Wilmington journal., 1875-01-15
For the Journ8'.
CONDUCTORS.

On IA AmoTican railroad, OuG IN nom
of them was more than sn incidenta
notice of the conductor, and yet thi
| officer bears upon his shoulders a re
| sponsibiiity that it is almost impossi-
BILE to estimate and upon him, as .
general thing, falls the blame wher
any accident resulting in the loss o
life occurs. Will any one follow Us
| while we look at train as made ur
for the transportation of passengers
say In one of the South Atlantic States
Passing the engine We come first C
the express car, we cannot enter, as
the express messenger. with two re-
volvers lying near him to enforce it,
has his order not to admit any one but
the agents of the company. We re-
member to have been on a certain rail
road in North Csrolina, one winter,
and stopping at one of the stations
about three O'Clock in the morning, we
were attracted to a house near the
road, which was brilliantly lighted up;
30 We went out of the car and
across the street ''to gee q man"
whom we saw and had just settled with
when the whistle blew the signal to
start. We dashed for the train and
jumped On the frat platform reached +;
1t was very cold, SO we opened the
door and hurried in, Intending to pass
through to our seat liz the passenger
car, but we did not 40 at once, for rs
the door opened there sprang lively
young man up from a buffaIoe- robe on
which he had been lying, and present
ed two cooked revoivers in our face,
demanding who We were and what
our business was As soon as we could
catch breath again, We attempted to
explain the position, but he ordered us
out Imme diately under pain % few
ounces of cold lead. We got outside
and expostulated We told that young
man that we should certainly freeze to
death before We got to the next sta
ton, that We had left our oVercoat IN
our seat, that We had no idea of mo
testing him or any one else, that We
had always been a peace man, that we
would treat at the next station, and
sundry other reasons we gave in the
most pressing manner through our
6 teeth-fOr the train was now
running at 80 miles an hour against
Il cold freezing wind-he fell
back to his stove and repeated
his = orders over and over
again and seemed to know them as
we'll rs some children know the cate
chism, i. e. ''by heart" The position
was becoming painful. when he moved
to the side of the car, and standing
between large box, ordered us to pass
ou the other side without
looking upon him, under pain of in
slant demolition, and there WAS II
slight sprinkle of "cuss words" mixed
up with a TRADE about "scattared
brains" which we did not try to re-
member, as it was painful to hear. We
lost no time, but sliding along the op-
posite side of the car made a rush at
the back door and disappeared with
a slam. The young man was disagree
able company i'll his then state of
mind. How it was that hs left the
door unlocked we could never find out; {;
it remains unexplained to this day.
Passing the express Car we come gen.
orally to the baggage car. AS every
every conductor nowadays is per
sOnally responsible for all the baggage
entrusted to him, of course this car
claims his careful attention. He may
entrust the keys to his baggage
master, or to his brakesman, if he has
no baggage master, but they (the keys)
are supposed to be in his pocket, and
his responsibility is not removed by
his giving them into the hands of
another person. He carefully examines
this car frequently to see that everything
ls going forward in a proper ma ,ner,
and if all baggage is delivered right,
or if no proper claimant comes for it,
be keeps it until the owner or his
agent appears.
Passing from the baggage car we
reach the lowest class of passengers.
By the term lowest we do not always
mean those lowest in the social grades,
but always those who prefer to ride
at the lowest rates. Then we have the
second class car; then the smoking
Car for the first class passengers; then
the frst-class cars, the palace cars,
sleeping cars, &c. All these the con-
ductor has to examine to see that they
are properly lighted and warmed,
that they are clean in all their parts,
that the coolers are filed, the coal
and ice on board for the trip, in short
that everything is ready for a run at
full speed, of say, two hundred miles
OF course the breaks, the general sp-
pearance of the tracks and couplings,
and above all the cord which connects
with the signal gong of the engine, all
pass under his eye in this cursory ex-
animation, but that eye takes in at
gl ance, defects which would not be-
seen by the inexperienced after a crit
:cai examination. The train is now
ready, the passengers and all
things required to go are on
board. and now he goes to
the standard time-keeper to see if his
watch IS right, to the Office for his
papers and orders, a short cry "all
he is on the platform be-
tween the baggage car and ti4ird class;
with tbs cord he makes his signal to
the eng neer ''go ahead" the whistle
responds and we move slowly out of
the depot. Now comes the hour for
active vigilance; the lives of hundred
are entrusted to his care by the COM
pany, as we'll as thousands of dollars
worth of property. We stood once
on the deck of one of the finest steam
ships in the American Navy. and as
the comodore looked proudly over her
decks, her armament and her spars,
We asked him, do you not find it
very pleasant to b. the commander
of such a noble ship?" H. reply was,
IF I had no responsibility conn cted
with it, might find it pleasant; but,
here is vessel which cost the country
over a million dollars, here are over
six hundred souls ON board, here are
fire water, wind, aud the passions Of
men to contend with, and behind it all
lies the fact that 1 am the representa-
tive of the honor of my country, to
uphold which, under all circum-
stances, is my duty, and if / had not
the experience of forty-four years ]
should shrink from the task.
I am sixty, and entered the navy
at sixteen :" So also is the responsi.
bility of the conductor. It is not a
mere collecting of fare which forms
his duty. It is the safe conduct o1
these souls to their destination il
proper time-a stipulated time-sc
that they can pass on in their severa
routes and Say, II am satisfied Will
the --- Rail Road r.
We are glad to see that the court
of the county are disposed to enlarg'
the powers Of tn conductors when u
the roa in charge of trains. One de