The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1893-02-18
TRACKWALKING.
ARAlLRoAD OCCUPATION o THAT MUST
GROW TO BE TEDIOUS.

Keep Their Roadbeds In Repair Look
ing for Looss Nuts aud Protrudinr
Spikes Along the Line.
The terrible accident that happened tc
Peter Daugherty, the '.trackwalker. p
gave to many readers a new word in the
vocabulary Of trades and occupations.
That there was such an occupation az
trackwalking under the big cover of the
starry dome not one man in a thousand
ever imagined.
"A trackwalker. trackwalker?" ex.
claimed one citizen when asked the def.
milton Of the term Why. yes: of course.
A trackwalker is fellow who walks
the tracks. Seey just as easy! Now
ask me something real hard
If pressed for a closer explanation of
the long words meaning, the citi-
zen proceeds to get facetious: "Oh.
watcher trying to ring in on me nowi
A trackwalker is-a trackwalker. When
the carnivorous tramp is hunted from
his lair in one city he enigrates 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 at his memory for their
salaries, why, then they are very likely
to become trackwalkers. Then, again.
Won t,,igbt COLL bnclygto,.s ,,.I, 4 ,.,,-s
wagons up and down the street car
tracks track hawkers He, he, he! Seer
Which all goes TO show that the real
bona tide trackwalller 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 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 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
cEtawsy diagonal, and his trousers, if
noticed, bag at the knees. He only gets
Sl.50 day here in the west, and in some
eastern districts still less. He carries a
wrench and a hammer, and now and
then stops to tighten bolt in rail or
drive a spike into tie. He tranps along
thus for twelve hours out of the twenty
four, and at the end of the day can
sleep without rocking"
A reporter found Daugherty yesterday
in one of the pleasant wards of St. Mary's
mfrmary. Bending over him, with her
sweet face full of sympathy was one of
the sisters of the order, He's 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 a shudder of pain. 1T seems as
though it was under trip hammer and
the hammer was pounding for all it was
worth. Still it isn't rs bad now as it
was, Good gracious, but that old engine
did hit me clip"
How did il happeng"
"All fired sudden. | was walking
along between the tracks, peaceable as
you please when down rolls a train on
the left hand Being afraid that the
steam or something would hit me
stepped into the right hand track.
Whack! Bif! Yours truly got it in the
neck sure as you live. An engine was
flying down the right hand tracks, you
soc, 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 | arrived in
sight of myself again 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 Inc white
as long as I've been working for 'em,
which is only a 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 splendidly here just rs 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 EN- do all their work for moth
ing"
Dsugherty gazed reverently at the cru
ciix hanging ON the opposite wall before
answering. Speaking of the work, it's
all right, get $50 day, just the same
rs the other laborers ON the road, and 1t
isn't as hard as digging, All 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,
II you find loose bolt you take your
pinchers and tighten it. If you find a
spike poldng it's head into the air, give II
a clip with your hammer That's all
there is TO tho business. If You should
happen 10 find something out of whack
and can't tix it yourself, why, you 20 for
help; that's all. You see, / know just
enough about trackwalking to do my
work well. have never had any Of the
adventures that some Of the men have. II
you want 10 hear some funny stories you
ought to w down to Twelfth and Gra-
tiot streets
"Some Of those fellows have been walk
ing the tracks all over the country for
years. Some Of EN- 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 walks
over, and from day 10 day learns 10 pick
out which bolts are going to be loose and
which spikes viii poke their flat heads
above the Aanges nf the rails. It's like
anything else il you stay with it youn
learn it as you 10 your friends faces,
and it becomes a sort Of instinct. st.
Louis Globe Democrat.
The modern form Of football involves
exoitements Of very dangerous kind.
The players put into it the utter reckless
ness OF soldiers on the battlefield.
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