Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1886-06-02
RUNNING LOCOMOTIVES.


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An Essential Thing-why Machinists Ars
Unsuccessfal In Driving Fast Trains.
Comparing the capability of locomo-
tive engineers and machinists in the
actual running Of an engine, an old and
experienced railroad official said:
"The claim Of ma"hinists that they
can take the places of locomotive en-.
gineers in case the Brotherhood should
ever strike, in retaliation for the
refusal of the engineers to
join the strikers, is all bosh.
The best engineers we have are
those who have been advanced from
the fireman's side of the engine to the
coveted seat on the right-haLd side of
the cab. They know how to handle
the machine as well as an experienced
horseman can handle his racer. and are
imbued with a spirit foreign to fear.
They don't know the weak points of an
engine as well as the machinist might,
but this fact is IN argument in their
favor and one against the claims of the
m%achinist. l have seen the expert
ment tried, and the result is an almost
invarialhe failure on the part Of the
machinist to meet the requirements.
They lack the nerve, and knowing that
a locomotive has weak points, do not
care 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 o
machinist out Of the shop and put him
On a fast train. He couldn't pull it.
His nerve would fail him and he would
be compelled 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
q thought of fear entering into the dis
charge of his Duties"
"Can you cite Incidents" asked
the reporter.
"Yes," responded the official. ut
would be manifestlv unfair to give the
name of a man who made a failure, but
there is an incident 1 wildly recollect
where q machinist was ambitious to be-
come ~ engineer. He finally sue
ceedeS IN getting a freight run, and did
so vel there that he was transferred
to . passenger. The change was
mar-elous. His train was nearly always
be- ind time, the conductors were fret
full, and innumerable complaints were
made. The machinist-engineer, q good,
reliable man, by the way, was finally
brought before his superiors. and,
when questioned, frankly admitted that
he was afraid of his machine. i can't
do it, he said, his expression of counte-
nance verifying his words. 1T makes
me dizzy, and I lose my confidence
every time ! attempt to make time. I'll
have to give it up. I wouldn't run o
locomotive forty miles an hour for a
fortune. l couldn't. 1t would make
me gray in q years time
"He was relieved, and returned to the
shops, and was the happiest man the
day he returned to his old place within
the entire building"
Can you recollect an incident of the
other sort?"
"Oh, yes, a number of them; but one
particnlarly-that of poor Woods, of
the Panhandle, who went blind, and
was compelled to retire from active
life. l have sat on the same seat with
him in his cab, and he didn't know
what fear was. He was running the
limited express on the Panhandle, and
was considered the best engineer on
the road. His train was never late,
unless occasioned by delays over which
he had nc control. 1t was always fas-
cinating to me to sit and look at Woods
while running at the highest rate of
speed. He was a long, gaunt man,
with a keen, piercing black eye, and a
fierce black mustache, giving him the
appearance Of an ideal bandit king. He
invariably leaned forward from his
seat, with one hand upon the throttle
and the other upon the lever. every
muscle and nerve alive and active, his
eye straight ahead down the track, and.
as his engine throbbed and shrieked,
and seemed to lift itself clear of the
rails, as it sped along Mt a terrific rate
of speed, the motion of his body was in
keeping with the action of the machine,
making him seem a piece of it. Woods
could stop an engine quicker than any
man on the line, simply because his
nerves were always at their highest
tension, and the strain upon his system
had much to do with his misfortune. l
saw him once, after a noted Cincinnati
oculist had informed him that there
was no hope of saving his eyesight.
Woods was nearly heartbroken and
died in a very short time after he was
compelled to leave the road"
isn't it a little peculiar that the
man who builds an engine cannot 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 knowledge that unnerves
him. On the other hand the fireman
gazes with pride upon 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 points to prey
upon and unman him. 1t is like any
other business. 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. "-St
Louis Globe Democrat
Sunset Cox In Egypt.
But the Nile! Old Egypt! Osiris, Isis,
Horus, Ramesis, Thotmes-gods and
kings-temples, tombs-dust! What