The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1894-12-10
THE DISPATCHER.

stand II better than others, but it wrecks
every ones nerves sooner or later
When was appointed night dispatch
er on this road, thought 1 was the big
IS cent cigars and wearing IS hats. had
a well developed case of swelled head and
showed it all over me- A few months ex-
perience with faithless operators, tricky
trainnen and arrogant superiors, however,
took the conceit out of me, and began to
realize just how big n job it was to handle
q heavy train wire and give satisfaction.
The fact is, the man who can please all
hands has yet to be born. There are times
when some train must be delayed and it IS
often a case of Hobson's choice. The
trainmen who wait curse the dispatcher
into the middle of purgatory and back
again, and those who get advantage brag
about the run they made.
zone night the road was fairly hot with
trains when / came on duty. ! wondered
how in thunder / should ever get the pas
senger train through without delay There
seemed to be train on every side track
over the whole length of the road and
more between stations / worked like
beaver 1t was in the old days Of what arc
known single orders, when each
train received separate order, which must
be sent to each one concerned singly- You
will easily see how in the rush of business
a single order might be Incorrectly trans
mitted and trains leave stations under
conflicting orders, which would certainly
bring them together unless corrected.
Nowadays the most progressive roads all
use orders so worded that two trains or
more receive them al the same time, and
thus TIA q risk of error is lesseneu- That
system was hardly known in my time,
and we worked on the perilous single or
der plan.
"A double header left the foot of the
mountain about midnight holding an or
der giving it the right to summit About
30 minutes ahead OF it was fast freight.
The latter had an engine numbered 427,
and the double train had engines 342 and
1927. You must remember / was working
every minute trying to keep the freights
out of the way of the night passenger
trains
ssAlong toward morning a train was
ready to go down the mountain, and
gave the order to run wild and wait for
engine 427 at Summit In some way or
other the double train following slipped
my memory completely. / have thought
since 1 must have got mixed on the two
numb beers, 427 and 1927. AT any rate, when
the operator at Summit reported the two
trains leaving, it came over me with the
suddenness and pain OF a galvanic shock
that 1 had given what we Cali a lap order.
1.-The horrible feeling that seized me
often makes me shudder when I think OF
it now. My hand fell from the key, limp
and nerveless. Something seemed to cast
a blur before my eyes SO could not read
the orders before me. The blood rushed to
my head, and my temples beat like trip
hammers But only for a second Like
a flash I seized the key and asked the Oper-
atOr to stop the down train. 1t was too
late. It had gone. Then 1 tried to reach
the double train, but it, too had passed
the last telegraph office, and knew no
earthly power could prevent those trains
from striking hard, for the grade is nearly
20 feet to the mile up there
Il sent for the chief dispatcher immedi-
o1- 41II fI,,- Gil 41
an old hand at the business, and an affair
of this kind fretted his nerves almost to
the point OF insanity. He added nearly
100 per cent to my agony Of mind he
would sit down and look the train sheet
over and seem to devOur the fatal orders
with his eyes, then jump up with ges-
ture of despair and say, BY gosh, that's
too bad' Then he would pace up and
down the floor, repeating to himself:
That's too bad, too bad. They II strike
as sure as the world, returning always to
pore over the train sheet and order book.
Il could have screamed with the awful
strain of nervous suspense. I confidently
believe that nothing but lack Of courage
and the curious fascination kept me from
rushing cut and jumping into the river,
20 feet below.
II felt absolutely certain that some Of
those men would be killed. Had both
trains been single the drivers might posi-
bly, see each others headlights iu time to
Js
ond engine of the double header would go
into the wreck all over and die sure as
fate. 1t has become fashionable nowadays
to disbelieve in q physical hereafter
don It know anything about that, but do
know that If mental torture be the lat OF
those who sin in this life, after our
counts are audited, 1 should prefer to take
my chances with the old fashioned style of
punishment.
Suddenly both relays opened with
rI,f e =,
fectly indescribable expression and went
to the switchboard without word We
both knew without telling what it meant
The trains had struck, and the piled up
wreckage had broken the wires down. We
tested for the break and soon located it
half way up the mountain. I gave up the
last particle Of hope at this, and only
waited in a kind of dull wonder to learn
the extent of the casualty.
The 80 or 40 minutes that elapsed after
the wire failed until got the official re-
port of the accident seem to me now as
misty as a dream / worked away at the
wire mechanically, guided only by the
force Of habit, and using the circuits as
they were made up by the chief He kept
fussing at the SWITCH board in a perfect
misery of nervousness
"A t length the Summit operator called,
and my heart beat almost audibly as an
swered him, for knew from his tren-
ulous sending that he had received the re-
port. I think he must have understood my
feelings, for the first words he telegraphed
almost crazed me with qualification Be
fore sending a line of the formal report he
told me, There's nobody hurtp gave up
right then and there and said: Mr.. H,
you II have to take the rest of this report
I can't, and got up and went home"
1t seems the engineer had seen the
headlight and jumped, an the men on the
first ercri ma of the dOnble header. after Civ