Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1891-05-21
RAILROAD MEN.
The responsibilities and Dangers of Their
Various Positions.


on the Platform of a railway car when
he overheard the brakeman ask his
friend: Would you like to see me COM
mand the president of the United
States?''
The man, of course, doubtfully re-
piled that he would like to see him do
such wonder. If 1 mistake not, the
tram was standing in the depot at
Washington. about to start. The bell
rang just then The brakeman bent
from his wheel and spoke to gentle
man VINO was standing on the platform
All aboard. sir" The gentleman who
was Hon. Franklin Pierce, the presi-
dent. turned most obediently and step
ped upon the car. The train moved off
while the jocose brakeman rubbed his
chm to obscure the laugh, as he winl1ed
at his nonplused friend
There is a great deal more in the Incl
dent than the story tells at first sight
Think what power for good or evil to a
whole nation is lodged in the wrist of
the engineer of that train. Think with
what dignity or fidelity the conductor
OF that train may walk its aisles. He is
all that the captain of ship is, whom
marine law and usage have always rec
ognlzed as an absolute monarch for the
transit The care that our conductor
wears makes him kingly. His response
bility is his knighthood. His sobriety,
his Judgment in crisis, are the only
laws, as he thinks what to do, the print
ed rules of the road being only mute
advisers In case of an accident no
printed regulations interpret them
selves. This conductor is an autocrat.
He gives the order what we must all do,
and If we obey we find the vast cor
poration behind him. He, this quiet
man in uniform, therefore repre-
sents three hundred passengers, with
all that each one stands for; he also
represents a hundred million dollars,
the capital stock, the bonds of the rail-
road company. Quite an important
parsonage is he. The conductor of an
express train, running between two
fine cities, must of necessity mingle in
the society of elegant ladies, delicate
children, professional gentlemen and
business men of the highest standing
socially Yet he must be rs firm
master of train men as the booted gen.
eral with an army. He is master of
heartless iron, pitiless steam, ponder
GUS and cruel forces of momentum.
more destructive than park of ar
tillery. From the drawing-room car to
the wind-Swept, snow-storrned cut or
embankment, where his train halts by
signal, he must stand and issue orders.
calm, wise. This is quite transition;
this is the meaning OF character in the
railroad man.
The engineer must be fearless and
fearful. He must run if he We're
reckless. Yet not an instant but he
no I'll
dian of diamonds or head accountant of
the greatest financial institution. The
rarest possible combination of brute
force with human delicaey of feeling.
One instant this driver is all driver;
the next instant he is al tenderest care.
Nay, in one and the same instant he
must be both of these. He is conscious
of annihilation-space. He is conscious
of preservation-his passengers lives
and limbs. This action of the mind
may be almost unconscious to himself,
but it exists. The driver of an express
train realizes the two most contradic-
tory feelings. He realizes resistless
power and perfect safety. Strange that
the nerves break down, Not at all.
The train dispatcher is a wonder.
Two minutes apart he sends these awful
masses of iron one after another. What
martial act surpasses his courage? What
if the signal system fails? 1t must fail
some time for everything human does
This time there will be a crash No; it
does not come. But every time brings
that fatal time nearer. And your hand
sent them when you touched that push
button How dare you? because it is
my duty. With God are the issues OF
life and death. All men must die some
time. IL | am the man that sends the
train that is to crash l can not help it.
Still, your position is imposing, is it
not? You are in noble place. You
ought to be a man of the first order.
No doubt you are, and yet your career
is inglorious. When you come YEARLY
down the iron stair, off duty, no one
cheers you as you mingle with the crowd
going home. Your reward must be in
your own heart and Gods good hand
hereafter. | hope you Will be on duty
when my train passes, or another as
true as you.
There is an immense deal of hazard in
trainman's life. We passengers do
not think so; we are ignorant of ten
Thousand things that happen, especial
" in the night. Were it not SO, we
could not sleep as we do. But the brave
hands know, and they often tremble-
Were it not for habitude they would
tremble oftener. Many man kisses
his babies goodnight, with n curious
apprehension that he has to choke down.
This feeling is ftful; sometimes it
comes often; then again not for weeks
But it is always hard to fight. A man
is haunted by it all his run: ''This
time is to be my time" As hour after
hour of the run slips by. and nothing
does happen. often the last few minutes
become fearful in their torment to
brave man. 1T will be in my own
yard Just ss l make the last few feet"
After such an experience one may be-
rate himself as fool, but that does not
change matters of fact: the trial of
courage will recur, as long as he is on
the iron.
The meanness of the public no one
learns as the railroad man does. The
proud mans insolence, the weak mans
helpless foolery, the skinfiint's selfish
lies, the naughty females contempt,
the unreasona bleness of about four out
of ten-perhaps it comes nearer one
half. The quiet self-possession and
firm self-control that are necessary to
meet this sort of stuff are doubtless
helped by plying contempt The
model railroad man never gives him.