The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1878-06-22
How Brakeman Became q General
Superintendent,


deal of printing for the Chicago, Bur-
lington q Quincy Railroad, and, be-
cause of this, came to know young
man who is the subject of my story.
He came from Massachusetts, was poor,
and had no influential friend to even
give him letter of recommendation
He sought employment on the Chicago,
Burlington & Quincy Railroad, and,
after waiting time, at last secured the
position of brakeman on a freight train
salary about thirty dollars month.
He was faithful in this position, and, be-
ing both. intelligent and industrious, he
was soon made conductor of the train,
with wages nearly doubled. He at
tracted the attention of his superior
officers, who saw in him an honest,
faithful and conscientious conductor,
one not seeking his own ease or pleas
ure, but constantly devoted to the in
terests of the company that employed
him, so that not many months elapsed
before he was made conductor of pas
senger train-a more comfortable po-
sition, and one yielding somewhat
higher salary. Here / first knew him,
and | saw in him modest, quiet, unas-
Stunning young man, free from the pop
ular vices, and one who tried to be
just as faithful and true and devoted to
his work as conductor as thoughsthe
position had been that of General Sha
perintendent.
! One of the sterneSt and most exact
ing, and yet one of the noblest, ablest,
and most conscientious, men that ever
filled position was then General Su-
perintendent of the road. This man,
Col. G. G. Hammond, watched every
employe of the road with an eagles
eye. He measured every man, knew
the ability of each, and seemed intui-
lively to know which were the lazy
shirks. Our young conductor did not
escape the keen eye. When he least
thought of it his chief was measuring
and sounding him, and finding out
what kind of metal he was made of;
but none ever knew whether he was
approved or not, for the chiefs look
was always stern and cold as ice.
One Saturday morning train No. 4
moved slowly out of Chicago under the
care of my friend, who, only intent on
doing his work as well as he knew how,
seemed to have no higher ambition
than to be a good conductor-salary
5000 a year. About noon, when he
stopped at station, he found telegram
from the head office ordering him to
"leave the train in the care Of, and
take the first train for Chicago"
This was an unusual thing. Wonder
ing what could be the matter, conscious
that he had tried to do exactly right,
and yet remembering how exacting was
the General Superintendent, he feared
that unintentionally he had fallen I'M
der his displeasure. With afearful heart
| he presented himself at the office of the
superintendent.
Good morning, Mr.. Hammond; |
have received your telegram and come
to see what it means"
Good morning." growled the chief;
81 see you have, sir; | have concluded
to take your train away from you"
The conductors heart sank lower
than ever. What before was only fear
full foreboding was now painful truth.
He had served the company to the best
of his ability. He had kept the affairs
of his train in complete order, his re-
ports had been carefully and correctly
made; and yet, after all, he lost his po-
sition. He dared not hope to reverse
the decision of the all-powerful official,
yet in as calm voice as he could COM
mand he politely asked the reason for
his summary dismissal.
Col. Hammond waited while before
he answered. Then the muscles of his
face relaxed little, and he said; 81
want an Assistant Superintendent in my
office, and | have called you to take the
place"
True worth is always modest, and our
thunderstruck conductor could only
stammer: But | am not competent,
sir, to fill the position"
"You can do what | tell you; you can
obey orders, can't you? That's all
you have to do, sir. You will begin
work this morning. That is your
desk"
The new duties were not as difficult
as he expected At first he had only
to obey orders, and carry out the de-
tails of work laid out by the chief; and
to these duties he brought the same
faithfulness and thoroughness that had
made him noticeable as a conductor.
His elevation did not spoil him or make
him vain. He was as plain and modest
and Woodworking as before. His salary
atfirst was 81 800.
After few years. service under Col.
Hammond, and an advance of salary to
900, the plain young man was in
vited to take the office of General Super
intendent of younger road, at salary
of $4,000. Distrusting his own ability,
but determined to do his best, he ac-
cepted the call, and succeeded, until
the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy,
realizing how much they had lost in
parting from him, invited him to re-
sumo his old position, and secured his
services by the tempting offer of Sc, ZOO
year.
In the meantime Col. Hammond had
become the General Superintendent of
the Union Pacific Railroad running
from Omaha to Ogden, where it con-
meets with the Central Pacific Railroad.
I he Central Pacific Road was owned by
four or five millionaires, who built it,
one of whom was its General Superin-
tendent. However good a business
man he was he knew but little about
railroading.
Rut ubarn could thav find Eo,o.,1