The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1891-10-13

suOt uONu DetWeen the cars, TO be
ground to pulp beneath the merciless
wheels.
The danger is tenfold greater, too, IL
he be using a club" as a lever in tight
ening the brakes. Should the chain
give way, as not infrequently happens,
and the brakeman have the wheel torn
from the grasp Of his single hand.
death or mutilation is almost certain to
| result.
1t is always the part of q brakeman
who understands his business to exam
inc the rods and chains on each car that
will be put in his charge before the
train leaves the yard. On some roads
the freight-car brakes are kept in good
order by men specially detailed for the
purpose, but on many, especially those
which handle many cars from other
lines. it is the duty of no one to look
out for these details, and the careful
brakeman will always examine the cars
beforehand.
lie will save himself much trouble
and possibly even preserve his w life
as well as those Of the rest Of the crew
by finding out which cars have their
brakes in the best order and which are
not to be depended upon.
With the modern freight train
equipped with air brakes, as Is now
often the case, the life of the brakeman
is far easier and the major portion of
the hard and dangerous work is elm
mated. The engineer can control the
speed of his train without the constant
care of Il brakeman, and all that in
dividual has to do is to hold himself in
readiness to respond to q call should
the air brakes give out.
One can frequently see heavy trains
running at high speed over the roads in
this state without a soul in sight on the
decks of the cars, while under the old
system it was never safe without
brakeman at their posts every ome
With the introduction of automatic
couplcrS on freight cars one of the most
risky portions of the Trademarks duties
will be done away with. Tie number of
men killed or manned in this country
through the Anticipated style Of coup
ling still extensively in vogue reaches
into Tho thousands annually, but, hap
PLY, there is a promise that this fear
ful sacrifice will be ended before long.
Anyone who has had experience in
making up trains with the common
style of drawhead knows that it is a
matter OF wonder, not that SO many
men arc killed or injured, but that SO
few suffer.
10 have to step in between the cars
on n dark night, the ground slippery
with ice or mud, with an engineer, per-
maps, who is careless or not good in
calculating distances and who sends
his locomotive back with n crash, is
about as sure n method of inviting
death or painful injury rs can be mag
incd.
Yet it is the brakeman's duty to do
this tho faltcring, and it is a dis
grace ii he fail to m axe the coupling
the first time. He simply must not
fail, and to do this he must take chances
that would make an inexperienced
mans hair turn gray.
Not only must he hold the coupling
link to the last fractional part of n sec
ond necessary to guide it into the draw.
head of the rapidly approaching train,
but he must have the coupling pin in
readiness to drop into place like a flash;
he must have his lantern in one hand
or on his arm, and must be ready to
move back with the cars until he can
have an opportunity to get out from be-
tween them.
If the coupling be made where there
is q network Of frogs and switches tho
greatest caro- must be taken in the hur-
ried movement to keep pace with the
cars that the feet be not caught in any
OF these man-killing devices, otherwise
death is sure to come in it's most horri-
bic form.
But with the automatic couplers now
in use. and whose adoption most rail-
road men think should be made COM
pnlsory, all this is done away with.
With these and the general introduce
ton of air brakes, the life of the brake.
man will have nearly every element Of
hardship removed, and it will be no
more hazardous than any other occupa-
tion.-Ex-Brakeman, in San Francisco
Chronicle.