The Abbeville messenger. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1884-1887, 1886-02-23
MEN AT THE THROTTLE..
A POWERFUL TRADE UNION.
The Silent Strength of the Railroad EnRf.
Observation-Disclosures and Rivalrics.

neers, with membership of over II, 600
engineers, and 294 subdivisions in the
United States, Canada, and Mexico. It
has been SO quietly conducted that moth
ing. was know about it by the general
public 6fHthis city until attention was
called to it this week by a reunion of
its members. It's head officer is Grand
Chief Engineer Arthur, who for twenty
years has ruled it with almost the power
of q dictator. He has more than
once made superintendent and general
managers of railroads come to his terms.
Much: of his power is ascribed to the
fact that he is slow to order a strike and
refuses to; allow the brotherhood to
~amalgpmate with any other labor organ
ization. j. B. Carson, formerly of this
city, has a son who was made supcrin-
tcndentof n road leading out of Chicago.
He was paying conductors 80 cents an
hour, brakemen 81 cents, and engineers
but 26 cents and not rcmunerating them
for tho full time worked. They de-
mandod. more and sent for Arthur.
Arthur asked Carson to pay his engi-
nee.s for every hours work, but the
official snubbed him.
eff you don't accedc to our demand
every engine on GU line will be housed
at 10 o'clock, said Arthur. Carson re
fused to accedc. After traffic had been
suspended for a few hours the President
of thesroad concluded to give the en-
g1neers their demands. He asked Mr..
Arther what the men wanted. "Thirty
cents an hour" said Mr.. Arthur, and
Superintendent Carson, who had re-
fused. to give the engineers twenty six
cents TN hour, now pays them thirty.
An oficzli of the Iron Mountain road
sent for Arthur oncc to arrange a diff
Guilty between the engineers and the
company. The official told a story of
hard times, to his surprise, Arthur said:
'The engineers will stand their pro-
portiohof d reduction"
''Will. theys" asked the official.
eggs, If, you will reduce all proper
~tion1fely from the official at $40, 900 a
yeafsf9own, and providing you can show
from2fhesnet earnings that it is ncces-
sary; but you cannot"
To the officials surprise, Arthur
showedh him an exhaustive statement of
the EARNINGS nnd expenses on the road,
and convinced, him that no reduction, Of
tKes:wdgeSr of engineers was necessary.
Tho brotherhood of engineers has a per
feet system Of acquiring intelligence
from :the'general Offices Of all railways.
Observation-Disclosures formed in August,
1858, by q few engineers On the Mich
igan Central road. 1t has disburscd
$1s751sO00 to the widows and orphans
ofdecGascd members.
Gneof the~engineers at the reunion of
the brotherhood, speaking privately of
engineers work, said: !!The boys are
all lively SO far as the brotherhood is
concerned, but when they get back to
work they are the mo t jealous set of
men. In the world. No one could help
1t. Engineers arc governed by innumer-
able rules, the breaking of tho least of
which means suspension or discharge.
No excuse will be taken. Only a per
fccta and u lucky man can hold his place.
Scores of good men arc waiting to take !
It, The jealousy between engineers is
often SO hitter that their wives, although
old ac%quaintances, will not speak. One
engineer may be in luck; the 9th yer,
without'tlame, may have had the series
of three accidents that sometimes CONC !
to IN engine. If she has one, she is
sure not to stop till she has had three,
and the: engineer may be in danger of
lisch rye:
"This intense rivalry sometimes leads
to acts of A young man just
promoted fears even the old engineer
chat he fred for, and that loved him
like a brothcr-when he was n fireman
and will not run out his engine until
he has inspected every inch of her, to
see that no n has put up a job on
him. A young engineer on the Nickel
Plate cut out an the bearings of his en-
CINE on the"drst trip, and was laid off.
He was a close observer, and found that |
some wretch had put emery in his oil
can. he was able to prove this fact, and
regaincd his situation. Another new
engineer was suspended for burning out
the dues of his boiler. He had worked
and waited for years for promotion, and
to have the coveted prize snatched from
him just .as. he.had grasped it drove him
into the grave. He had insisted that
the engines gauges had registered
plenty of water, but tho master me-
chanic disbelieved him. When he was
dead it was found that he had told the
truth. a conscience stricken rival con-
fessed that he had put oil in the tank so
thtt it foamcd and showed water at the
top gauge when there was scarcely a
quart in the boiler. Another method of
mcanncss is to choke up the water hose
leading from the tank to the boiler with
cotton waste.
''t is q great event in the life of an
engineer when he gets a chance to make
some special run that will give him u
record, and he becomes q special object
of envy. When the Nickel Plate was
the rival of tho Lake Shore a Nickel
Plate engineer made the run with thirty
cars of stock, leaving Chicago ut the
came hour that the Lake Shore train did
and beating it into Buffalo moro than
ten hours. That engineer got pro-
moted.
San accident often makes an engi-
neer famous and : prosperous, and then