The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-09-13
YARNS IN THE RoUNDHOUsE.
RAILRoADING ISN'T WHAT 1T USED
TO BE IN OLD TIMES.

of Raw Recuit-Wanted a Ham
mer to Drive in some sense-HOw
to Fix TorpedOes on the Track.
Olive Oil and Cracked lee For
Hot COMMISSIONING a Two
Headed Calf.
From the Philadelphia Times.
"Brakemen nowadays have a blame
sight easier time than they did when
was twistin' wheeles." grumbled the old
| conductor. as we watched new man en-
| deavor to master the intricacy Of hand
signals as executed and explained by the
! yard master Just look at that jay he
continued. "he's as graceful with his
arms as an old hen now. but in two or
three days he'll know it all, and be givin'
the rest of us pointers. Talk about your
raw recruits. When I think Of the green
les I've broke in on my train in the past
fifteen years it makes my head swim
The old man leaned back and pulled Wig
orously on his pipe, the clouds gradually
clearing away from his face as he watched
the drill. until finally he broke out again;
'Seein' that chap there tryin' to learn
and remember all them things at once,
makes me think of the time 1 was broke
in by old Pete DolOway. him that was
killed at Mauch Chunk year before last.
That was more'n twenty years since and
tell you a new man in them days had
blame hard row to hoe. Not only was the
work heavier but the men were a mighty
rough set. and did pretty much as they
pleased. Good trainmen were scarce then,
and any likely loOkin' chap had show OF
gettin' a job. Result was some Of the
crews were hard crowd, and we had one
man in particular who was as wicked and
mean an old rooster as ever lived. lie
| went through half, a dozen bad wrecks
without scratch, until the sayin' spread
| that he was too blame tough TO be hurt.
But what 1 started to tell you was how
| the gang treated a new man in them
| days. It's all stopped now, but then it
was regular thing to initiate raw
brakeman with all the deviltry the crew
could think of-which was considerable.
| AS l was saying, my first place was with
| Pete Doloway, and he was man that
| didn't permit any foolin' with his orders,
while never caring a cuss whether his
men killed each other or not as long as
they maintained the train rules. I was
a big, green hoy of 49, as dumb as a
doughnut and as strong as an elephant
| After Pete had take me out in the yard
| and tried to teach me some of the rules
| without me understanding blamed thing,
| he got madden and madden, until at last
he couldn't hold himself any longer. He
broke away hard as he could run for the
| tool house. fsa
where you goin', Peter yelled the
| dispatcher
" Coin to get a. hammer to drive some
| sense into that damn FOOLS head he
| shouted, and he was in dead earnest, too.
| The dispatcher had TO hide me in a box
/ car till he got the old man quieted down,
| and then we Started over. did my level
| best to learn, but for the life of me 1
| couldn't remember all of them things,
/ and twasnit long before seen that Pete
was gittin' wrothy again. He shouted
and pumped his arms like a Windmill,
and 1 tried to initiate his movements,
| without success, until he nearly had fit.
After maxim another failure he edged
| around behind me, his face like a red
| lamp, and yelftn' This Is a signal to
start planted a mighty hard kick just
where it did the most good. Then I got
| mad, and belted him one on the jaw,
shoutin' Yes, and that's a signal to
stop 1t fioored him, but he was up in
a minute, with couplin' pin and a splice
| bar in his hands, maxim for me. Now,
you git tell out of this he yelled. I got.
1 run, and he run; he chased me out of
the yard and a mile down the pike.
/ Next day / came back, but Pete
wouldn't even notice me- He told his flag
| man to take me in hand and see If he could
/ do anything with me. That fagman was a
| good fellow, but full of deviltry, and you
bet he had fine subject in me. bore him
no grudge even when ne did send me to
the dispatchers Office one day for buck
| ct of cracked ice and bottle of olive oil
to fix a hot journal, nor even when he got
me to look up the pipe at the water tank
| and then give me a shower bath; but 1
never forgive him for the job he put up
on me with the torpedoes.
In them days torpedoes were as big as
tea cups and as full of noise as a young
cannon. He told me the way to fix 'em
on the track was to hammer em with a
stone. 1 did II, and it's a providence I'm
! yet alive 1 was goin' to kill him when l
got out of the hospital, but he patched it
up by sendin' me cigars and roast chicken
| and such. He stole the chickens along
the road, as I very well knew, but it
wasn't polite for me to crticise him. That
was the sort Of school l was trained i'm
"Spakin' of torpedoes," said the one
armed Waterman whom. for obvious rea-
/ sons, we called Dutch Mike, I'll never for
| git the job Bill Maloney put upon me whin
l was greeny. 'Moike,, SEE the conductor.
! list run back few miles, an put torpe-
does on the thrack.'
y" 'Divil take him, SEE I to myself, now
| phwat do the mon mane? Bill was stand
in near by. an saw was all bewildered.
It's all right, Moike, SEE he; the boss
names We to go back half a NOBLE or so
an clamp torpedoes on the rail as a sig
nal to the thrain behind us that were
| jist feminist it,
An phwat's torpedies? SEE I.
'Howly Moses. yer dumb, SEE he
Where's them tin things the boss give
! we the mornin'T
In me dinner bucket SEE I. I thought
they was some new kind of prize pack
age, an / was goin' to pry thin open
! whin had a chanst.'
Don't ye do it, We dumb Oirishman,.
SEE he, 'or yen be sorry. Go git thin an
skip back as the boss orders.
But how many shall 1 put on, Bill?'
SEE
How many have YEP SEE he.
| Swim
Wait, here's six more; put thin all
on, about tin feet APART, an be dom
quick now
Il put thin on, an got book a-runnin',
jist as the conductor came out Of the tele-
! graph office.
! Did we put on the nicissary number.