Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1895-10-07
WORKING HIS WAY UP.
A West Point graduate braking on

WORKING HIS WAY UP.
A West Point graduate braking on g
passenger train
Such is the distinction which the Big
Four Railroad Company enjoys. On
the morning passenger train which ar
rives at Seventh street daily at 7:3C
o'clock Charles Hine, late lieutenant of
the Sixth United States infantry, ma
nipulates the brakes when necessary
and helps the ladies alight from the
cars.
It is so seldom that man gives up q
good position in the army to take la
borer's place on a railroad that Mr..
Hine was at first regarded as a freak.
Mr.. Hine was born in Vienna, Va, in
1867, and graduated at Washington,
D. c., High School in 1855, and at
West Hoint in 1891, and from the Gin
ciunati Law School, while his regiment
was stationed at Fort Thomas, KY, in
1898. he was first in his class at West
Point in military tactics and also first
in discipline, and was the only cadet in
his class without demerit mark.
Mr.. S. J. Gates, general agent of the
passenger department of the Big Four
in Louisville, knew Mr.. Hine very
| well in Newport when he was station
ed there, and tried to dissuade him
from going into the railroad service,
but he cited that Mr.. Gates himself
had been q brakeman; that General
Manager Harahan, of the Illinois Cen
tral, had also commenced as brake
man, as well as many others whom he
could indicate, and they were now
holding responsible and lucrative
places.
Mr.. Hine told Mr.. Gates that his
only reason for leaving the army was
the slow promotion and lack of oppor-
tunities for an ambitious man in time
of peace. For years he had been anX-
ious to be railway superintendent,
and was convinced that the only way
to accomplish this was to begin at the
bottom.
Mr.. Hine when he commenced the
railroad Service six months ago took a
place as freight brakeman, in which
place he gave entire satisfaction to con-
ductors and his fellow trainmen.
When the company established line
into Louisville be was one of the pick
ed men sent here to open the new pas
senger line, and is still holding brake
mans position. While serving as
freight brakeman Mr.. Hine slept in a
caboose, ate in the railway boarding
houses and mixed with the men like
an old-timer, and they affixed him be-
cause he had nerve. This was some
thing new to one who had been going
into society, for he had nothing else to
do while acting as lieutenant in the
army but to be on dress parade in New
port and Cincinnati. He met with
several hair-breadth escapes while
serving on freight. During the first
week he bruised his hands, mashed his
finger, battered his shins, had lame
shoulder and aching muscles, but he
stuck to his job, and his associates all
admired his grit. He was always cool
| and enthusiastic in his work.
Mr.. Hine is averse to talking about
his intentions in the railway service,
but he told newspaper reporter that
he was we'll pleased with the treatment
he had received from Messrs. Ingalls,,
Schaff and Superintendent Van Winkle,
who, he says, would make fine generals
for an army.
"No, l am not getting rich at the
railroad business as fast as you might
think" observed Mr.. Hine to a report
er. 'At first was on through freight,
where / was paid by the mile, and
made about $50 q month. Next, in
order to learn about loading and un-
loading way freight and to become a
good stevedore, as well as to have more
switching and coupling to do, went to
breaking on local freight at $50 a
month. Now / am on a passenger
train, which pays S45. expect short
ly to leave the train service to learn
something about railway terminals, and
may have to work for $40. So, you
see, my salary might be classed under
what the political economists call
the law of diminishing returns How
ever, this is for experience, and it will
all come out in the wash as the laund-
ress would say"
Mr.. Hine while stationed at Fort
Thomas as lieutenant, was the writer
of numerous articles on military sub
jects, being an authority on army and
national guard matters. His resignation
from the army was accepted with re-
gret, his superiors testifying to his eff
| cheney as an officer.
BY merit alone he expects to work
his way up in railroad circles, and So
lected the Big Four because of the rules
of that line, which encourage men in
the service who show an aptitude for a
certain line of work.
Mr.. Hine does not smoke, chew nor
drink. Mr.. Gates says he has great
capacity for handling men and won
derful memory for detail. Besides his
other accomplishments, he learned
shorthand and telegraphy while station
ed at Fort Thomas. A man of his
character is certain to succeed.
A colored porter, in speaking of him,
said: 'Lawd, in handling train he's
the soonest man on the road. He
ought to be a conductah, 'stead of a
brakeman. Why, we ali has to ask
him the quickest way to do a 'thing.'
Mr.. Hine is twenty-eight years OF
age, of medium build, wears a full
beard, has an intelligent, pleasing
countenance, but talks very little. He
says he likes Louisville very much.