The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1877-04-12
THE MAN AT THE THROTTLE.
4 Confidential TnlL with u Locomotive
Enginccr-NO Law Against Incompc.
tent or Drunken Engine Drivers.

Have you ever th0ughtas you cntereda
railroad carlow absolutely and complete.
| ly ysur life was in the hands of one man?
Has il ever occurred to you as you re.
clined in a sOft-cushioned seat in appa.
rent security, with hundreds of Others on
the train, how every one OF you might
be sent to an instant death by the slight.
est blundcr or neglect on the part of one
weak human being2 And did you ever
find yourself wondering ii !he man at
the throttle understood his duties and
was able to do them promptly and prop
erly, apprcciating the cnormousresponsi-
bilities resting upon fallble human ma
ture, and knowing what awful conse-
quences might result from single mis-
take on his part?
Your correspondent confessed that
since the recent railroad engineers
strikes these dangers have oc.
Cured to him, and the readers Of the
Herald would understand the reason
could they have heard the other day a
brief conversation in the cab Of a locomo-
tive, which an unusually intelligent and
trustworthy member OF the guild Of en-.
gineers rccounted little OF the true in.
wardness of his calling.
WHERE IGNORANCE IS BLISS.
"IL is as we'll" said he, smiling
thOughttully, "that the travelling public
dent know how the majority of railroads
are managed and what risks the passcn-
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 SO
tired and sleepy as to he 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 80 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 OFF Il cannon at my ears |
could not have helped it. have many
Il time brought my engine into some
town at thirty miles an hour while
asleep, until the fireman or somebody
would wake me up.
" Dangerous? Well, rather 50; for if
there is any post in the world where
man should be excessively wide awake,
vigilant, incessantly watching ahead of
him with an unfaltcring steadiness and
with good eyes, too with his hand al
ways on the lever prepared to check the
flying speed with which he is flying
along, it iswhen he is in the cab of loco
motiveengine. / don't know any work that
requires man TO know what he is about
and to see what he is about 30 much as
running the engine of an express train
The engineer not only must watch his
engine 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,
an engineer must be alertness personiRed
Dangerous? You might as well ask if
it weuld be dangerous for man to fall
asleep sitting on keg of powder with a
lighted slOwmatch attached to it,
BULL.DOHlNG THE ENGINEERS.
"It is common thing for an engineer
|
I've ordered out again Immediately, al
though he knowsand the company knows
that he is not fit for further work with
out a rest, and that to fall asleep at his
post is to endanger the lives of hun
dreds of persons. Yet he dare not refuse
or he will lose his place. Suppose, under
such circumstances, an accident occurs
Isn't the company relieved from all re-
sponsiblity in the eyes of the newspaper
and the public if they show that the en-
gincer failed to see signal? Who is to
know that the reason that the engine.
driver failed to see the signal or the
switch was because he fell asleep from
overwork, and that he was compelled to
run while physically unable to do 80 in
safety?
A STARTLING STATEMENT.
"This is the cause of good many
railroad accidents, but can tell you o
n still more frequent one. 1t is the en-
pIoymcnt by certain railroad Managers
Of hall-taught botches as engineers, o
men who are nst of sober habits and cal
not get into the brotherhood of engi
neers (our trade society, and who will
therefore, work very Cheaply."
"Why is this permi.ted?"
81 will tell you. In every state il
the union, 20 far as | know, there is ;
law compelling the engineers who attenC
to stationary boilers to pass an examina
ti0n, at which they must show them
selves qualified, and receive license be
fore they are permitted to work. You
would be liable TO severe punishment i
you employed an unlicensed engineer tC
run the boiler of your printing Office
This law is, of course, an eminently
} proper one, and in New York city, fol
instance, there is bureau of police de
partment whose exclusive duties are t
, see its enforcement. A similar Unitet
States statute compels the engineers o
marine or steamboat engines to pass ;
still stricler examination. But no sucl
law is on the statute books of any stat,
in the union as regards locomotive engi
> neers, whose duties are even more deli
1 cate and dangerous than their brethrel
5 who run factory or other stationary EN-
gines. Whenever any bill requiring th
$ railroad companies to employ only com
t petent men hiss been likely to pass leg
lslature, the railroad lobbyists have de
1 feated it, You will find no statute il
this country to prevent the railroads from
t putting in charge of the train you in
| trust your life to the veriest botch o
drunkard that can be found. If th
| newspapers want to do good work, lie
them demand and secure the passage Q
= such statute a. will oblige the compa
2 nies to employ at least this simple requi
I site To spfety."
"Do not the best mana ed roads noy
find it pays best to employ good, com
y petent men,
0 "Some of the companies are beginnin!
a to fnd it out, but the majority OF then
:. take on all the men they can pick ~
Y who will work cheaper than skillfn
n engineer. For instance, the Boston aIlt
@ Maine railroad company, during the lat'
: s,r;ka omnloypl men who were elthe