Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1891-05-11

acceptably discharge the duties required of
them.
They make their appearance in the rail-
road ranks IS track hands, Us brakemen or
switchren, as engine wipers or as messen-
ger boys, and are the the raw materials out
OF which are to be made section foremen
and roadmasters conductors. operators. dis
patchers and masters of transpo rtation,
locomotive engineers and master mechanics.
and l have only 10 look around me to see
that from their number, by process of
natural selection, are obtained many Of
those who have risen to the highest offices
in the railroad service.
Beginning with the raw material which
IS to be nodded into serviceable shape. we
have first to ask whether this material
should not be picked over: that selected
which seems best adapted for our service,
and that rejected which is evidently I'm
fitted for it; whether that selection or weed
ing out will not be facilitated if . prelim
mary examination were made essential 20
the employment of all nOViceS in the trans
pcrtation service. Such an examination
should take the form of an inquiry into the
physical, mental and moral characteristics
of the applicant in 4 general way and some
further tests OF his suitability for the par
ticular branch of the service in which he
seeks employment 1t is plain to US all
that a man who is deaf or blind is out of
place in transportation service, and that
defective sight or hearing should be de-
tected before they cause the loss of life or
property. The mental examination ought
TO cover certain educational requirements.
at least that the applicant should be able to
read and write the English language and
have some knowledge of the ground rules
OF arithmetic. The moral examination
should provide for some satisfactory evil
denCe as to the reputation of the applicant
for honesty and sobriety.
NJ 81 @11a y
operator should be able to see and TO hear,
TO read and to write, TO keep sober and to
tell the truth, and it is due to the public
that they serve, and to the employees with
whom they serve that their ability to do
these things should be tested before they
are tried and found wanting in actual serv-
ice.
The establishment Of preliminary ex-
aminati0uS should assure to those who had
passed them a prescriptive right to EN-
ployment as opportunity offered, and after
il had become well known that the holder
of pass certificate would have precedent
for employment over those who were not
so equipped there would be no difficulty in
obtaining material so selected for training
IN railroad service.
With the admission OF L raw recruit into
the railroad ranks should begin his special
training for the particular branch in which
he IS to serve. Our experience in
railroad management is leading Us
to recognize more and more the
importance of thorough knowledge of
rules by those who are to obey them.
Take. for instance the standard train rules.
Recall the labor expended upon them that
they might fulfill their purpose and be
clearly understood They are to guide the
train dispatcher, the operator, the engineer,
the conductor. the hagman. and III the per-
Torrance of their duties those rules are 10
be strictly observed. How can you de-
mand this of men who do not know what is
expected of them! l therefore insist that
the regulations of the company, and es-
pecially the train rules, should be taught
to the beginner, and that his proficiency in
them should be essential not only to his
advancement but to his continuance in the
service This will call for examination or
this particular subject when time
enough has elapsed after his entry
into the service for any man 10
have acquired a knowledge OF them
who had been able to pass the preliminary
examination. If these rules are of such
Importance as to have occupied for months
the minds OF some of the ablest railroad
managers in order to make them q safe
guard against accidents, then it is not ask
ing too much of the employe to show that
he knows how to conform to them before
placing him where failure to do so invites
disaster.
But knowing is one thing and doing an
other. Many men are able to do things
which through Indifference or neglect or
recklessness they fail to do and it is not
enough that we assure ourselves that our
men know what to 10 to avoid accidents:
we must endeayor to be equally sure that
they will apply that knowledge at the
proper time. This we should make it their
interest to do by the time-honored induce
ments of reward and punishment.
We have something of this sort at pres
ent. We offer promotions and choice of
positions to those who do well. and resort
TO fines, suspensions or dismissal of those
who do badly. But for system of re-
wards and punishmentS to be effective it
must be a system indeed. 1t must as far as
possible protect the employee against the re
suits of malice or bad temper or hasty de-
cisionS on the part of his immediate supe-
rior. A man should lose neither his job nor
his pay except for clearly established VIC
lation of a rule with which he is familiar:
his side of the case should be heard before |
Judgment is pronounced, and the penalty
should be graded to suit the extent of his |
offense. All this requires patience and |
on the part of his judges, and |
if they are lacking in those qualities, not |
justice but injustice will often be done. It |
is is not sufficient to publish |
well-devised set Of train rules and |
feel that your duty as to enforcing them |
has been done If you suspend or dismiss |
some one whenever there is an accident. |
Your duty requires you first TO see to it |
that every man put under those rules shall |
know what is expected of him: next that |
there shall be such an inspection and su- |
pervision of their work that violations of |
rules are detected before the bridge falls |
down or derailment takes place or col |
liSion occurs: and, further that punish |
ment shall follow swiftly upon the heels of |
the offence, not capriciously nor hastily nor
abusively, but that the violation shall be |
brought home so clearly to the offender that |
be has to acknowledge his shortening and |
in some way to suffer for it. 1t is not so
necessary that the penalty be severe as
that it shall be certainly and justly inflicted
Repeating the language of my previous adj
dress, ..for this work to be successful we
must arouse among our men q feeling of |
pride in the organization to which they be-
long. of respect for their officers, and of in
terest in the work they have in hand. which |
is known as esprit du corps; a spirit which |
has carried armies through privation, suf-
fering and defeat to victory, and without |
which no body of men can be controlled |
under adverse circumstances.
This is the spirit which impels the flag
man to go back in snow or rain to stop an |
approaching train instead of skulking in
the rear of the caboose: which nerves the |
engineer 10 stand at the throttle lever when |
Danger is impending rather than TO leap for |
life and leave his passengers to their fate.
This is the spirit which results from train
ing mind and body to do the right thing at
"a RIGHT time that trDe 6iScip1ira &c