The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1888-10-05
THE BELL.CORD SYSTEM.
Something About Its Inventor and How He

Something About Its Inventor and How He
Introduced 1t.
The general abandoning of the bell
cord system of signaling on trains re-
calls the amusing way in which that
system had its origin. 1t was on the
Erie road about 1910. The road was
then in operation between Piermont
and Turner's. One passenger train.
which was also freight, ran each way
on the road. The conductor was
Poppy" Ayers. There were no ticket
offices or agents in those days and the
conductor had to collect fares on the
cars. There was a great controversy
between the conductor and the engin-
eer as to which was the actual head of
the train management. Poppy"
Ayers had an engineer who was partic-
ularly obstinate in his belief that in
the engineer was vested the superior
rank. In collecting fares Poppy"
frequently had difficulty in getting his
money from Obstreperous passengers,
and as he could not throw such pas
sengers off with the train going at full
speed, and as he had no way of letting
the engineer know that he wanted the
train stopped, a great many fares were
lost by passengers reaching their dcs-
tinatiOn before they could be induced
to pay up. One day Ayers had par
ticularly annoying run in that respect.
and after reaching Turner's he resolved
to provide some means of communica-
ton between himself and the engineer
so that he could control the manage
ment of the train between stations.
After much thought he hit upon a
plan. He sent to New York for a hum
dred yards of bed cord. To one end of
this he fastened stick Of wood, which
he hung in the engineers cab, or
what passed for cab in those days.
Then he ran the rope back over
the cars to the end of the
train and let it hang down so he
could catch hold of it on the rear plat
form. He told the engineer that when
he pulled that stick of wood the train
must be stopped, no matter where it
might be. But this innovation in
railroading struck the engineer as one
that would lower his rank and remove
from him the dignity of being the
master of the train. So on the first
trip with the conductors signal he re-
moved the stick of wood, and Poppy
Ayers was as bad of as ever. But the
conductor was determined to settle the
question then and there, and when the
train reached its destination he re.
placed the stick of wood and told the
engineer that if it was removed again
or was not noticed when agitated,
either the engineer must lick the con-
ductOr or the conductor would lick the
engineer. The engineer removed the
stick at once, and Poppy" Ayers hit
him blow that knocked him of the
engine. The conductor jumped after
him, and followed up his blow with .
trouncing that made the engineer cry
'.enough." That settled the introduce
ton of the train signal to American
railroading, and also the question as to
who was master Of the train. Poppy"
Ayers replaced the stick. and it was
not again disturbed, but It's sigsaling
was answered faithfully and promptly
by the engineer. The idea was soon
improved upon, and the stick OF wood
gave way to the bell, and every rail-
road then in existence or that ever
came into existence afterward adopted
this system. Poppy" Ayers died four
years ago at Oswego. aged eighty
years. He was retired from the SER
vice of the road on a pension in 1868.
Buffalo Courier.