The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-02-10
rp.1NING GRIPMEN.
..,.,so IN couN1ayMeN FOR CITY
SaESN''Ia RAILWAY SERVICE.

Don =. and Plenty of Nerve
10 ,be pripmen come from"
"Where ~ blue uniformed en-
strong u ,s0 Washington and George
pysS ,, II was asked last n,sa ,s as as, ne
ps1 J. ia' car at the end of the route ior a
left Dis o oaf and sandwich IN the all
' ,isbt restaurant .so conntry. most of
""ny Thase fellows who are raised ON
beI'' 80 and beer il the city don't
dgare"e' have the muscle necessary 30
seem 10 I tbe brake and stop the trair
@aOC"I mighty careful about going
paD y tho streets. He's afraid that ev-
hrOusn no sees step off the pavement Is
cry Nan so RIM over, and he is absolute
gong ,"in that every team that comes
c s"r, a cross street is going to collide
ou ~, III him It takes him about two
VIII D oct over this fear, and then, as
yeais little careless, he has a lew
Do DDO that smash up tenders and take
sNiu "a;nt off the coaches, and then he
ue e.od and the road is ready to break
= another countryman. -,
S How do they break them iny'
aWoll thew are mighty careful with
Wa 4 new man ON the grip is about
@'n ,rorct scared object in the world.
u',' " ohont your condemned man being
' .ar when he's walking out to be
ss.uoed-why, his sensations amt IN 1t
u H;.T the man who's running a grip car
~. ,ho first time. To be sure, a. expert
~.oa crinman is ON the car right be-
ida him. ready to throw on the brakes
'"S sound the lookout bell. But be
,wsen the grip, and the wheel brake,
'"S the track brake, and the go ahead
end stop signals, and the look out
halls and the people jumping on and of
t6e grin car, your new gripman just gets
spasjck. They say they don't mind 1t,
Mt they're talking through their bon
nets that's all. Then, another thing,
,ha way they throw Oh the brake yanks
their arms out of joint and makes 'em
GOOD and sore, tell you.
There's something funny about
brokng M q grip car. l came from the
country to my job, but l wasn't always
apOwboy. When Twas young fellow,
used to work in a country printing Of
6ce and used to have to run Washing
ton hand press. Ever run Washington
hand press-you're in the newspaper
busipess? What Never run onep Well,
then, can't tell you anything about it,
except that if you don't know the trick
YOU can't throw 'er over and get an i'm
preston no more than rabbit. You
NAV have a muscle like blacksmith,
but if you don't know the knack you
can't pull the lever over, but if you are
on to the trick, and don't weigh more n
30 pounds, you can throw her around
Just like lightning and make 600 i'm
pessons an hour-that is, if you We got
agOod devil to do your linking.
"Well, as l was saying. that's jus:
like braking up a grip car. Some big
fellows weighing 200 pounds, with mus
cles on them like Fitzsimmons, 60 ou'
on one Of these grips with two coaches
behind 'em, and the way they brake 'el
up makes all the passengers think they
have gone to sea. Then little fellow
who don't look heavy enough to handle
team of mules attached to a sulky
pillow, gets jon On the road, and IN
grabs that old grip like drum majo
throwing a baton, and he'll get TIT
knack Of the thing right quick, and whei
he brakes 'er up the passengers thinl
that the first waltz at the Charity bal
is just starting.
But while he may he throwing OF
the brakes all right he's kind of off hi
pins when it comes to hearing the tw
bells for go ahead. You see, q new ma
cant do everything at once. Take
about week to get the shiver off, an
during that time regular gripman run
with the new man, keeping a sharp look
ont. Then the new man, after his week
goes to the superintendent and has
pass an examination. They ask him a
ABOUT the signals, and where other Cal
cross, and where the dead men are
dead mans block you strike If 20
don't let go the cable where you hay
N and If you ever strike a dead maj
your jobs gone. no ifs and ands abol
Land all about the street and so OF
well, If the new man passes the exam
nation, he puts up $40, and they gi'
MN certificate, and he can 60 and p'
mat up for a uniform and an overcoa
anu there You arches gripman, reat
ior ~ degrees below zero and 100 d
srees above zero and his little old 80
day.
ihe company's breaking in six ne
sripmen ON the Fourteenth street lii
rgnt now. Two of the old men dit
ana couple quit. Each line alwa
Keeps about dozen extra gripmen I
aand ready for an emergency, so they
breaking in these new ones. One of G
new boys had an accident at Ninth al
me. avenue the other afternoon. r.
.no an Anacostia bobtail car. BY 81
t thought he was going to kno
ue Thing clear to the Good Hope hi
Su' ne didn't. Scared? Well, the p;
.0neers ON the bobtail wasn't half
o o~ as he was. He could hardly 8
Sans .ne grip to pick up the pieces Of
s. n.er. de thought he was as good