The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1870-10-15
Speech at the Master Mechanics Ban
Quet.
To BE CONTINUED

, quet.
, At the banquet given by the manufactur
ers Of Philadelphia to the master mechanic
during their recent convention in Philadel
Phia, the following address was made BY
the Chairman, Joseph Harrison, Jr.:
Fellow Railway Master Mechanics aud Gentle
men:
Through the kindness of partial friends
amongst those who have been most activ,
in promoting the object that has brought u,
together tonight, the honor has devolveC
upon me Of presiding at this board. A
filter man had been selected to fill the place
| now occupy, one more closely connected
with the commencement and the develop
ment Of the great railways of our State
But an all-wise Providence called him hence
ere the time arrived for this mot pleasant
meeting. In turning to this portrait draped
in black, need but mention the name Of
Samuel V. Merrick
A railway engineer myself, schooled in
the practical operations of workshop and the
road for a great portion Of my life, | can
not but feel hattered BY the distinction that
has been conferred upon me, in being per-
mitted to stand here to welcome the
Association Of American Railway Master
Mechanics. know well the Importance
of the responsibilities of your calling. Hav
ing in your charge the safe and efficient
working Of a system which now binds the
world in its iron embrace, know from my
own personal experience how it taxes brain
and body to work this system we'll 1t has,
as you all know, no perfect working.
Things unseen to any eve, beyond the reach
Of supervision, but too frequently lead to
instant destruction and to death and in
the main it is not fair to blame the manage
ment when such disasters occur. What a
wonderful thing tie railway is What a
wonderful thing the locomotive, so necessary
for the world, and yet comparatively 70
new There are those present here to. night
who can remember with myself the opening
Of the Liverpool 4 Manchester railway, but
short forty years ago. Railways were
then not new, but from the success achieved
by the newly designed locomotive on this
line, a new era in the movements Of men and
material commenced. Il may not be known
to all here that the prospective motive power
Of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway
was not finally decided upon until the road
was well nigh completed The locomotive
had its friends in Stephenson, Hawk shaw,
Ericsson and others. A plan for placing
stationary engines at intervals along the
line, to draw the trains By means Of ropes
and pulleys, had its supporters. Horses
were looked to as a safe means to fall back
upon when all else should fail and ma.
chine was even designed, and, | think,
built-with a number of horses placed there
in, turning in a circle, after the manner of
the old horse boats on the Delaware, ere
steam took the lead in conveying the people
to Camden. But the first fash of the little
Rocket, an engine Of only four tons weight,
changed all this, and the locomotive at once
took the place, which it now holds as the
great motor on land. What revolution
this machine has wrought! How indis-
pensable it has become in peace and in war
How faithfully Ii worked for us in the hour
of our country's peril need not here be told.
And now, when
" Grim visaged War"
shakes TO their centers the two greatest
powers of Continental Europe, it is the
locomotive that has enabled King William
to throw his legions and his war material so
swiftly over the frontiers of France, and
thus BY quick, redoubled blows, he has
hurled his enemy back in defeat aud dis
may upon the capital, taking captive an
Emperor, and wrecking a dynasty which
but two months since seemed firmly fixed
upon throne. But enough Of war.
prefer more peaceful themes
| happened to be in England in 1851,
when the census Of the kingdom was taken.
TIE get true result, it was made compul.
sorry on every house belder to Gil up form,
giving all the particulars of every individual
wo had slept under his roof on certain
night 10 the month Of March. For further
accuracy, it becomes necessary to know
how many persons were out Of bed and
travelling on that night on the railways o.
the kingdom. If my memory does moi
deceive me, the number Of travellers reached
to forty thousand-the population of good
sized city. On or forty or fifty thousand
miles OF railway you can, in some sort, esti
mate the number of travellers who, at THU
very hour, are careering over our land
you can imagine, too, how many strained
eyes are even now peering out into the dark
ness, as far as the headlight Of the loco
motive throws a CLEAN, eager to catch the
frs CLEAN of danger.
And here, my friends, let me say a wore
for the fearless men who manage our loco
motives. Let them have the need Of homo
they so justly deserve. Why, a man mus
be hero who is willing to face the DANCE
Of running an engine forty miles an houl
on a pitch dark night The safety Of thest
brave and faithful men, and the safety 0
these thousands Of weary travellers, is in
very grea- degree con6ded to the keepin,
OF the railway master mechanic.
1t is for him to see that the moving ma
chlnery Of the road shall not betray it
trust from any lack Of care on the part 0
himself or bis assistants t is q fearfu
responsibility that rests upon him when
is considered that the lives Of thousands o
, the travelling public depend upon the sound
ness and condition Of a wheel or an axle,
bolt or a coupling, or even the need of
few drops Of oil. My fellow railway maste
mechanics, yours is calling as indispens
able as it is honorable; and it is well tha
you meet in annual convention as you NEE
now. It is well that you should thus com
together, and be better known to each other
50 that you can the more readily compar
7 notes and devise better plans for the securit,
of Life and property seeking, in all things
such near approach to perfection in th
working Of our great railway system a
will render accident and disaster almost in