The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1893-03-16
TRACKWALKING
A RAiLRoAo OCCUPATION THAT MUST
GROW TO eE TEDIOUS.

Peter Daugherty, the ''trackwalker,r
gave to many readers new word in the
vocabulary Of trades and occupations"
That there was such an occupation az
trackwaIking under the big cover Of the
starry dome not one man IN thousand
ever imagined
"a trackwalker, trackwalkerT ex-
claimed one citizen when asked the def /
milton Of the term, Why, yes; Of course
A trackwalker is q fellow who walks 4
the tracks See: Just as easyi Now /
ask me something real hard" /
If pressed for closer explanation OF /
the long words meaning, the citi- /
zen proceeds TO get facetious: "Oh, |
watcher trying TO ring in On me now: I
A trackwalker is-a trackwalker. When /
the carnivorous tramp is hunted from /
his lair in one city he erniTates TO an /
other On the way thither, my friend, /
be is a valuable specimen Of the genus /
trackwalker. When the manager Of an |
Uncle Toms Cabin" troop folds up his |
pOcketbook and, ike an Arab, silently |
steals away, leaving sweet little Eva,
good old Uncle Tom and religious Miss |
Ophelia TO swear at his memory for their
salaries, why, then they are very likely |
to become trackwalkers. Then, again,
you might call hucksters who drive their
wagons up and down the street car
tracks track hawkers. He, he, he! Seer
Which all goes to show that the real
bona fide trackwalker is comparatively
an unknown cog in the great machine of
the world. If that cog was suddenly
taken out of place and thrown away the
world would very soon discover its loss
From the crashing Of wrecked trains
would come the death rattle Of the dying;
from the rudy 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 trackwalker
deserted his trust" Ride along any road
for FIVE or ten miles and you will over
take him. plodding along beside the
track. He is not dressed in the latest
GETAWAY diagonal, and his trousers, if
noticed, bag at the knees. He only gets
$3.50 day here in 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 into a tie. He tramps along
thus for twelve hours out Of the twenty
four. and at the end of the day 'can
sleep without rocking"
q reporter found Daugherty yesterday
in one of the pleasant wards Of st. Mary's
infr1nary. Bending over hiLn, with her
sweet face full of sympathy, was one OF
the sisters of the order. Hes doing
very nicely she softly said. ''but must
not be excited
You see, it's my shoulder there now
exclaimed Daughterty, raising his left
arm and dropping it to the sheet again
with shudder of pain. ut seems as
though it was under trip hammer and
the hammer was pounding for all it was
worth. Still it isn't as bad now as it
was. Good gracious. but that old engine
did hit me chpr
How did it happen?
"All fired sudden. / was walking
along between the tracks, peaceable as
you please. when down rolls train on
the left hand. Being afraid that the
steam or something would hit me /
stepped into the right hand track.
Whacki Bifl Yours truly got it in the
neck sure as 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. The
lights went out. When I arrived in
sight of myself again l was here.
"MY walk is from Carr street to the
other end of the bridge in Madison. I'm
not complaining of the walk at all, un-
derstand. They always treated me white
as long as I've been working for 'em,
which is only couple of months. I'm
Just little sorry that the 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 spIendidly here-just as If
was at home-but, you see, / don't know
exactly who's going to pay these good
sisters for taking care Of me. I'd hate
to see 'em do all their work for moth
ing"
| Daugherty gazed reverently at the cru
cifx hanging on the opposite wall before
answering Speaking of the work, it's
all right. get $50 day, just the same
as the other laborers on the road, and it
isn't as harl as digging An you've got
to do is to be sure and go over your sec
ton as many times as you're ordered,
and see that the rails are in proper shape.
IT. you find loose bolt you take your
pinchers and tighten it. If you find a
spike poking its head into the air, give it
clip with your hammer. That's all
there is to the business. If you should
happen to find something out of wllack
and can't fix it yourself, why, you go for
help; that's all. You see, I know just
enough about trackwalkng to do my
work well. have never had any OF the
adventures that some of the men have. Il
you want to hear some funny stories you
ought to go down to Twelfth and Ora
tot streets.
Some of those fellows have been walk.
ing the tracks all over the country foI
years. Some of 'em know every square
inch Of rail between here and New York
I'll bet, and can tell you with their eyes
shut where they are if set down on any
one Of the roads between this town and
Chicago. A fellow gets to know the
weight Of the ties On every mile he walk:
over, and from day to day learns to picl
out which bolts are going to be loose anG
which spikes will poke their fat head!
above the fanges of the rails. It's hks
anything else; if you stay with it you'll
learn it as you do your friends faces
| and IL hcrr,, n Govt 80 G.