Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1888-05-18
THE RAILROAD MIND.
GROWING DEMAND FOR A NEW
KIND OF MENTAL APTITUDE.

Ouk,knesS to Act and Patience to Mas.
ter Detaii-Origin of Railway slaugh-
ters-A F.,rmer Boys Fatal Mistake
Good Management.
The railway when il came into the
human world brought demand for a
new kind of mental force or aptitude.
The railway man from the president to
the brakeman must possess n quickness
TO perceive. o quickness 10 act and
patience 10 master detail; an omission OF
q task may cost great sums or may de-
stroy life When a superintendent passes
over his road in n private car and ex-
amines the track and bridges while be is
moving at the rate of thirty miles an
hour, he is not necessarily n criminal, he
may be only an intellectual imhccile. lie
should be removed from railway service
and be commended TO the task of super
vision OF IN OK or pack horse service One
day some men were moving weeds, nail
Ing up loose boards and whiteW3shing at
. railway station, and confessed the mo-
tive Of such industry was To be found il
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 cheif
In the history of national banks one
can read the shallow import Of the word
inspection but there the mental weak
ness Of ON inspector costs the country
money and not life. For n bank To fail in
o 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
dangerous shape A facile, lax. easy
going mind may in the railway profession
become as fatal as "a can of dynamite or
an earthquake.
NEW FORM oP 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 it
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 10 New York must pass
through the hands of O0mcnWho are wide
awake to each duty When one pouders
upon this statement, and remembers how
difficult il is 10 find 800 capable men in a
single row, the wonder comes that train
ever passes over n 900 mile path without
being wrecked or injured
inspect bank or a milk can, rail at the
men who come only tolerably near in
specting a railway? The railway is help
ing to make n better kind of brain, but
brain is of slow growth. 4 colorcd man
was recently asked at what time the cars
passed his cabin, and - reply was that
they went north in c rur.Iu- ud south
IN the afternoon. To lcas suCl.a man ND
to a conception Of such divisions Of time
IS 300 or $40 or 5:lJ, would he an educa-
tional task OF no little weight. To give
such a mortal a place upon a railway
would be criminal, for if 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 laxness. He was made swtchman at
ayillage station. Tie sole Of one shoe
became unsewed. Thus was he made liz
able 10 be thrown down lie took the
risk from day 10 day. At last, rs be set
. switch and stepp quickly, his shoe
sole caught ona 5 Ike head and death
came quickly. His method with his shoes
on the farm failed as method for the
new surroundings.
QUAcK RAILROAD MEN.
The educational power Of the railway is
kept back by the pitiable truth that
many Of its officials are not students Of n
great art, but are only spectators in land
or stocks. when not absolute thieves.
Quack railroad men are more numerous
than quack doctors. Good men are dis
charged 10 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 the generals might have the position.
When the new colonel rode out TO exercise
the boys nj arms he tolG them "to do IS
they had done yesterday"
The railway service is no doubt suffer-
ing much from the presence of officials
who know more 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 and 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 a locomo-
tive or consuu't or Keep awake
at q switch. ne G. To,..s are under the
control OF the railway intellect, and not Of
the champagne and private car genius.
May the time soon come when SO tremen-
dous thing as the railway shall be man
aged by the new kind of intellectual forcs
called railN ay brain.-David Swiag in
Chicago Journal.
Bulgarian Fabrics.
IL Ia ntfifa "a cappp.,,,, film, ao,.s -. -