Southwest-sentinel. [volume] (Silver City, N.M.) 1883-189?, 1893-02-07
TRACKWALKING
A AR.AlLRoAD OCCUPATION THAT MUST
GROW TO BE TEDIOUS.

Keep Their Roadbeds In Repair-Look.
ins fer LOoss Nuts and Protrudlne
Spikes AIonH tbs Line.
The terrible accident that happened to
Peter Daugherty, the "trackwalker,"
gave TO many readers a new word in the
vocabulary Of trades and occupations"
That there was such an occupation as
trackwRlking under the big cover of the
starry dome not one man in a thousand
ever imagined
"A trackwalker, a trackwalker2" ex.
claimed one citizen when asked the def
milton Of the term, why, yes; Of course
& trackwalker is y fellow who walks
the tracks See? just as easyl Now
ask the something real hard"
IL pressed for a cloSer explanation Of
the long words meaning, the citi-
zen proceeds TO get facetious: "Oh,
watcher trying 70 ring in on me now?
A trackwalker is--a trackwalker When
the carnivorous tramp is hunted from
his lair in one city he emigates 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 nn 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,
you might call huckstors who drive their
wagons up and down the street car
tracks track hawkers He. he, hel Seer
Which all goes TO show that the real
bona tide trackwalker is comparatively
an unknown cog in the great machine Of
the world. II that cog was suddenly
taken ont Of place and threwn 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 trackwalller
deserted his trust. Ride along any road
for five or ten miles and you will over
take him. plodding along beside the
track. he IL not dressed in the latest
cutaway diagonal. and his trousers, II
noticed. hag at the knees. He only gets
81 30 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 u spike into tie He tramps 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. Marys
infirmary. Bending over him. with her
sweet face full Of sympathy. was one of
the sisters Of the order. Hes doing
very nicely" she softly said. but must
not be excited"
"You see, it's my shoulder thore now
exclaimed Daughterty raising his left
arm and dropping it to the sheet again
with shudder OF pain. 1T seems as
though It was under trip hammer and
the hammer was pounding for nll it was
worth. Still it isn't AZ bad now as it
was. Good gracious. but that old engine
did hit me clip"
How did it happenY
"All fired sudden / was walking
along between the tracks. peaceable as
you please. when down rolls train on
the left hand Being afraid that the
steam OF something would hit me
stepped into the right hand track
Whackl Diff! Yours truly got it in the
neck sure as You live, An engine was
flying down the right hand tracks. you
see 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
hght 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 me white
~ long as I've been working for 'em,
which is only couple Of months I'm
Just n little sorry that the company is
such a new one They haven't got any
hospital Of their own yet, you know
That why I'm here. OF course I'm be-
ing treated splendidly here--just as If !
WAS at home but, you zee. don't know
exactly who's going to pay these good
sisters for taking care of me- I'd hate
TO see em do all their work for moth
ing
Daugherty gazed reverently at thecru-
cihz hanging on the opposite wall before
answering, Speaking Of the work. it's
all right. ! get $3.50 day. just the same
~ the other laborers ON the road. and It
isn't ~ hard aa digging, All you've got
70 do iS 70 be sure and go over your sec
tiOn ~ many times a. you're ordered.
and zee that the rails are in proper shape.
II yOu find loose bolt you take your
pinchers and tighten IT, II you find a
spike pOking its head into the air. give It
q clip with your hammer. That's all
there Is TO the business. II you should
happen TO find something out Of whack
and cant tix II yourself. why. you go for
help. that's all You see. ! know Just
enongh about traclwalking to do my
work wen. have never had any Of the |
adventures that some of the men have. II |
you want to hear some funny stories you
ought TO go down to Twelfth and Ora
not streets
some Of those fellows have been walk !
ing the tracks all over the country for
years. Some Of 'em 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 II set down on any
one Of the roads between this town and
Chicago. A fellow gets 70 know the
weight Of the ties on every mile ho walks }
over. and from day 10 day learns to picb |
out which bolts are going TO be loose and
which spikes win poke their fiat heads
ahova tha nau0ea Of the raila Ifia Iilra