide Q
humanity that daily throng these ayenue
Of travel, has not time to inquire after, no
sympathy 10 waste upon, I greasy wood
xxt.o fprS @S,rts
piece to the machinery Of the road, no
! lnlf 30 essential rs valve or bolt. for if Il
| ,,e lust, his place c:tt, be at once supplied
| but il a bulls or other essential piece Of til
| lion machinery give out, it will likely caus
| a ycxatious delay. Once in a whilea tircna
I performs some heroic act that brings h1t
| into momentary notoriety, and opens tn
I eyes Of tic few who may be cogn1zant Of Il,
case, to The fnct that, Oh Il railroad, all mt
are in danger, and that the most humble {
them may perform some self-sariticfng dee
that will, at the expense Of his own, say
many other lives.
In collision that occurred at station o
| nccr, relative Of some of the managers
the road, WHO had Tired only half SO long
| the man then firing for him, jumped from tt
engine, leaving it to run at full speed into II
hind end Of train standing on branch trac
ofwhich the switch was wrong; not doing
|
fearing only for his own precious neck, whie
hemp crayat would ornament, to the cditlc
ton Of the world. Tie fireman sprang :
once to the post vacated by the< engineer, T
yersed the engine, opened the sand box yalv
and rode into The hind end Of that train; 10
ing, III so doing. a leg and an arm. He h
been most munificcntly rewarded for hts her
ism, being now employed to attend q crossil
md hold flag for. passing trains, and rcccf
ing the princely compensation Of twenty-1
|. dollars per month; while the engineer, vt
deserted his post, and left all to Find Pro1
dcncc, Is running on the road Mt a salary
eeyenty-fiye dollars per month.
THE BRAKEMAN.
4 very humble class Of railroad men, a cla
that gets poorer pay in proportion to t
work they .lo and the dangers they run th
Though perhaps less responsibility rests up
them, they are placed In the most dangero
| position on the train; they are expected to
II ut their posts at all times, nnd to finch fro
no contingency which may arise. The mar
gers Of .railroad expect and demand Il
. brakemcn to be as prompt in answering Il
). signals Of the engineer as the throttle valve
obedient to bis touch.
Reader, we're you ever on = train Of e.
moving with the wings Of the wind, skimmi
over tie ground MS rapidly rs the bird tli'
darling by tree and house, through cuttfn
, | and over embellishments! !! and did you CT
feel 4 sudden jar that almost jcrked you frc
your seat. At the same time did you hear
sharp sudden blsst Of the whistle, ringing q
as If the hand that pulled 1t was nerved
presence Of danger, braced by terrible an:
ety to avoid destruction: II frightened "a
.. did 1t not? But did you notice the brak
man them He rushed madly ont Us If
+ thought the train was going to destructi
surely, and he wished, before the crash can
| to be out oft. No, that was not his ol,jet
| f1n cniinhf hn1d of fhn bflEns mud Srifh =,