The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1893-12-08
MUSTHAVEGOODEYES
LOCOMOTIVE MEN HAVE TO PASS
SEARCHING SIGHT TESTS.

Various Methods Employed For Trying the
Sight of English Railway Employees.
Made Necessary by the Great Develop
ment In Railway Operation.
One of the many qualities that require
to be possessed by candidates for foot
plate honors is good sight. In fact it is
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 pass
satisfactorily test which, with differ
emit companies, varies in severity. Some
companies test periodically, while others
only do so when the men are promoted
to firing and driving, or when some ac-
dent occurs through signal having been
mistaken or passed at danger.
In justice, therefore, to the travelling
public, as we'll as for their own interests,
it is the duty of railway companies to
see that the men they place in such re-
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 a man on
foot sometimes on Observation-Disclosures
duty it was to see the line clear, but
with the rapid develc pments made in To-
connective 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
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
anice straight stretch, and another party
with the flags (red, green and white) by
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, and
in such cases what is known as the wool
test" has to be gone through. This con-
sists of bundle of various colored woods
from which the candidate must pick out
pieces he thinks correspond to skeins
which are given him to match. In some
companies 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 well as
those in daily use on the line. I'm
doubtedly this is the correct method for
testing color blindness if properly con-
Quoted.
But the method which at the present
time seems most popular is what is
known as the 'card test" This is a
piece of cardboard about 50 inches by 81
inches. In each of the four corners are
the colors, red, green, blue and yellow,
all very bright, while the space left be-
tween, about two inches. is divided into
squares one-fifth of an inch, which at a
distance of 10 feet corresponds to bulls
eye feet square 600 yards away. The
candidate stands Is feet from the card
and names the colors as they are pointed
out, also counts the number of black
ened squares, which are varied in num-
Der by covering up some with piece of
paper.
Each eye is examined separately, both
as to color sense and form, care being
taken that the unused eye is simply COW
cred and not pressed upon, as this causes
irritation of both members. Having
named the colors and counted the spots
correctly, the candidate may congratu-
late himself that he has passed.
Generally speaking, the sight should
be tested once every three or four years,
as during that period accident or disease
may have impaired the vision, while
habitual smokers should be tested much
oftener, as it has been ascertained that
tobacco smoke has deleterious effect
on the sight.
AS yet railway companies have not
adopted hard and fast test. Each has
its own method, but as so many precious
lives are intrusted to engine drivers and
their mates, an exhaustive test should be
made. Strictly speaking three tests
should be gone through: 1. Wool test,
to detect color blindness. 2. Object test,
squares or small letters, for form. 8.
Tested in darkened room with lamp for
color ignorance, as it is important that
the candidate should be able to name
the colors. The lamp, having been light
ed, is placed on table, while the candi-
date stands about 20 feet off. A piece
of cardboard with hole about half an
inch in diameter is placed over the face
of the lamp, and various colored glasses
passed IN front, which the candidate
should name, remarking whether lighter
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