Evening star., 1893-10-28

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iNMWS- lEFlHW mas taken to news
| N-&MSy@ paper writing to DEM
,lHS X onstrate the great ad-
t'lnNE N>%lM vantages a n o d
-E kMSGN bright young men In
-1TsEknft WNHNK- the railroad business.
WI, W 1t is safe to say that
| that business Is be-
coming Of interest to
the great reading public. That this is O
safe surmise cannot be questioned when the
greatness Of the railroad business is con-
sidered. At the present time there are LIS. .OO0
miles Of steam railways in active operation
in the United States. nearly one-fourth of
the entire world. Nearly one million people
are given employment with an average
monthly pay roll Of $40OOO.OOO. The railroad
sytems represent an investment Of $4,000
100000. the gross earnings upon which is
8. .OO0 100000 per annum. There are in use
$1,000 passenger. baggage and mail cars;
12S,0 900 freight cars. and to pull these over the
roads something like 1900 locomotives are
required. Last year 100000. 900 passengers
were whirled over the different lines at an
average speed Of forty miles an hour. The
above array of figures. while formidable.
are pleasant to contemplate. Another array
| above are Of the number Of passengers and
employees killed or wounded during the past
year. But that II another story.
| Mr.. Depew, In the course OF his article,
tells of different people who have worked
their way up to president and vice president
| Of railroads from subordinate positions and
also the fact that IN one Of the big ofices
of his road in New York there are employed
a number Of graduates Of Yale and Harvard.
who are working for salaries that average
$35 month. In regard to the first asser-
ton Mr. Depew has written his article in the
past tense. 1t belongs there. No one at
this day can work his way up to the head
of railroad without an education Of the
very best and such a person would not be-
gin railroadfng as a brakeman or q fireman.
To have an Office full OF Yale and Harvard
graduates speaks well for the future Of Mr..
Depew's road, because there Is no branch
that affords man with good education
| better opportunities for advancement than
that Of the railroad. and that these young men
are willing to work for salaries far below
their real worth speaks volumes in substan-
| tiation OF this assertion.
Western and Eastern Roads.
Upon many of the western roads there is
yet in operation a system that will permit
an employe to attain position Of high rank
from the lowest rung of the ladder. but the
eastern roads have long since discarded
such mode of advancement. At the present
time an employe without technical educa-
ton, at the least civil engineering, cannot
hope to advance beyond the grade Of train
master. The case Of President Roberts Of
the Pennsylvania road is often cited to IL
lustrate what young man OF energy can
do, but Mr. Roberts at the very first was q
civil engineer and took UP railroading after
leaving college. How much the Scotch
blood in Mr. Roberts veins had to do with
his advancement is a question OF consider
able Importance.
| Thomas Scott, who preceded Mr.. Roberts
as president of the Pennsylvania road IL
Illustrated the old mode of advancement In
railroad circles. When q young man he
| was storekeeper and locktender on the
| Pennsylvania canal and as the railroad
| came along he became it's ticket agent in
the same town. He showed unmistaka able
ability, and railroad ability was scarce In
those days, and quickly advanced to the
| front. At the time OF Col. Scotts death he
was considered by many railroad financiers
and managers the peer Of any railroader in
the country.
Lucius Tuttle. the present president of the
Boston and Maine railroad, furnishes a ca
| reer singularly like that of ex-President
Scott Tuttle not many years ago was SELL
ing tickets In little station on one Of the
branches Of the New England system. In a
| few years he became a general ticket agent
of small line, and then his progress was
| most rapid, his various promotions COM
pelling him to be almost as itinerant as
an Arab: first in Boston. then with the
| Canadian Pacific at Montreal, then selected
| by the railway princes to become a member
| of the pooling association. then called to
the New Haven system at a time when the
| great things which have since been con-
summated We're in contemplation. he now
| stands among the first half dozen young
railway managers of this country 1t Is
| said that President Tuttle was one Of Pres
| ldent AcLeod's chief antagonists and that
| was ousted from the presidency of the
| Reading road. If that Is so it is a case OF
| a college education against crude learning
| Mcleod representing the former and Tut
| tie the latter.
| Men Who Get Anchored,
Among railroad men there is a phrase
| they apply to employees who have reached a
| height upon the ladder of promotion and
notwithstanding their goood work never go
any higher. If one of these employees is re-
ferred to they will say: Hes anchored"
| The word covers the case exactly GER
| tain man is alluded to with pride as he is
| promoted from one position Of trust to an
| other, and no one knows quicker than his
| companions when he reaches the anchor
| class. Upon investigation II will be found
that technical education holds him back.
| He may know the road on which he is en-
| ployed as thoroughly as bright child
| knows the first reader. yet he will hold one
| position for a quarter of a century and per-
| haps die in the harness of the office
| To illustrate exactly why an advanced
| position is not open to a man of only ordi-
| nary education the following case. a true
| one, can be cited:
| A few years after the completion of the
! Baltimore and Potomac railroad. and at a
| time when defects in the roadbed were be-
| ginning to show themselves. as in all new
| roads, a Slide occurred near the small tel
egraph station of winans. The roadbed
| when first filled in had been thrown over a
| small spring of water. AS time went on
| this spring increased in force and under
| mined the roadbed for a considerable dis
| tance A heavy rain coming on completed
| the work. and a northbound train striking
| the spot at a time when II was about ready
| to give way went down with it. The road
| was blocked for a considerable time and an
| assistant to the superintendent was sent to
the scene to investigate and report. Tracks
| were built around the washout and when
the cars were pulled out of the ditch the
| spring was discovered. The assistant went
| to the telegraph office, reported the matter
| in detail and suggested that several car
loads Of large stone that were upon a sid
ing farther up the road be hauled to the
| spot and dumped into the hole. Believing
| his plan perfectly correct the assistant
| without waiting for orders from his supe-
| rior sent an empty engine after the car
| loads of stone. In half an hour the super
| intendent was on the spot, a special engine
| bringing him down from Baltimore. With
| the eye of an experienced engineer the lat
| ter took in the situation at glance and or
dered the stone sidetracked. Materials were
| ordered and in a short time a substantial
| trestle covered the spring. The assistant
| had made a blunder to his superior and he
| knew 1t. His usefulness was gone and
| shortly after he resigned ao,tthern roa