The star of Pascagoula. [volume] (Pascagoula, Miss.) 1873-1878, 1877-04-06

W N"Nf WV WV w NNf NHfAhtH Nf NfNH NNNH T
Itn ever ]otfaffed W yeu m yGH ~.
fIlbst iH e eff OHlh 1ued Waf Nv aFfas
fsdt security Rih HUNDREDS N ether ~
fhf ff4iHi h1s every 1nf ~ Yfm mirhf
cent Nv 1H instant deHth ~ Inc Higbt.
ct Mnnisf ~ neglect IN the tHft " nue
Heak hHmah isingf And did y0u ever
hht yGHfeif wDudefing II fhe man ai
Che throttle nndertod BIZ duties and
Va able N w. them promptly and prop
efly appfeciatiaa NE enormous fesTons
btitties resting uton hlltbis human ma
tGfe. and knowing what awful c1uae
guenCcs might result from a single mis-.
take ~ bic psh1
Your correspondent confessed that
since Che recent railroad engineers
strikes these dangers have o..
CURED ~ him. and the readers ~ the
Herald would understand che reason
could they have heard The other day a
brief conversation IN the cab u q lOc0mo.
tive, which an unusually intelligent aud
Trustworthy member Of The guild " en-.
ginecrs reCOunted n little Of the true in.
wardness Of his calling.
MINI NfHVNA WI ~ HllHEf
at Is ~ well" said he, smiling
thOughtfully, chat the travelling public
don't know how the majority Of railroads
are managed and what risks the passen.
gers often run. Why, TO save a little
money they often fail to employ more
than one-half the number Of engineers
absolutely needed for safety. Many a
time have ! come in from a long trip 50
tired and sleepy ~ TO be scarcely able to
stand, and been ordered Immediately
out again without an hours rest. | have
been worked twenty-fOur hours at a
stretch when | have been 50 worn out
that no power on earth could keep me
awake, and, standing with my hand on
the lever, have gone sound asleep. If
you had fired of a cannon at my ears |
could not have helped it. | have many
a time brought my engine into some
town at thirty miles an hour while
until the fireman or somebody
would wake me up.
Dangerous? Well, rather 20 for if
there is any post in the world where a
man should be excessively wide awake,
vigilant, incessantly watching ahead OF
him with an unfaltering steadiness and
with good eyes, too, with his hand al
ways on the lever, prepared TO check the
flying speed with which ne is flying
along, it is when he is in the cab of a loco
engine. i don't know any work that
a man TO know what he is about
and TO see what he is about so much as
running the engine of an express train.
The engineer not only must watch his
and keep her up to her WORK, but
he must watch the steam gauge, watch
the time, watch the signals, watch the
track, watch the crossings and watch his
surroundings, To sum up in one word,
IN engineer must be alertness personifed.
Dangerous? You might as well ask if
t would be dangerous for a man to fall
sleep sitting on a keg of powder with a !
lighted slowmatch attached to it.
BULL-DozING THE ENGINEERS.
" 1t is a common thing for an engineer,
lfter having come in from a long trip, to
De ordered out again Immediately, al
he knows and the company knows
hat he is not fit for further work with
)ut a rest, and that to fall asleep at his
post is to endanger the lives of hun
ireds of persons. Yet he dare not refuse
'r he will lose isplace. Suppose, under
such circumstances, ali accident occurs.
Isn't the company relieved from all re-
possibility in the eyes of the newspaper
md the public if they show that the en-
failed to see a signal? Who is to
Know that the reason that the engine
lriver failed to see the signal or the !
witch was because he fell asleep from
'verwOrk, and that he was compelled to
un while physically unable to do SO in
A STARTLING STATEMENT.
"This is the cause of a good many
abroad accidents, but | can tell you of
still more frequent ole. 1t is the en-
'loyment by certain railroad managers
f half-taught botches as engineers, or
who are not of sober habits and can
Iot get into the brotherhood of engi-
(Our trade society, and who will,
therefore,, work very cheaply."
Why is this permitted"
81 will tell you. In every state in
he union, 50 far as | know, there is a
lw compelling the engineers who attend
0 stationary boilers to pass an examina-
ion, at which they must show them
elves qualified, and receive a license be-
ore they are permitted to work. You
be liable to severe punishment if
employed an unlicensed engineer to
I'm the boiler of your printing Office.
his law is, of course, an eminently
roper one, and in New York city, for
Instance, there is a bureau of police de-
artment whose exclusive duties are to
re its enforcement. A similar United
tates statute compels the engineers of
larine or steamboat engines to pass a
ill s~tricter examination. But no such
wv is on the statute books of any state
1 the union as regards locomotive engi-
GERS, whose duties are even more deli
ate and dangerous than their brethren
no run factory or other stationary en-
ines. Whenever any bill requiring the
companies to employ only COM
etent men has been likely to pass a leg-l
the railroad lobbyists have de- !
.ated it. You will find no statute in
lis country to prevent the railroads from
in charge of the train you in
'ust your life to the veriest botch or
that can be found. If the
ewspapers want to do a good work, let
lem demand and ecure the passage of
lch a statute as will oblige the compa-
les to employ at least this simple requi-
te to s9fety."
DO not the best MANAGED roads now
nd it pays best to employ good, COM
tent men7" !
"Some of the companies are beginning !
find it out, but the majority of them
Ike on all the men they can pick up {
ho will work cheaper than a skillful !
For instance, the Boston and (
aine railroad company, during the late
rike, employed men who we're either G
o ignorant of their trade or too much 7
ven to drink to belong to the trade ! ,