Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1886-04-23
NERVE IN RUNNING AN ENGINE.


Comparative Capability of
Engineers and Macliinists.
Comparing the capability of locomotive
engineers and machinists in the actual run
ming of an engine, an old and experienced
railroad official the other day said:
1.-THE hest engineers we have are those
who have been advanced from the fire
mans side of the engine tothe coveted seat
on the right-hand side of tho cab. They
know how to handle the machine as well
as an experienced hcrseman can handle his
racer, and are imbued with q spirit foreign
to fear. They don't know the weak points
of an engine as well, as the machinlst
might; but this fact is an argument IN
their favor and one against the claims OIL
the machinist. Ihaye semitic experiment
tried, and the result is an almost inyariable
failure o. the part of the machinist to meet
the requirements. They lack the nerve,
and knowing that a locomotive has weak
points, do not dare to take the risks the
fireman, who has been promoted, knows
nothing of, nor does he, as a rule, care TO
know. 1t would be utter folly to take a
machinist out of the shops and put hin on
a fast train. He couldn't pull it. His
nerve would fail him and he would be com
PEELED to give it up, while the engineer,
who has gained his knowledge in the cab,
readily assumes his new duties and handles
the throttle without a thought of fear en-
tering into the discharge of his duties"
'Can you cite incidents?' asked the re-
porter.
"Yes," responded the official. ut would
be manifestly unfair to give the name OF a
man who made a failure, but there is an
incident / wildly recollect where a ma
chinist was ambitious tc become an engi
neer. He finally succeeded in getting n
freight run, and did so well there that he
was transferred to 81 passenger. The change
was marvellous. His train was nearly
always behind time, the conductors
were %fretful, and innumeraDle complaints
We're made. The machinist-engineer, a
good, reliable man, by the way, was finally
brought before his superiors, and whsn
questioned, frankly admitted that he was
afraid of his machine. i can't do 1T, he
said, his expression of countenance verify
ing his words. 1T makes me dizzy, and |
lose my confidence every time attempt to
make time. I'll have to give it up. |
wouldn't run a locomotive forsy miles an
hour for a fortune. / couldn't. 1t would
make me gray in a years time"
sIsn't it a little peculiar that the
man who builds an engine can not run it
| as well as one who has learned merely the
operating of the machine in the cab?"
"Not at all. The machinist knows how
delicate the mechanism is and knows just
where the weak points are, 1t is this knowi
| edge that unnerves him. On the other
hand the fireman gazes with pride upor.
his powerful courser, and all he cares To
know is the delicacy Of control which will
induce the iron steed to make the best
time or pull the heaviest load. He sees
only the strength of the engine, and does
not permit the weak pointcto prey upon
and nina him. 1t is like any other bust,
ness. The machinist knows how it ought
to be done, but the engineer who was once
a fireman by his experience has learned
how it is done, and feels as much at home
with his hand on the throttle as the ma
chinist does in grinding his lathe. Chi
cage Times.