Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1893-01-21
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TRACKWALKING
A RAILROAD OCCUPATION THAT MUST
GROW TO BE TEDIOUS.


lug Tor Loose Nuts and rrotrudins
sp,kcs Along tho Line.
The terrible accident that happened to
Peter Daugherty, tho "trackwalker, y
gave TO many readers n new word in the
vocabulary OF trades and occupations. y
That there was such an occupation as
trackwalking under tho big cover Of the
starry dome not one man in thousand
ever Imagined.
"a trackwalker, n trackwalker?" ey.
claimed one citizen when asked the def.
milton Of the term. why, yes; of course.
A trackwnlker is q fellow who walks
the trucks. Seer Just az easy! Now
ask me something real hard"
II pressed for closer explanation Of
tho long words meaning. tho citi-
zen proceeds to get facetious: "Oh,
watcher trying to ring In on me now?
A trackwalker is--a trackwalkcr. When
the carnivorous tramp Is hunted from
his lair In one city he emigrates to an
other On the way thither. my friend.
he is a valuable specimen of the genus
trackwalker. When the manager Of an
Uncle Toms Cabin" troop folds up his
pocketbook and. like an Arab. silently
steals away. leaving sweet little Eva,
good old Uncle Tom and religious Miss
Ophelia to swear ut his memory for their
salaries, why, then they nre very likely
to become trackwalsers. Then, again,
you might call hncksters who drive their
x1-n ovl hA
tracks track hawkers. He. he. he! Seer
Which all goes to show that the real
bona tde trackws!':cr Is comparatively
an unknown cog in tie great machine Of
the world. If that cog was suddenly
taken out of place and thrown away the
world would very soon discover it's loss.
From the crashing Of wrecked trains
would come the death rattle of the dying:
from the ruddy glare Of burning cars
would come the shrieks Of tortured
wretches pinned beneath heavy timbers,
and the one cry sounded from end to end
Of the land would be, "The traclwalker
deserted his trust" Ride along nny road
for five or ten miles and You will over
take him. plodding along beside the
track. He is not dressed In the latest
cutaway diagonal. and his trousers. il
noticed, bag VI itie knees. He only gets
$l.50 Il day here III the west. and in some
eastern districts still less. He carries a
wrench and hammer. and now and
then stops to tighten bolt In rail or
drive spike I'M, Il tie. He trainps along
thus for twelve .uurs out Of the twenty
four and at thv rnd of the day "can
sleep without ~ king
A reporter foind Dausherty yesterday
in one Of the pleasant wards of St. Mary's
irltirnary. Ben,!,ng over him. with her
sweet face full Of sympathy. was ono Of
tho sisters of the order. "He's doing
very nicely" she >,uttly said, but must
not be excited"
"You see, it's my shoulder there now
exclaimed Daughtcr,y. raising his left
arm and dropping 1t TO the sheet again
with shudder OF pain. 1T seems as
though it was under trip hammer and
the hammer was pounding for all it was
worth. Still 1t isn't as bad now rs 1t
was Good gracious. Lut that old engine
did hit me clip"
How did 1t hnrpeny"
"All fired sudden. was walking
along between the tracks. peaccable as
you PLEASE when dawn rolls u train on
the left hand Being afraid that tho
steam or something would hit mo
stepped into the right hand track.
Whnrk. Bift! Yonrs truly got it in the
neck sure ~ you live. An engine was
flying down the right hand tracks. you
See. and merely tried to stop it by put
ting my shoulder to the wheel don't
remember what happened then. Tho
lights went ont. When | arrived in
sight Of myself again was here.
my walk II from Carr street to the
other end Of the bridge In Madison. I'm
not complaining of the walk at all. I'M
derstand, They always treated me white
w long ~ Two been working for 'c,n.
which il only couple Of months. I'm
Just = little sorry that tho company is
such new one. They haven't got any
hospital Of their own yet. you know.
That's why I'm here. OF course I'm be-
ing treated splendidly here--just AZ If j
WAS ut tone-but. you zee. don't know
exactly who's going to pay these good
sisters for taking care Of me. I'd hate
to ste ON do all their work for moth
ing
Daugherty gazed reverently at tho cru
ciax hanging on the opposite wall befors
answering. "speakins Of the woai. it's
al right. get Sl.D day, just ths saIne
NJ the other laborelF On tho road. and II
isn I IN hurl as digging. All you've goi
to do IN to be suro and 90 over your se<.
ton as many times aus you're ordered
and see that the rails are in proper shape
II you Had loose bolt you take your
piuchers and Tighten 1t. II you find 9
spike poking its l,rad into the air. give II
clip with your hammer. That's al
there is 70 .he business. II you shouli
happen Ia mud r'nethfng out OF whacl
and Gun ". 1t yuurSolf. why. you 60 fol
help, th,t all. You sec. ! know JUS
enough stout trarkwalking TO do m,
work wei. have never had any Of tn,
adventures hat soine Uf tho men have. /
yon want 10 hear sorI,e funny stories yoy
| ought 10 go down H. Twelfth nnd Ora