Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1893-03-04
THE UNION DEPOT.
Probability That a New One
viii Be Built.
THE ROCK ISLANDS FAST TRAIN
II VIII Run Between Fort Worth and Chicago.
A Strike Of Engine moa imminent
Deck Aprons Cher Rail
road News.

how great the hustle. tho NOISE or tht
confusion. he must always DC calm ana
| serene When everything ls turned
topsy-turycy. trains roll In late, nun
dreds of people asking thousands Of
| uuogtiuus, WHOM the noise - Hu great
| you Gun hardly hcur yourself think. he
/ smiles and says. NO, there W nothing
new. Everything Is quiet With the
characteristic Wisdom of the average
railroad man. he SHOWS ~ Ice wants 70
retain hia place hc must keep bis mouth
SHUT III there is "a wreck, and YOU ask
him about il, ne will raise his eyebrows
and declare he hasn't heard OF %. though
perhaps he has Just finished sending Out
the wreck trim. lie does not mean TO
bc untruthfnl. he Just doesn't know what
news viii interest the public.
Except the passenger conductor be b.
the bcst-kuOwu railroad man with whom
the travelling pubic is brought in cou-
tact The superintendent is his super
iur. but 30 long ns the trains 80 out on
time and no traveller b. KILLED or ihjuteh
Ia the station lac VIII not hear irpm
hm. Ilc supcryises the management
of tudna in The dcpotS. and sces tlnt
they depart on time. lie Is here, thrre
and everywhere ut the snme tune. Aou
look for him ncnr the NOnduIn freight
office and find him Ordciiug the removal
of q lot Of milk cans from The Meridian
street crossing lr ycl.s ut the baggage
"hustlcrs To get truck cupued and
spngcr ON q moving train. lie stands az
the crossings aud mukpa mysterious sig
uuls 10 the engineers of Incoming Trains,
aud then PUSHES to his ulicc ana looks
over the makeup Of tie train crews.
The Bulletins are brought go him aud
he sees that they are properly recorded
on the blackboard. lie has supervision
not only over the station building and
Immediate grounds, but Is puppuscd TO
know all about the various departments
and what goes ON In them. lie must be
fumliur with the roles ut the pusici-
gpr service aud with The duties Of every
cmployc connected with that service.
and requires the prompt aud chclcnt
discharge Of these services al the aW.
ton He must see thut the ears In all
trains lcuving the stations have been
| properly cleaned and Inspected and iur
! nishcd with water ice, fuel and light
| He secs that there b. something wrong
I with the signal ut the "I,' and goes To
find out what the mutier h., and nc the
same time nscertain why q scheduled
! train IL making such slow time ON the
! Union tracks. and why special train
! that has been ordered out s not shifted
| together 10 as TO leave promptly nt the
| time Designated
Besides looking after the trains, he
! must liDtcn To long complaints from and
! deal ont information 10 travellers regard
| ing their baggage, their tickets, whore
! thpy want 10 30 nud what particular
| ruin will take them. No matter 90
| whom the passenger complninA be VIII
| finally, after being passed from one TO
! uuuther reach the stluOunnsier The
| baggage mon, Uitc men, station police,
train iuspccturgln fact about everyone
/ around The union station reports TO him.
During ordinary business the role of
stadon-mastcr does not appear 10 be- q
| trying one; but what II lacks Ia lie
| ana activity Is mad up Ia being atso-
| lutely correct aud on limo, Regular
trucks running uto the depot are assigned
To regular trains, bat when q delay o'-
| curs IL calls iOf complete rpuilIstmtut
of the tracks aud consequently orders to
that effect to the dincrdAt swift hmcn.
Eyety afternoon about = aud morning
between 3 0nI D o'clock, Tie union
station IN crowded with truius, The
tracks are assigned 10 thum, but au neci-
dent occurs out on che road uud thy
schedule ia disarrnngcd. 10 Is 90 this
time that the cOol-huHdtd station master
Shines with considerable lustlt He er1
s1uully supVryin1B the arrival OF trnlna,'
| and what appears Ia be uu iusurmuunt.
able obstacle gradually dwindles down
TO an easy problem no least IL 30 appears
to the novice IA rnlrondmg
For the study of large variety Of hu.
man nature his position divides honom
| with that of the uckct.scllcr Tie must
I impart Information 10 thp German emit
grant who vuunot understand IL word OK
English. aud tell the Polandcr how TO
reach his final destination In Texas 70
~ not enough that there Is u large hullc-
tin.board on which "a cbulked thp time
and arrival 0f every train, The station
master must tell hundreds, yes, thuus.
nnds oi people every dny exactly the
same thing thut they could learn by a
fcw seconds porusnl of the blackboard
Theatrical people, as a rule. are the bauc
OF his lie. No matter how hard he tries
he finds il next 10 impossible Jo please
or satisfy them lie gives them car
brnn3new from tho sllopg, and as clean
~ a pin, aud they complain about It's
nawncss aud the smell Of yArnish lie
gives them an old ear aud whrn the
complaint comes offers 10 replace u with
another tl,cn therc Is kick because
of delay. Whom he has boon "combed'
unul al of his large stock Of Patience 3
exhausted, and he makes sharp reply
the manager reports his "inpcrtincnoc'
10 the passenger department tho pas
scngcr department sends complaint 80
the superintendent, aud the lucldcss wa.
ti0n-mastcr IA hauled mp "on Che carpet.
The position has been looked upon by
conductors as one that Is due them
through promotion, hut when the timo
comes for item 10 desert the moving trains
many have been known to refuse It,
While the position pays n littc more
than that OF conductor, the running OF
extra trains advances the conductors
pay while the stnuon.muster at that
Time will be working his hardest aud
solely for glory indianapolis has two
statlonmasiers' John Welbe and Frank
Rogers
EASTERN ROADS BLOCKED.
Notice has been given 10y the Michigan
Central that until further notice, IL VIII