The herald., 1893-11-25
Observation-Disclosures
LOCOMOTIVE MEN HAVE TO PASS
SEARCHING SIGHT TESTS.

Various Methods Employed For Trying the
Sight of English Railway Employees
ment In Railway Operation. or
One of the many qualities that requir, I,
TO be possessed by candidates for foot
plate honors is good sight. In fact it il
the principal one ON British railways {
No sight aids of any description are al
lowed to be worn, and before being
promoted the men must be able to pasi
satisfactorily test which, with differ
ent companies, varies in severity. Soms
companies test periodically, while other,
only do so when the men are promoted
to firing and driving, or when some adt,
dent occurs through signal having beer
mistaken or passed at danger. lgIc
In justice. therefore, to the travelling +
public, as well as for their own interests,
it is the duty of railway companies II
see that the men they place in such rel
sponsible positions are thoroughly com
petent, as the speed at which trains are.
now run requires acuteness Of vision.
In the early days of railway enterprise,
the train was often preceded by man ont
foot sometimes on Observation-Disclosures
duty it was to see the line clear, but
with the rapid developments made in lo1 :
comotive engineering it was soon found
necessary to dispense with this herald"
and in due course fixed signals were
placed along the route.
Thus the responsibility Of seeing the !.
position of signals and attending to them
was placed upon the men in charge Of
the train-viz, driver, fireman and i,
guard-for the latter in the event of an
accident must be able to state whether
the signal was clear or not, and his sight
(also that of shunters and signalmen) is
subjected to the same test as that of the !.
locomotive men.
Various methods of testing have been
resorted to, but the one which for con-
siderable period was used by railway
companies, and which the men still most
approve of, was testing by means of flags
and lamps. The candidate was taken to
nice straight stretch, and another party
with the flags (red, green and white) bys
day and lamp by night was sent forward
about 600 yards and exposed the signals.
which the candidate was required to
name to the foreman or inspector pres
ent.
Some officials, however, do not approve
of the candidate naming the colors, ands'
in such cases what is known as the "wool 3
test" has to be gone through. This con-
sists of bundle of various colored woods
yxybte teI, he I'll
pieces he thinks correspond to skeins
which are given him to match. In some !,
the skeins are simply hung
on bar and the candidate asked to
point out the danger colors, etc., with :
out naming them, but as there are vari-
GUS kinds of color blindness, it is much
better to use other colors as we'll as {
those in daily use ON the line. Un-
doubtedly this is the correct method for :.
testing color blindness if properly con-
Quoted.
But the method which at the present 4
time seems most popular is what ia
known as the 'card test" This is
piece of cardboard about 90 inches by 81 =
inches. In each of the four corners ar. .
the colors, red, green, blue and yellow
all very bright, while the space left be- I
tween, about two inches. is divided into
squares one-ffth of an inch, which at a
distance of 10 feet etcorresponds to bulls
'ye feet square 900 yards away. The
candidate stands 10 feet from the card :,
md names the colors as they are pointed
,ut, also counts the number of black
,ned squares, which are varied in num- I.
Der by covering up some with piece of
paper.
Each eye is examined separately, both
Is to color sense and form, care being
AIKEN that the unused eye is simply COW !.
red and not pressed upon, as this causes
OF both members. Having
lamed the colors and counted the spots =
the candidate may congratu-
ate himself that he has passed.
Generally speaking, the sight should 4
70 tested once every three or four years,
IS during that period accident or disease
nay have impaired the vision, while
labitual smokers should be tested much
'ftener, as it has been ascertained that :.
obacco smoke has a deleterious effect
N the sight.
AS yet railway companies lave not 4
.dopted hard and fast test. Each has
is own method, but as SO many precious
ives are intrusted to engine drivers and
heir mates, an exhaustive test should be
made. Strictly speaking three tests
hould be gone through: 1. Wool test,
o detect color blindness. 3. Object test,
quares or small letters, for form. 3.
'ested in darkened room with lamp for
olor ignorance, as it is important that
he candidate should be able to name
he colors. The lamp, having been light
d, is placed on table, while the candi-
ate stands about 90 feet off. A piece .
f cardboard with hole about half an
nch in diameter is placed over the face
f the lamp, and various colored glasses
assed in front, which the candidate
hould name, remarking whether lighter
T. darker than the previous one of the
anne colored up.-London Tit-Bits