Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1880-10-07

The GLOBE Yesterday contained a list OF the
delegates to the thirteenth annual convention
of the Railroad Conductors Life Insurance as
sociation of the United States and Oanadas
which assembled at the Opera house in this
city yesterday.
Promptly at the hour named, 10 A. M. the
assemblage was called to order by the presi-
dent, V. 8. Sears, when 1.-THE Rev. s. g.
Smith had invoked the divine blessing upon
the deliberations of the assemblage.
Alerman Allen, of the Merchants hotel, was
next introduced by the president, and made
one of his Characteristic speeches, brief and to
the point, welcoming the party to st. Paul,
and introducing Acting Mayor VIM. Rhodes,
who spoke as follows:
Gentlemen and Conductors of United States
Railways.
By the absence of the mayor of this city,
who is chief conductor in municipal affairs,
and whose duty it would be to "tender" you
welcome, the pleasant duty devOlves upon me,
as head brakesman of the common council,
10 signal O clear track to all aboard.
1 trust you may enjoy pleasant visit during
YOUR 'short stop in this the central station"
of the new Northwest.
Col. Allen, of the Merchants hotel, who, be-
lieve, is division superintendent of the re-
1resQm6QI WILL hSSp lLO oAiCo nCi
fabricated and no danger need be feared from
''hot boxes if you only keep the track" aud
run on schedule time"
We are glad to have SO many broad gauge
representatives with US, and when the bell
rings and the whistle sounds 'all aboard"
and you pull out" for "home stations" we
trust YOU will bear with you many pleasant
memories of your visit to our city and State.
Gentlemen: 1t is my duty as engineer on
watch, wien the city machine is making too
much steam" to shut her eff, and it has grown
into habit with me to suppress long speeches,
and so, bidding you a hearty welcome, and
wishing you pleasant and prohtable time l
whistle down brakes.
Captain Rhodes remarks were greeted with
frequent applause and laughter as he rung the
changes upon the well-known and familiar
phrases known to every railroad map, whether
a conductor or not.
ANNUAL ADDRESS,
MIR. Ward Nichols was next introduced, and
delivered the annual address. He spoke sub
stantially as follows:
For the past twelve years it has been the
custom to have address delivered before
this convention on some topic connected with
the welfare of'railroad conductors. 1t Is dltfl-
cult therefore, TO present anything that Will
be entirely new,Or that Will not touch upon mat
tiers already made familiar toyOu by previous
addresses l shall therefore be obliged to run
all risks of repetition, and shall invite your
attention to a brief resume OF life on the rail-
road as it appears to the youth, the conductor
of years of experience, and to the friendship
and benefits of our association.
There is an indescribable charm about rail
road life. 1t is not with, ut its humdrum
routine Life in itself is but routine, SORT
of an every day affair that begins, as matter
of course and stops for the same reason. But
notwithstanding the ever'recurring duties of
railroad life, it has wonderful fascinating
chsrm.
The boy that lives within sound of the car
whistle and waves his hat and gives the pass
ing train a welcoming "hurrah," always
dreams of living the life of a
brakeman, engineer, or better yet, that
of a conductor, and run train OF bis
own. The swift onward drive OF the locomo-
tive, Misrepresentation of strength, power, and
re abeadativenoss, attracts him. The richly
cUloreG and beautifully upholstered cats are to
him like the rich mans drawing room. He
longs TO revel in them, to be among such sur
roundings every day is the very poetry of hap
piness TO him. He knows nothing of the
anxieties of running on time, of the hardsblps
of the winters cold, and being sDOw-bound
miles from human habitation, water in the ten
der all frozen, with train load of passengers
hopelessly stuck, and every one of them freez-
ing and scolding. Heknows nothing OF the art
of being travelling encyclopedia, walking
time table, sure guide to all parts
of this world, and, if everything does
not go right possible guide to the next. He
little dreams of the great amount of natural
amiability and the geniality with which con.
ductor must be born. But the often told and
ever recurring story of rapid rising from water
boy to railroad president is fixture IN his
mind, and as he cheers the train, he inwardly
vows allegiance to the raliroad-and, some
time fulfls it.
With us, conductors for years, many of Us
contemporary with almost the entire history of
railroading, these dreams of boyhood have
passed away and we enjoy the solid reality.
We know the charms of life on the rail, be-
hind the locomotive. We have learned to
love our calling by the experiences it
sands of trains we have piloted over our routes
without so much as losing hat for passen-
ger, every one of them represents tension of
the nerve power that but few people are ever
called upon to endure. And then the acci-
dents-for accidents will happen on the best
regulated railroads as well as in the best regu-
lated families. What mental suffering some
of us have been called upon to pass through
by reason, even when perfectly blameless, of
thoughts that perhaps if we had done this
thing different or that thing little sooner all
might have been avoided.
This nerve endurance Is bat part OF our
business, ard although it frequently tipges
the hair with gray early, Il develops the
highest courage in our hearts.
We have to meet it every day, and We grow
heart-stoIng under its impulse.
There is, too, great variety, even in our
routine life. We don't stop long in one place.
Five minutes for refreshments" and an
occasional stop at q wild, forsaken cross-road,
called by courtesy flag station not by reason
of its being banner town." and IN old
times, before the days of coal burners, oc-
casional wood up chorus, about constitutes our
permanency on the line. To be sure, We become
somewhat familiar with the objects on the line,
and if new bar post is set or a harm newly shin
R,ed we s-e very apt to K eBits We never carry
the same identical passengers, no more, no
less, twice; still we make the acquaintance of
the regulars" and win many friend, and an
occasional enemy from this class. A conductor
that has no enemies would be a rarity, and,
we'll venture to say, one who fails TO enforce
the rules of the corporation; for rules are in
tended TO cover certain cases only. The aver
age common-senss passenger needs no rules,
because be violates none. Often these friend
ships are lasting, and bind US Ike brothers,
and there are a thousand aud one things Con-
nected with a conductors life that give il the
distinctive charm of which we have spoken.
1t is useful, and, in the main, a happy
life. The one prominent feature of ou,
calling, however, and the one for which this
association has been formed, aud has for the
past twelve years been grea: aid in promoting
is the brotherhood, the fraternity and bonds OF
friendship that Ii causes to grow in our hearts
until II becomes 4 ''gecord nature