Daily Yellowstone journal., 1889-05-29
INVENTOR OF THE coWcATcHER.
A Farmer and His Pillow Suggests the Loco
motives Valuable Adjunct.

A Farmer and His PIow Suggests the Loco
motives Valuable Adjunct.
II you should ever go TO Columbus,
o., said a railroad man, and should
happen 10 drop into the model Uttered
little office OF the Novelty Iron works
there. you will see a sharp eyed old
gentleman. who will more than likely
be porting over some works on me
chanics, or sketching the design for a
pattern for some piece Of ornamental
iron work. The old gentleman is l.
b. Davies, a native OF Kennebec
county. Me-, who was the first loco .
motive engineer in actual service OIL
the first railway built in Ohio. and the
inventor OF the attachment TO the To-
connective familiarity known as the cow
catcher, which is in use on every. pas
senger and freight engine in the world
today. but for which. invaluable as il
is TO railroad companies. he never re
ceived one penny.
When Davies was 10 years old he
was the engineer on Commodore Van
derbilt's famous old steamboat the
Cleopatra. He ran there one season
and then drifted out west. The little
Miami railroad was then building be-
tween Xenia and Springfield, in Ohio.
He went 10 work on the road as engi-
neer Of a construction train, and when
the road was completed, three years
afterward. he ran the first passenger
train. Some years later he entered the
service OF the Columbus and Xenia
railroad. Il was while he was run
ming a locomotive on that road
that he conceived the idea of the COW.
catcher. The locomotives OF that day
had no cabs, and a row Of iron spikes,
four feet long and driven into the
bumper Of the engine a foot apart aud
a foot above the track, was the loco
motive builders idea of the proper
thing for a pilot or cowcatcher. And
IL was a co~wcatcher, and no mistake.
There was no headlights on the loco
motives in those days, and as the rail.
roads were not fenced in, and as cattle
and live stock had free run Of the
country. scarcely q night passed but
some COW or horse or hog was impal.
ed on these spikes, much 10 the perl
Of the train and its passengers.
The dangerous character Of this
rude and cruel pilot was a source Of
constant thought 10 Davies, and he
studied daily how he might improve
that attachment, and not only remove
il as a menace 10 life and property,
but make il a safety feature Of the To-
comotive. One day, while he was run
ming his engine, and thinking on the
subject Of improving the pilot, he no
ticed a farmer blowing in a field neal
the railroad, and the manner in which
the mold board Of the pillow threw the
earth 10 a furrow on one side at once
gave him the idea that developed the
plan Of the modern locomotive cow
catcher. The action Of the mold
board on the soil was just the
action that was necessary 10 make
a pilot a useful attachment in
stead OF a dangerous one, but il was
one sided. IL did not take Davies long,
however, 30 see that by putting To-
gether a device that vas virtually a
pillow with two mold boards he would
accomplish the desired result, He con
structed such a device and attached il
TO the locomotive Paterson" Of the
Columbus and Xenia railroad, and on
the very first trip he made with il its
success was manifested. On the trip
he ran into a drove Of cattle that were
crossing the track. The new pilot cut
its way through them as if it were a
pillow turning the soil, and threw them
right and left, clearing the track with
out any ~perceptible effect on the en-
CINE. All the locomotives on the road
were al once fitted with the cowcatch-
err, and II was not long before the idea
spread 10 other roads, and from that
time no locomotive has ever been
built for passenger or freight service
without Davies cowcatcher. Davies
did not patent hisdevice, and although
Il has saved the railroads Of this and
other countries millions OF dollars and
lundreds Of lives, he never received o
pennys benefit from New York
Nail and Express d.