Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-12-17

sayeSrAy N,,sN ing their lines every
II N$;RYx fall. To the unin-
S&IWR itiated the task seems
SASfN prosaio ono, but to
dS SElEI the officials and sub
sr ordinates il il quite an
event. To the former
it is like looking over q
personally conducted farm or city premises to
ascertain If everything is in shipshape, and to
the latter It is like submitting q work for in
spection and receive prizes or censure, as the
critical eye Of the overseer dictates.
It has become almost universal rule among
the large railroads to offer prizes for the best
kept and smoothest piece Of track on certain
divisions and also for the finest stretchsof the
tire road. 1t is needless to say that the honor
OF being the foreman of such q section equally
balances the monetary consideration which is
about $780, Besides these prizes there are
honors and riches for the most successful SUPER
visor, whose section Of the road will comprise
from eight to fifteen gangs of laborers under
competent foremen and cover a distance Of
from twenty-five to fifty miles according to Or
cumstances. The supervisors are men Of con-
siderable education, have the blood Of old rail-
road stock coursing through their VEINS and al
they grow older invariably drift into positions
OF trust and prominence in the railroad world.
THE FALL INSPECTION.
During the hot summer months the roads
are kept in as fair q condition as possible, but
when the leaves begin to turn in the early fall
an unprofessional eye, looking out Of the car
window, can easily discern the neat appearance
OF everything along the track In railroad par
lance ii is "house cleanin'" time, and, while
the deft and dainty hands Of the Sentler sex
are missing, the rougher work, calling for
sterner hands and results equally as pleasing in
Varfahly
ing trees, lea6ess branches and bushes are
ruthlessly cut down and, with worn-out ties,
are collected together, and soon disappear in
smoke, the ashes being quickly gotten out Of
sight so as not to mar the pleasant effect on the
eye. Gravel and broken stone alongside and
between the ties and rails are scraped together,
holes filed in and the slightest indenture in
the rails removed. By the time this has been
accomplished over stretch Of three miles Of
track the annual inspection cars with their
foreman indicates his uneasiness and anticipa-
ton by quick pulls at his short pipe, and hopes
the cars will pass by before anything occurs to
disturb the harmony Of his work.
Among the division superintendents expec-
tation runs high, although in a more dignifed
way, as BETTING their position, as they too re-
ceive complimentary notice from the higher
officials Of the road and to possess the prize
stretch of road is one Of their fondest desires
For weeks previous to the annual inspection
the superintendent cars can be seen making
frequent trips over their divisions and the
knowing smile Of the supervisors and foremen
indicates that they are in perfect accord with
their chief and understand his movements.
One Of these division inspection cars came
into one Of the local depots recently and an
EVENING STAR reporter took advantage Of the
opportunity thus presented to inspect it.
WHAT THE DYNoaRAPH TELLS.
In these cars are contrivances known as the
dynogrsph, an instrument that can tell to a
nicely the condition of the rails and roadbel
traversed. The car is about forty feet long
and represents in its perfect state OF efficiency
the study and development of twenty years.
The dynograph is an ingenious electrical in
strument, which, by system of little glass
tubes filled with ink and tapering to fine, PEN
like points, will trace on paper as the car
moves along at any rate Of speed. everything
that is desirable to know. The paper used is
about twenty-four inches wide and it passes
from one roller to another both the rollers
moving in connection with the wheels of the
car. strip of this paper, eight feet long, is
used to each mile traversed and the points of
the little glass tubes mark on the paper the
alignment of each rail- the degree of curvature
as well the elevation of each curve the speed
at which the car is moving and the condition of
the surface Of the rail. Every variation of
1-16th of an inch and over is recorded.
Connected with the registering and tracing
instruments in the car Is continuance which
automatically elects drop Of blue paint upon
each point in the track where the end of the
rail is one-sixteenth of an inch or more out of
gear. At the end of the trip the exact number
OF such faulty spots il found recorded on a
slip Of paper. These slips are Immediately for
warded to the supervisors and foremen and the
defects speedily remedied. These trips are re-
peated until few days before the general in
spection and the road reaches q state that is
almost perfect As the general inspection cars
carry dynographs it can be readily seen that
such personal inspection and perfection is
almost a necessity to receive marks of merit
The Jersey meadows are an obstacle that can
not be successfully combated against in the try
for prizes by foremen in other sections OF the
country. There the tracks for miles run in
straight lines and without the smallest indica-
ton Of hill or curve. The foremen that have
sections there to look after have comparatively
little work to do outside Of the cleaning up
period, and one of these stretches invariably
gets the prize each year. This fall the usual
result followed and Jersey meadow foreman
came out on top. The second prize went to o
man up in the Alleghenies, and when the cir
cumstances surrounding that section are con-
sidered the work must have been Of an excep-
tiOnal high order of road building. One of the
prizes drifted down near Washington. and when
the sandy soil traversed by the road is consid-
cred the lucky supervisors work must have
been exceptionally good.
Iuc general Inspection Ii USUALLY made with
three special trains over the main lines, and
over branches but one is used. The inspection
takes in roads from New York city to ST. Louis
Three Of the inspection cars are generally pushed
ahead Of the locomotives and contain seats ar
ranged in pyramid style that require big open
front. These seats, while the train is running
at high rate Of speed, are anything but COM
Portable, as the wind makes a veritable sieve
out Of ones body. But the clerks who do the
figuring and occupy the seats enjoy the trip, as
ii means elaborate meals at the end of each run
and enables them to exchange views pertaining
to railroadlng with each other.
Up around Altoona and the Alleghanies they
tell story in connection with these inspection
trains that cannot be vouched for as to truth
fulness, but aptly illustrates a certain amount
OF danger that surrounds the trip.
AN UNFORTUNATE REMARK
The incident occurred about six months after
the disastrous strikes Of 1877, and the defeated
railroaders although subdued in spirit still car
red hard feeling in their hearts for the victori-
Gus officials. One of these officials was quoted,
whether truthfully or not the reporter is un-
able to say, a. having remarked in answer to .
statement that the trainmen had not had butter
to eat for months on account of the poor nav,
that molasses and bread without butter was
good enough for any railroader For several
days after the remark was said to have been
made dozens Of the trainmen were cunning for
this official, but he had taken to the woods and
at the present time Is first vice president Of the
road he then represented.
On ha Srran <rosp xl>.A A.