Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1868-12-18

train bound west has also 10 be cared for,
and It's conductor and engineer are sent a
similar order, excepting only that Il reads
for them 10 keep the main track. At
| Girard, in the case In point, the eastern
bound train again waits for orders, and
dares not 90 on without them. The
| freight trains are kept out of the way Of
the passenger trains in all cases, when the
the latter are running on time, by means
Of similar orders TO the above.
As soon as an order is sent and the an
swer is returned, they are copied in a
book called the special order book, so that
In case of an accident reference can be
had TO IL, and the blame placed where II
properly belongs. Years after, should II
ever become necessary, few moments
search in this order book will show posi-
lively where any designated train was at
any particular day or hour. Sometimes,
and especially In winter, train is
| delayed, from various causes, so long that
| the time card is no longer, on that trip, OF
any use. Then it Is that the beauty of the
workings of tbs telegraph are most ap.
parent. The train at once becomes one
| of the wildcat order, and cannot move an
inch without the permit of the train de-
| spatcher. The trains running on time
| then take the precedence, and the wildcat
must snatch its chance to, in base ball
parlance, steal station on the first oppor-
| tunity that the track Is clear. There IL
| must again lie by until the master hand
studies the location of other trains and
| calculates Just when IL shall again start
and how far IL shall run before it must
give way. Though, perhaps, hundreds OF
| miles removed from its destination, still
the master eye Is upon II, directing Its
movements with a skill obtained only
from thorough knowledge of the busi-
ness. The whole road Is mapped out in
the despRtcher's mind with its stations,
the distance between them, the positions
of trains. and their respective rates Ct
speed. Way down the road at a desig-
mated point he sees two trains approach
ing each other, with station between
them. He hastily writes an order, the in
strument clicks moment, and, ere there
| is possibility of q collision, the order
stopping one of the trains at the station
is at its destination. The conductor re-
ceives it, takes the side track, and a
moment later the other train goes thun-
dering past and rushes rapidly on to its
destination. A slow, numbering and
heavily-laden freight train is creeping
slowly down the track II will reach a
certain station ten minutes before an up
train, not time enough to run the distance
between 1t and the next If it goes on a
collision will be the consequence. The
wires are brought into requisition again,
and the down train, designated, as all
freight trains are, by number, remains
till the up train has passed, when the
switch is opened and 1t once more creeps
onward. So it goes. The operator sitting
in his office hears a call accompanied by
the signal of the office from which the call
emanates, and he knows that he is wanted.
Opening his key, he responds that he is
ready, and II moment afterward he is in
possession of information that if not de-
| livered, or if not obeyed by him to whom
IL is directed serious results follow, and
the public are soon after astounded by the
intelligence of another railroad disaster
A wrong order has, perhaps, been sent.
The results are dozens of lifeless bodies
strewn about among the wreck of few
cars, and dozens more wounded and
MANNED for life. He who watches the
trains and orders their going, holds the
lives of hundreds in his hands, and he
can save them or not, as he depends
upon his faithful ally, the telegraph, and
brings it into requisition. Scarcely one
of the passengers in crowded railroad
COdCu TeduItS, db u6 SlIS III lduCicu bSCu-
rity, reading his paper or discussing some
interesting topic with his neighbor, that
at that very moment, perhaps, the uniD
teresting looking wire which he can see
from the car window, stretching in end
less solitude from city to city, is carrying
the word that is to prevent frightful col
lision a few miles further on, and, so to
speak, give him a still further lease of
life. Yet so it is. That wire is his safety,
and its masters the guardians of his life.
A false Interpretation of those mysterious
sounds, wrong word or figure, and a
short quarter of an hour afterwards the
angel of death has spread his wings over
the scene, and the travellers soul is gar
nered home. The acute ear of the opera
tor, trained to distinguish the faintest
sound of his instrument, interprets rightly,
and busy fingers transfer what he has
heard to paper. It's faithful delivery to
the right person insures safety to all, and
at the appointed time the train rushes
into the depot, and the passengers disen-
bark without thought of that wonderful
invention to which they owe their safety.
-UcCeldnd Herald.