St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1896-07-11
eAILaoAo,no IN OLD oAYa

O..astsens HAVE Greatly Changes u
The H1rss Loes0ssavss Wsss 1sase.
ayes. l will admit that railroedm8
now il not what It used to be in the 'dOs-
We have had great changes and Inn
provements in the past 30 years. ana
while it has all been for the best, stlsi
I often think that the life Of railway
man il not nearly 50 pleasant now . ~
vas in the olden times" The speaker
was an old Pennsylvania railroad con-
| ductor, who has seen years OF service,
not only ON the greatest road on eereh.
but ON many other lines % well.
When pressed for nm explanation OF the
meaning Of his opening remarks he be-
gan by making the statement that
under present systems OF operating
great trunk lines the men In charge OF
the trains have become mere automa-
toms. following day by day the hxed
;nexorable lines Of law laid down In the
hook of rules. When = train starts OUT
Il IN expected to run through to destin-
alton without any delay. and the WORK
Iof each member Of the crew IS the sans
every day unless the clock-like me
chanical working Of the ordinary rules
Of operation should be interfered WIN
by . wreck. The engineer knows ms
duty and has his orders constantly b.
fore him, and he il guided along ths
wav by the signal indications which are
psrtly automatic and partly guided BY
human intelligence In the method OF
their indications. From beginning to
end Of the trip the predominant desire
and expectation Of the management .
we'll as the crew in to set over the road
ON schedule time, which means tnat tns
wheels must be kept moving MI tn
time. and only stopped at the righ'
nl.ee. according 10 the unvarying re
onirements Of the rules Of the operst
3 ing department.
sHow different II used 70 be IN IN
. GOOD old days before the era Of double
triple and quadruple tracks. In IN
= summer days when the heat was OF
a pressive we used to hustle to get .
some shady passing place In the noun
! tains, where cool springs dubbed 90
n from under the limestone ledges IN
o front besked in the crystal pool
% Arriving at the place we only knew tn
n our orders required us to wait for ~
l.. and il that train was A. hour or ~
% late it was all the better, we though
+ and . good engineer. according to OF
ideas, was the man whit. could make :
y hour Of time 70 that no matter how Il
n train We were to meet was running Y
could have an hour ut the spring. Fisl
OF ine poles, shatguns and rifles we1
n carried in the cabin cars In those DAY
Cd and often while waiting on helats
ID train which had the right OF way Y
Z caught enough ash or killed enoue
er squirrels or grouse to furnish us WI
he a delightful meal. never pass . C
ng tain spring ON my regular trip that
ch do not think Of the days Of yore. WIN
before these few remaining hairs We
at gray enjoyed the daily delay OF
.ts hour or more 1t that delightful sP'
ng Now all il hustle and get up and e
be- Rig engines that never stall. fixed, y
lts alterable laws, four tracks that pl
~. clude all possibility Of delay. and
las many trains that we must be constant
he watching for signals and readi
gh orders. Yes. tell You, it il all DIM
his ent, and . cold practicality with it's d.
ng and dreary monotony has robbed n
Nv roading Of most Of its former attr'
MS. tsov,s s~-pitteburRh Post.