The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1885-01-01


was German named Abe Hammil,
that if he desired to have the train
stopped he would pull the string. and
would expect the signal to be obeyed.
Hammil looked upon the innovation as
a direct blow to his authority, and
when the train left the station he cut
the stick loose and told Captain Ayres
that he proposed to run the train
himself without interference from any
conductor. The next day the Captain
rugged up his stick again. ''Abe, y
said he, ''this things got to be settled
one way or the other to-day. If that
piece of wood is not on the end of this
cord by the time we get to Turner's
you've got to lick me, or I'll lick you. -
The stick was not on the string when
the train reached Turner'S. The Cap
tain pulled off his coat and told Ham
mil to get off his engine. Hammil de-
clined to get of. Captain Ayres
climbed to the engineers place Ham
mil started to jump off on the opposite
side. The conductor hit him under the
ear and saved him the trouble of Jump
ing. That settled forever the question
of authority of railroad trains. Ham
mil abdicated as autocrat of the Erie
pioneer train, and the twine and
piece OF wood manipulated by the con-
ductor controlled its management.
That was the origin of the bell rope,
now one OF the most important append
ages of railroad trains The idea was
quickly adopted by the few roads then
in operation, and the bell or gong in
time took the place of the stick of wood
to signal the engineer. Captain Ayres
continued a conductor on this road un-
der its different managers until he was
superannuated and retired on a pen
sion.
The oldest conductor in the United
States in point of active service is Con-
duetor William Coulter, who runs the
fast morning express between New
York and Philadelphia on the Penn
sylyania Railroad, and has been rail-
road passenger conductor for nearly
half century. He began railroading
when there were but three railroads in
the country-one in South Carolina,
one near New York City, and the old
Newcastle & Frenchtown Road
''Railroading in those days. said
Mr.. Coulter to the writer, ''was not so
comfortable a business for the con-
duetor as it is now. We were COM
PEELED to assist in loading, help the
baggage-master and not unfrequently
lead fight against the roughs who in
sisted upon riding for nothing. In
place of the splendidly-upholstered
cars now in use, connected with the
engine by a bell-rope and with patent
steam brakes, we ran compartment
cars, after the English fashion of to-
day, with the passengers facing each
other. There were no cushions nor
any backs to the seats
Old conductors have large fund of
information and anecdote. One ex-
perienced conductor gave some of his
recollections in a recent talk with the
writer. He commenced by comparing
Grant, Conkling and Blaine, saving:
Roscoe Conkling generally gets one
seat IN q drawing-room, and he gets all
the newspapers he can buy. reads them
and throws them all over the drawing
room in mass; besides, he always has
a portmanteau full of law papers.
which he strews all over every seat
in the drawing-room. Conkling is a
very vain traveller and wants every
body in the car to look at him. Now,
there's Blaine; he's Just the opposite.
He always buys the whole drawing
room and shuts himself up. But
Grant is a queer old fellow. When he
was President of the United States he
nearly always Travelled in a special car,
but now, since he has become private
citizen, he travels just about the same
as ordinary folks. You can always
find Grant in the rear end of
the smoking car with a cigar in his
mouth, and there he sits, with a hand on
either arm of his chair and smokes and
smokes, seemingly oblivious of every-
thing around him. He never looks at
any one. Sometimes he will look out
of the windows for hours. When he's
not doing that he's glancing over a
newspaper. He's Indifferent to every
thing that's going on. Why, if the
train he's in stops on the road in the
open country for some minutes he never
moves, never inquiries what is the mat
ter, but sits and smokes stolidlY until
the train starts, while ali the other pas
sengers put their heads out of the win
dows or get off to see what's gone
wrong.
Il remember" continued the veteran
conductor. "a trip to Chicago Grant
made in my car some time ago. His
seat was directly behind lady who was
travelling alone, and who, by the by,
knew very little about travelling. She
had her window up for some time, and
it was pretty chilly; beside, the black
smoke was pouring into the car. |
watched Grant a little while, and saw
te was annoyed. Presently he got up
and. leaning over the lady's shoulder,
lt his hand on the catch and let the
window sash down. The little woman
[sEe IL inyoluntarily start, and turned
'oHoo lereely, but Grant never no
ICED 4.r and dropped back into his
Aal'. After little while the lady
!fois!a' the window again, and some of
! 2 pgtsea ers who had seen the affair
, siltd 4t c G another. Then the little
! y d Sp ed to me and said: Con
. r. II @~a is that hog back of me?''
"IhS 'eneral Grant, - said /.
= exclaimed the little woman,
&. d Sht 4 oppeG the window imme-
.-ti% rant heard the question, but