The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1883-03-29
WHOLE NO. 1899.
All About the Brakeman.

The brakeman is man who is em-
| ployed by railroad company to stand
upon the top of freight car and work
both hands at the engineer, and to help
stop the train when it is necessary.
Next to being bareback rider in a
circus. the small boy pants to be a
brakeman, so he can sit on the wheel of
brake and chew tobacco while the
train is running at full speed. The fact
that a brakeman is often seen pegging
broadcast over the land on wooden
LEG, or minus one arm, often causes
people to believe that he is an old SOL
dier or has served term in baseball
club
There are two kinds of brakemen-
the passenger and freight. The passen-
ger brakeman is a gentleman of consid-
cradle leisure. and by the nonchalant
way in which he comes through a car
and tramps on the passengers feet is
often mistaken for the conductor.
He does not have much else to do but
slam doors, growl at the porter, and
when the train arrives at a station to
yell ''Ponooyah' when he should say
"Pontachatoula.
The freight brakeman is an entirely
different man. He is grim, silent and
dignified. He seldom speaks, exceptto
curse the green hands on the rear end
of the train, to whom he afiectionately re-
fers as pudding" Despite his faults,
however, he works hard, and very often
arises to a position of Importance, un-
less some day he tries to use his body as
coupling pin and fails.
At night, when freight train is side
tracked at meeting point, and all his
companions are squatted on pile of
cross-ties, the brakeman is in his glory.
He then discusses I'D Hbitem the affairs
of the road and criticises every one from
the President down to the humblest Off
cial. He does not hesitate to saw that if
the President can't run road any better
than he does, he should go off some
where and drive a canal boat.
After he has said this and other things
concerning the assininity of the officials
IN general, he turns to one of his COM
panions and says:
Jimmie, did YOU ever know that old
fellow, Bill McGinty, who has Just been
appointed Superintendent of the j. X,
& c, P''
What. McGinty? Of course I've
seen him; and you bet he's fine old
plum to be superintendent
''Well, L should think he was. 7 was
brakeman on the Southern Division of
/, T. u N. when he got his first lob
old Matt johnson was pulling us-anI
McGinty was so green that he didn't
know draw-head from switch-froe.
No matter how slow old Matt johnson
backed up that fellow couldn't couple a
car, and sometimes for half an hour we
were backing up and going ahead, until
you could hear Matt johnson curse two
miles off. I'll be blamed if don't think
he tried to kill McGinty. He used to
come back and jam the draw-heads
under the cars, but when he pulled
ahead again, McGinty would step out
without a scratch on him. A road, / tell
you, is mighty hard up when they take
such thing as McGinty
- AT the conclusion of such speech, the
whole crowd of brakemen viii review
the history of McGinty, and finally,
without dissenting voice, will arrive at
the conclusion that he is a ''fne old
plum. The brakeman is to be admired
for the remarkable manner in which he
gets wind OF various and sundrv plans
which the management intend to place
in operation and wish to keep quiet.
The brakeman will sit on the end of a
cross-tie, swap opinions concerning the
wisdom of the President in concocting
such plan long before the la-de-da
clerks in the general Office obtain the
merest inkling of it. If an appointment
is to be made, he will tell you the name
of the man, and the time the appoint
ment is to go into effect.-NeW Orleans
Democrat.