Arizona weekly citizen., 1890-07-05
THE TRAIN DISPATCHER.
A Man Who Holds the Life of Ever
 Passenger in His Hand.

A Man Who Holds the Lite of Every
 Passenger in His Hand.
 There is class of railway employees, almost entirely unknown to passengers, whose responsibility is so much greater, and whose slightest omission might jeopardize the lives of people on trains more than any oversight on the part of conductors or engineers, that it is indeed strange that they are so seldom mentioned in the public prints. This class is the train dispatchers, whose every order is implicitly obeyed by trainmen; and while the crew of one train is responsible for the movements of that train alone, the dis patcher holds in his hands the lives of every individual on every train on the road; and on a road having large traffic the duties imposed on him are very great and arduous.
 His position in the railway service is unique; were all trains running on time and provided for on the periodical time table issued by the company, he would have no duties to perform; but trains will get delayed and occasions will arise re- quiring extra trains, or trains without any specified time or rights, to be run over the road, and then his services are neces- eary to avoid hours of delay.
 All trains on railroads are divided in classes, according to their importance; generally two, passenger and freight;
 and all trains of one class running in specified direction have the right of the road, or need keep no lookout for trains of the same or lower class running in the opposite direction. Thus it is assumed that on a certain railroad trains running eastward have the right of way over trains running westward; then an east bound passenger train can run the whole length of the road in entire disregard of all trains; another passenger train going west need only to look out for the east bound pas senger train, while the freight trains must keep out of the way of both passen- ger trains and of the freight train which is running in the direction prescribed as having the right of road
 Every one understands that all trains arc chartered, or have time given for passing each station, which time can in no instance be anticipated, and hence all trainmen know where all other trains ought 10 be at any particular moment. if on time; but as trains frequently and gen. orally get late, the train of inferior class must have it's movement expedited by some eNtrancous cause, or it may be de- laycd for hours awaiting train that may have been wrecked, or has been kept back fer some other of many causes. Then the duties of the train dispatcher are of i'm portancc. He will probably give an order to the delayed train by telegraph direct ing it not to go beyond a certain place which he thinks it can reach without diff ficulty, and he directs the opposing train to proceed to the same place and there pass the other train, and in that manner the trains are enabled to pass each other without any delay to either. His great responsibility consists in that he may have a dozen other trains in his charge at the same time, and in directing one train to go beyond its usual place to meet another he may neglect to give an order to the second train, and in such an event a colli- sion would probably ensue, much prop erty be destroyed and probably lives be lost.
 It will readily be seen that the slightest mistake of train dispatcher might cause serious results; and in this respect his re- spCnsibility is probably greater than that of any other individual undCf whose charge the public are placed.-Philadel- phia Times.