San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1891-06-05
RATIFIED OFF THE RAILS.
Talked by Telegraph, Told by Train
Men and Taken I'm Transit


: of cotton for California, yesterday.
Mr.. Geo. Toullerton leaves for Kerrvill,
0 this afternoon.
Passenger Conductor Davidson, of the s
p, is taking a short lay Off
Southern Pacific Conductors Beck and
Booth are both laying off to move into
, their new house on Eighth street.
Geo. Flanders, conductor on the Sunset
} is taking short rest up, Conductor God :
frey taking his run.
A train of stock loaded at Spofford and
destined for Chicago, passed through here
over the 5. p. last night.
A. J. Wick, live stock agent of the Illi-
nOis Central, was in town yesterday, from
Houston.
J. F. Long, superintendent of Morris
railway detective service, was in town
yesterday.
District Organizer n. H. Kirch, for the
} Order of Railway Telegraphers, is in the
state, looking after interests of his organ
ization.
Ned Winstead sewers his connection
with the ). A. p. on the 25th inst. Milt
Everett succeeds him, and Mr.. John Bas-
kinS succeeds Mr.. Everett.
Supt. w. G. Van Week, of the Southern
Pacific, was in town from Houston yes
terday. He left at a. NJ. today for Ell
Paso with Division Superintendent R. H.
Innes.
Dispatcher Ed. Buchanan, of the third
! trick, Houston division, Sunset dispatch
er'S office, is expected home from Chicago
in few DAYS.
Sam Jones has taken advantage of the
summer rates on the ). A. p, and will
start months revival at Corpns Christi,
on the Chataqua grounds
sheet, about IS by 80 inches, and lies d.
rectly in front of the train dispatcher, be-
tween him and the row of instruments
ahead of him. In the centre of the sheet,
in the order they come, are the telegraph
ic stations on that.particular division of
the road. To the right and left of this
column OF stations are some fifteen or
twenty other columns, in which are to be
marked down, the trains, the crew, the
number of loads, the numbers of the
trains, the numbers of the engines, the
time OF their arrivals at each station, the
delays, accidents, or wrecks. The columns
to the right may denote trains going east,
those on the left, trains going west, or the
one the north, the other the south, as the
road may run. Usually there are freight
and passenger trains which leave the
yards at certain regular periods. These
trains are printed by their number at the
head OF their respective columns, and run
ming as they do, according to a regular
marked out table, are of less concern to
the dispatchers than the extra trains
W traef of ma apd be Advised Wbssn kept 1S
where to meet. Thus it is
that every train, number, etc. and time
of arrival at the various telegraph sta
tions, is reported by the operators at
these stations to the main Office on the
division, carefully noted on the record,
from which the dispatcher then makes
his calculations at which points the trains
are to pass another. Besides room for
these notatiens, there is at the extreme
right hand side of the train sheet, a col
umn for the weather report which is care
fully kept by the operators along the line
and we see such entries constantly being
made: Houston, warm and slightly cloudy
La Grange, light rain; Columbus,
raining hard; and so on, report from ev-
cry station. Then on the rear of the
train sheet, are diagrams showing more
detailed report OF matters, as the number
of the cars, the kind of freight and so
forth. These sheets have out lived their \
usefulness at the end of every twelve
hours, for they are then stacked away,
carefully marked and dated, as most
useful records for reference. At midnight
new train sheet is taken out and the
same operation is repeated three hundred
and sixty five and some times three hun
dred and sixty six times year. To the
unintiated, the mystery Of the train
sheet is only surpassed by the
unanalyticable genius presiding over it.
He sits over his Insignificant little yellow
sheet his hand either on his pen or on the
instrument before him, and when he is
not noting the arrivals of trains on the
sheet, he is talking the most hopeless
kind Of Greek over the wires, sending in
structionS to trains or seeking adviceS
from operators. There he sits for eight
consecutive hours in his chair directly in
front of his ticker, time table and train
sheet. He is either first trick man, a
second trick man or third trick man,
which in comprehendable English means
that the twenty -four hours of the day are
divided into three equal periods of work,
the first period or first trick being from
midnight to 8 a. M, the second from 8 a.
m. to p. M, and the third from 4 p.
m. to midnight. 1t is hard work. The
dispatcher is not permitted to go to his
meals, and the only relief he gets is when
lull in his work permits him to take
little tramp about the office. The day
hours are the busiest time for the dis
patcher, and at this time he usually has
an operator at his desk who copies the
orders and instructions and thereby re-
7 lieves him Of considerable work. 1t taxes
great deal practice, much more eXpe-
rience and an unusual abundance of.that
virtue called conscientiousness to make
train dispatcher.