Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1888-05-04
THE RAILROAD MIND.
GROWING DEMAND FOR A NEW
KIND or MENTAL APTITUDE.

Qus.kneso to Act and . Patience to Mas
ter Detail-OrIgin Of Railway slaugh-
tsrs-A Farmer Boy's Fatal Mistake
Good narsagement-
The railway when it came into the
human world brought demand for Q
new kind of mental force or aptitude.
The railway man from the president to
the brakeman must possess quickness
to perceive, Quickness TO act and Q
patience to master detail an omission OF
task may cost great sums OF may de-
stroy life. When superintendent passes
over his road In private car and ex.
amines the track and bridges while be II
moving ut the rate Of thirty miles an
hour, he is not necessarily a criminal, he
may be only On intellectual imbecile. He
should be removed from railway service
and be commended to the task Of super
vision OF en- OK or pack horse service. One
day some men were moving weeds, nail
ing up loose boards and whitewashing AZ
railway station, and confessed the mo-
tive Of such industry was TO be found In
the fact that the superintendent was to
pass along next day. These men all knew
the kind of lightning inspection that
would be made by their chef.
In the history Of national banks one
can read the shallow import Of the word
inspection, but there the mental weak
ness OF an inspector costs the country
money and not life. For bank to fail in
few days after having been pronounced
unusually sound Is an event not wholly
unknown; but the depositors are not
killed nor mangled. 1t is in railroad
work mental weakness assumes its most
Ill L.
going mind may in the railway profession
become as fatal as can of dynamite or
IN earthquake
NEW FORM OF MIND.
Many railway slaughters have resulted
from the slowness Of educational pro-
cesses. The new iron road has created Q
demand for new form Of mind but 70
cannot at once supply the demand. Mr..
Galloway, one Of the most conscientious
and ideal railway men on the continent
said once that each passenger train which
runs from Chicago TO New York must pass
through the hands Of 500 men who are wide
awake TO each duty When one ponders
upon this statement, and remembers how
difficult it is 10 find 800 capable men In O
single row, the wonder comes that train
ever passes over 900 mile path without
being wrecked or injured.
Why should the public, which cannot
inspect n bank or o milk can, rail at the
men who come only tolerably near In
specting q railway The railway is help
ing to make q better kind Of brain, but
brain Is of slow growth. A colored man
was recently asked at what time the cars
passed his cabin, and his reply was that
they went north IN the morning and south
IN the afternoon. To lead such man I'D
TO a conception Of such divisions OF time
Is 200 or $40 or 5:l5, would be an educa-
uional task OF no little weight. To give
such mortal a place upon a railway
would be criminal, for il he did not kill
others he would soon kill himself
Only last week one Of these boys OF the
farm, allured by false vanity 10 seek rail.
way work, met his death because OF men.
tai lhxness. Ee was made switchman at
village station. THO sole OF one shoe
became unsewed. Thus was he made liz
able 70 DO thrown down. He took the
risk from day 10 day. At last, as he set
switch and stepped quickly, his shoe
sole caught on spike head and death
came quickly. His method with his shoes
on the farm failed as method for the
new surroundings.
oUACK RAILROAD MEN.
The educational power Of the railway "a
kcpt ny tlc piIluDlc bIulH Iuut
many Of its officials are not students Of a
great art, but are only Spectators in land
or stocks, when not absolute thieves.
Qusck railroad men are more numerous
than quack doctors Good men are dis
charged to make room for favorites, and
thus fortunes and life are placed at the
mercy of unframed minds. In the army
colonel was displaced that some cousin
Of tho generals might have the position.
When the new colonel rode out to exercise
the boys at arms he tol6 them ito do ~
they had done yesterday"
The railway service is no doubt suffer-.
ing much from the presence Of officials
who know moro about money and luxury
than they know about bridges and road.
beds. Under the rule of these captains
the receipts from all traffic flow toward
New York, and soon the bank account is
large ard the road worn out aud danger
Gus. The income Is the main thing, the
art nothing.
Some roads are managed by railway art.
The president himself could run locomo-
tive or construct II bridge or keep awake
at switch. These roads are under the
control OF the railway intellect, and not Of
the champagne and private car genius.
Nay tho time BOON come when so tremen-
dous thing as TIC railway shall he man
s,,ed by tie new kind OF intellectual force
called railway br;dn.-David swing In
Chicago Journal