The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-02-18
Total movement. .2oOSo 1857 17,14
Hard.hips of EARLY RaiIroading.

A recent article In the journal, alluulng
TO some of the usages in vogue in train
service when the railroad system had not
been SO fully developed as it is to-day
said an old railway man, reminds me of
some things we used to have and some
things we did not have on locomotives in
the early sixties as against the locomotives
Of to-day. In those days l was employed
fireman on Northern road, and, al
though only hundred miles long, it was
just as big and worked just as independent
OF every other road in America, and great
deal more than the New York Central
or the Pennsylvania can to-day. We burned
wood in the engines These engines were
insignificant machines compared with the
modern ones. The firebox not much larger
than a cooking range of to-day. and when
the wood was green and the ash pan fun
er to- to help make Steam Nc matter how
cold the weather, We had to sit in the cab,
: v~th wood smoke pouring out of the firebox
door. many times for an hour or or more, SO
that the engine crews became like smoked
nam after few years service and their
eyes had that red. bleary look attributed
to other causes. AS we had no injectors
and had to use pumps when stalled in
not run up and down the track to pump
water into the boiler; we had to either jack
the wheels 20, of the rail- and run the ma a.
our modern colleges, or let them die and bail
up with buckets. We did not have any pop
was too much pressure, but instead had
pair of rag pickers' scales connected to a
especially in winter weather, that the boil
ers ever had a surplus of steam when the
any possible loss through the safety valve
we had corks or blocks of wood which
fitted between the scale and roof of the cab,
holding the valve down on It's seat thus
saving the steam to be worked through the
cylinders. We had no air brakes We had
no lubricators. We had no Miller plat
fornis whistle signals. no electric head
lights. but we did have engines that
be gotten over the road. Lots of snow and
cold weather and no appliances to over
come It. and a general all-around siege of
suffering, scheming and hard work. from
the time started until we got back and
al for the mnnfficent remuneration of from
satisfaction and pleasure in recounting.
around the big wood burner roundhouse
stoves on Off days the hair breadth escapes
and cute wrinkles adopted to overcome the
constantly recurring trouble the road.
While we. didn't know as much they
do nowadays. perhaps, there wasn't as
much expected of us. Rairoading wasn't
such science. and the men in charge of
experience with ourselves l. e. learning and
finding out how to do things better"
Relief ON the PennsyIvania.
The membership of the Voluntary Relief
Department of the Pennsylvania system indi-
Gates that this feature of the road is APP
preciated by the employees generally. The
annual report. which will soon be issued,
will show that at the end of 1894 the relief
membership of the entire system reached
SO, 400 employees, or about 81 per cent of
the men employed on the Pennsylvania
lines. DR.. W. X. T. Sahm, chief medical
examiner, says: Notwithstanding the
large number of retirements and the re-
trenchments in forces wherever possible on
the PENNSYLVANIA railroad. the membership
Tor the entire system has Increased over
Loo during the year. In speaking In gen.
eral OF tbs years work, Dir. Sahm stated
that. the department had treated large
number of cases of typhoid fever which he
thought due to the drinking of unfiltered
water by the employees from the ALLEGHENY
river. In such an Instance there can be
nothing done except to advise the employees
to guard against the use of it. There has
been no period of the year that the exam
liners have not had several fever cases on
their lists" DR.. Sahm also stated that
railroad men as a class are necessarily
healthy people, from the fact that they are
Obliged to undergo physical examinations
previous to being given positions on the
road. and that IN general they are able
10 endure more hardships than most en-
ployes in other lines of work
The Difercntial Question Settled.
The committee appointed by the roads
doing an East-bound business out of Gin
cinnati have fixed the percentages to gov
ern the several roads all party and
theatrical business from Cincinnati and that
immediate territory to all points east of the
Western termini of the trunk lines On
Boston business the committee gives the
Big -Four SIS per cent, and the Erie il per
cent; on Baltimore, Washington and Phiia-
delpha business the Pennsylvania lines, the
Ohio each get 80 Is per cent; on New York