The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1873-08-21

: is quick, resOlute, determined, aud
4 possesses great confidence ina himself
3 and IS consequently, generally speak
{ Ing, rather eOneeited. Candor com
& fpeIs rs 70 adj, that he-almost invaTis-
: bly, drinks, ,.nOt.necessariIy to excess,
: bat t0lerabiy hard. This arises from
two CAUSES The constantly harass-
] ing nature of his duties, involving in
cessant calls upon his vitality, and the
quick, practical turn of his mind.
! which leads him to apply unQuestiOa-
: ingly an Immediately elfieaeiOus and
always handy remedy for a pressing
. want. He also generally eheWs and
smokes fGr similar reasons. After
this statement, one word more to. the
] younger mem bers of his corps. The
weaknesses Of men in high position
are more easily initiated than their
J great qualities, and are, moreover, apt
to be looked upon as causes eOntribut-
ing to their elevation. Let the young
engineer, however, rest assured that
were he to drink himself drunk every
night, and smoke and chew himself
to a skeleton, he would not thereby
insure his early promotion 20 n CHIEF
engineership, unless he exhibited also
qualities which are more usually.
looked upon as qualifications fJr the
Office. - s.-
This preliminary survey mad. and
the probable general location of the
line selected, the next step is the
q orga IMITATION OF an engineer corps to
pstFY the lineD by critical fnstru-
mental tests, for however skiIifnI thei
fehief engineer may be, he can never
tell without such tests whether the
ground is really what he supposes il
to be. The object is to get the profile
land alignment of the route. The
tprOfile is 8 vertical section of the line,
showing the ups and downs, or differ
fences of level of its various points;
and, the alignment is plan or map
showing the deviatiOns of the route
from straight line, and its length.
/ An engineer corps, for location, con-
sists OF an assistant engineer, report
ing directly to the chief, q transit
man, leveler, rOdsman, two ohainmen,
one or two ftagmen, aud gang Of AK
men. Ii operating ia q sparsely-set-
tied country, where camping becomes
necessary, there are, besides, a cook, a
comm;ssary, teamster, aud, generally
one or two boys, VINO in the intervals
OF skylarking, are supposed TO make
themselves generally useful. Work is
conducted in this way: The principal
assistant has charge OF the whole party
and, IN q diffieult country, keeps we'll
ahead to select proper ground for the
line, communicating constantly with
his transit man as to the direction lie
should take. Tae line being started
in favorable ground, is continued IN !
straight line as long as circumstances
permit. Stakes are driven every 100
feet, and numbered cOnseeutiyely
| from ! upward. Tie transit man,
/ looking through the telescope or his
| instrument, takes care that these
stakes are driven very accurately in
line. When, from the nature OF the
ground, it becomes impossible to con-
tinue the straight line any further, a
deviation is made to the right or left
/ to reach better ground, the transit
man noting the number of the section
at which the deviation is made, and
also the degrees and minutes of the
"defieetiOn angle" which the line as
deviated makes with its. original di-
reetiOn. These data enable the
draughtsmen to oprepare the alignment
or plan of the route.
In a preliminary survey, however,
the "leyelsp are the most important
points. These are taken by the level
er and his rodsman. These two cper-
atOrs follow the transit man, and as
j certain the difference of level of each
station, as the stakes mentioned above
are called. This difference of level is
taken in reference TO an imaginary
4 line, passing under the surface of the
ground, and called the datum. From
the entries IN the level-book the pro-
file is plotted. 1t is quite evident that
if the profile were drawn upon any
but q very large scale, small differ
enees of level, Of few feet, for in
stance, would he quite indiscernible,
while a scale, sufficiently large to ren-
der these differences perceptible,
, would give an enormous length to the
profile Ofa line, perhaps many miles
long. The difficulty is got over by
the use OF what is called "profile pa
per-" by which the profile is plotted
on two different scales, one for the
horizontal measurments, and one,
very much larger, for the vertical dis
tances. This gives q very distorted
elevations look like positive Alps, and
vi 1ChCA VI OL1l1
half foot quite apparent. Il is veri-
tably making mountains out of mole
hills.
This profile gives the engineer an
exact representation Of the obstacles
he has to encounter in building his
road. It shows him exactly what cuts
and fills he will have To make in run
ming the given graGe over the line. 1t
r is very seldom that the preliminary
: line thus run Is found to answer the
requirements of q apermanent location.
1t almost always involves heaviercuts
and fills than would be found by devil
ating from certain portiOnsof it to the
right and left. In difficult country,
or one where the leading lines are not
clearly indicated, tits often necessary
to run several separate trial lines be-
fore one is found which the engineer
: is willing to accept as the best obtain
) able. Fifty miles of trial to secure
ten of location is by no means an un-
common proportion. ~
In running these trial lines much
/ rough work is encountered. You
have to go where the line takes you,
I and that is frequently through dismal
sWamps where. the quaking tussocks
,, will scarcely keep your weight above
, the deep muck, let alone afford secure
support to the instruments, and where
: you find yourself surrounded by poi
sOnOus V'1es, one touch of which
would cause large itching blotehes to
|, appear over your body; through tan
gled underbrush where your ear is
constantly on the alert to detect the
warning sound of the rattlesnake;
! over deep streams, balanced precari-
: 0usly upon the trunk of a fallen tree,
where a misstep would senf you in
! over your head, with the thermOme-
ter perhaps near the freezing point,
: and no chance to change your clothes
: until night; through the swelterins
? heat of summer with all the aceessO
ries of swarms of biting insects anC
: raging thirst, and through the nip.
. ping cold of winter with its aecOmpa
D niments of frOst-bites and frozen t0e'
e and fingers, and rain, snow and sleet
D Hard work at that, for there is always
e a rush to get the trail lines run through
D as quickly as possible, the chief en-
: gineer ut headquarters Is constantly
> driving the assistant in the field, ant
l. he is constantly diving axmen
ehainmen, transit man, leveleT, and
; IN short, all hands. But OH great il
: the peace when the word is given (;
/. knock off for the day. and the tired
weary men begin TO tramp tOwart
1 camp, and greater still when the tent
q heaVe in sight and the blazing fire be
comes visible, surrounded by savOrl
: messesI No sumptuOus banquet a
DeImonico's, no turtle soup, no bake,
}, shad, no "Woodcoek on toast" M
y Sillery frappe, no anything knowl
q to the palates of psmpered New
2 Yorkers could possibly afford the gas
! tronomic delights that fried ham
! slacked-baked bread, boiled rice, an,
|, black coffee do to the jaded, sharp-se
{ men who on such occasions gathere'
around the camp Table. Little is saiI
4 till they have f'deeply drunk an'
fiereely fed,n but then, seate'
i around the fire, the smoke from
{ their pipes ascending among the spec
q tral tree-tops, the song aHd the stOrI
e go round, and life is thoroughly, deep
g ~, and gratefully enjoyed. The per
u feet satisfaction OF the fierce physica
J, craving for food and rest produces
II toanoaffou Of ahcOfuka Qouf0nf Ehfob