Connecticut western news., 1883-12-05
RUNNING TRAINS BY TELEGRAPH.
Charles NIinOt's Idea, which was First Put
 Into Practice 33 Years Ago.

Into Practice 33 Years Ago.
 ssThe first train of cars that was ever run by telegraph" said an old rail- road official, to New York Sun re- porter, "was in 1850, between Turner's Station and Port Jervis, on the Erie Railway. The road was then called the New York and Erie. In that year the road was opened between Piermont and Elmira. It was only single track, of course. Charles Minot was the general superintendent. A telegraph line had been put up along the line, and other roads were using the telegraph in their business, but none of the managers of railroads had ventured to utilize it in the matter of train signals.
 Engineers and conductors were afraid of the telegraph. Trains were run entirely by the printed time tables furnished to the engineers and conduc- tors, on which were indicated the places where train going in one direction must wait for the arrival and passing of another. No matter how long this wait happened to be there the engineers would wait. Under this system passen- gers were frequently detained hours on sidings and switches.
 "When Superintendent Minot came into power he urged the use of the tele- graph in running trains, but he could not induce any engineer to start train from station where the passing place was marked on the time table before the other train had passed. They said the telegraph might err in reporting train late, and that there was always chance that the two might meet on the way.
 cone day in 1850 Minot was passen- ger on west-bound train. Upon its arrival at Turner's Station he received a telegram saying that the 'east-bound train was six hours behind time. He de- termined to settle at once the question of the value of telegraph signals in run ming railroad trains. He telegraphed to the agent at Port Jervis that he intended to run the west-bound train to that sta tion on the time of the overdue train, and ordered him to let no train leave Port Jervis until the train from New York arrived there. He requested the agent to telegraph back to him how he understood the instructions. The answer was all right, and the Superin- tendent gave orders to go ahead.
 ''The engineer declared that he would not leave Turner's until the arrival of
 the other train. Minot ordered the in- subordinate engineer to dismount from
 his engine. This order the engineer
 had to obey, and the Superintendent at once took charge of the throttle himself. He ran the train not only to Port Jer- wis, but as far west as Narrowburg,
 where the train was compelled to wait l only few minutes for the passing of the delayed train. This successful experi ment was the death blow to the old sys' tem of railroading. It was followed al
 once by the adoption of telegraphic sig
 nals on all the railroads of the country and advanced railroading at least z quarter of century.
 "When the late Col. D. c. McCollun became General Superintendent of the Erie, about thirty years ago, Charles Minot having been promoted to the
 Presidency, he originated system o rules for tue running of trains by tele graph, which were adopted by nearly al the roads ill the country. The regular telegraph orders are very simple, ant only through gross carelessness cal
 they fail to secure complete safety, or t'
 facilitate train movements"
 A BR1aAND.-Black Bart has robbed { more than a score of stages ill Californi,
 single handed. He had habit of writ : ing doggerel verses and pinning then 5 to rifled express boxes. The reward offered for his capture amounted t 3 nearly $15,O00, and stray bit of hi 3 versifcation finally betrayed him.