The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1884-06-21
TALKS WITH THE BOYS.
A PLAIN DISCOURSE ON MECHANICS.
What the Practical Workman on a News.
paper Has to Say About Loco.
motives, Railroads,
Etc., Etc.
IN. Quad, in Detroit Free Press.1

IN. Quad in Detroit Free Press1
"Comc, now, let me ask you few ques.
tons. What is u LOCOMOTIVES"
"Why, it's machine which draws the
cars"
"What is an engine"
swell, it's another machine to iun mills,
boats, factories, etc."
"How wide is the railroad trackw
"Oh, five or six feet"
"What is the weight Of q fat carp
81 dunno"
"what is the cost of an ordinary pas.
senger coachW
"Never heard"
"Ah, my lad just wish was about
fourteen years old and had the chances
you are daily throwing away"
"What would you dor
"Why, I'd post myself. For one thing
I'd walk down to the depot, and
when locomotive brought in its
train and went of to the round house to be
wiped up I'd follow it and find out how IL
was made. I'd have q peep at every lever
and crank and cog and wheel and rod. I'd
know why and how steam exer ed its pow.
III shtAsiy NY ooAA WY puue poiiCi
mounted on wheels was able to pull and
push. When left the round.house I'd 60
to factory and overhaul stationary en-.
CINE and see where the two differed. Then
I'd get hold Of some railroad man and
pump him until was posted even as to
the quantity Of oil used to run a locomotive
Q hundred miles.
"Why, what good would all that do
mer'
Whyf Because horn fool has just as
good eyes as You have. He sees train
speeding along the track, and he realizes
that 1t is train. That is all you realize, al.
though you have every chance to know
more. don't say that it will be money in
your pocket to know these things, but Is
will be satisfaction to you which money
cannot buy. You never expect to visit the
Cannibal Islands. but their location, NUN.
Dor, products, area, etc, are given In geo.
graphy to post you and broaden your
mind
One Of the grsndest businesses Of the age
II rsilroading. Go down to the Union De-
pot and count the trains going out and
coming in for an hour and you will DO
amazed. Every one leaves on timc-every
one comes in almost to the minute. barring
accident. lit we're not 80 the business Of
the entire country would soon fall into
confusion. The train which is due in Chi.
caRo at eight o'clock q. IN. or In Buffalo
noon, or in Cincinnati at p. IN, must be
there to the minute il nothing breaks down.
Passengers expect 1.-THE Post-oitice OH.
aoao Inlu
poets II, and all business arrangements
are made accordingly.
Have you any idea Of the millions Of
money required to build, equip and run q
railroad? Have you ever asked yourself
how many locomotives. coaches, cars and
men such q road ~ the Michigan Central
must keep constantly employedf Did you
ever figure on what fortune it must cost
each year to keep up all this rolling. stock,
track, stations, tanks, etc. And think of
tho perfect system that prevails in all the
departments. No train leaves the depot
until the gong strikes the exact minute,
and from the time 1t leaves here until it
reaches its destination 1t is under the
watchful eye of the train dispatcher, and
all its movements are known through the
telegraph. Go down to the depot at II
o'clock a. IN. and ask the train dispatcher
where the train is which left for the West
three hours before, and he will locate 1t.
Every conductor has his orders. He
must run by these until the telegraph
makes change There is continual
click click of the telegraph all along the
line, and if there are fifty trains on the
rails each one makes its run without both.
ering another. There must be perfect
system, and men must obey orders to the
very letter.
Ride the length of railroad and you see
piles of rails here, heaps OF ties there, OLD
car-wheels and scrap-iron by the acre, and
you must imagine that great recklessness
prevails in the financial management. No
corporation cuts expenses closer than q
railroad. Every tie is confectionery old
car-wheel has its value--every hundred
pounds of scrap iron is looked after. On
some roads the engineers are limited as to
the amount of oil to be used each trip. 1t
Is even figured down just how long a
wheel will run and how long an axle will
last.
People talk about the position of Presi-
dent of the United States as if it demanded
great ability on the part Of the incumbent.
The active Superintendent of iirst.class
railroad exercises five times the braiL
power required in any political Office in
the land. Think OF the many stations
along the route-the hundreds of section
hands-the train men-the rolling stock
the PURCHASING, selling and repairing! He
may not burden himself with every detail,
but he must see that others do. He must
have the head to control others hands.
As said before. it NAV nos be money in
your pocket to know these thing, but IL
will b. food for the mind. You can not
post yourself too much. The mind is IA
book in which there's always room tor AN
other page.
Did you ever take common door lock
apart!
MOP
Then you DO not know that bit of a
brass spring is the hidden mystery which
works both catch and bolt. Without this
insi.zn ficant trlae, costing less than a
penny, the lock, costing from thirty cents
u a dollar Of itself would lie only SO much
old iron. You have opened and shut a
pocket-knife thousands of times, but IL
never occurred 10 you that spring, act
ing on a different principle, holds the blade
shut or open. You see paper hanger at