The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1897-04-04

am on run. You see they are not pleas
l"t thihss 10 nave In your mind ANYWAY
these possible disasters, and | always fig
ure there Is time enough TO think about
'"vni "hoh they come. II come they must.
When n man sees what seeus rertaiu
oeath staring him In the face when ne sits
on MS seat IN the engine cab, n. ecesnl
ieei at all. He merely realizes everything,
ana Just does all he can to avert the dan
ger. He has no time to feel at all under
such circumstances.
Engineer Edward Rogers, OF the New
YORK central railroad. is one OF the old
stand bys, Few men have had moro ex-
rerience in an engine cab than he, when
IL comes TO talking OF real experience II
tell you what 1t Is. he said. 1.-THE engineer
is the very soul OF the entire train. The
safety OF every passenger depends on hirn
lie must have constant watchfulnoss ana
presence of mind. The train runs on sch,d-
ulc time, but If that time is passed, 1t de-
penis on the engineers nerve wbu,her tn.
scheduie Is Kept up or not There is as much
difference between engineers as there liz be-
tween engines, and that is saying a great
deal. Some men have the faculty of sitting
In cab with the engine flying along the
irons at the rate of a mile a minute or
more. without a tromor or excitement of
any sort. Another man in the same place
ana under tho same condition will lose
his nerve entirely. get ratified for some un-
accountable reason, and fail most riiserably
In the most important duty of an engineer
My experience teaches me that It "a
with engines In many respects Just as It Is
with men. There are engines and engines,
and there are engineers and engineers A
crank engine and first class engineer make
as bad combination as good engine and
poor driver. There are crank engines
just the same as there are cranky men.
and sometimes they cause deal more
trouble. If necessary. we can lock cranky
human being up. but a cranky engine is
the bane OF q railroad mans life. 1t is no
eXaggeration to say that an engineer be-
comes acquainted with an engine lust as
man becomes accustomed to horse
Some men can drive an engine mucn fast
er than others. That la owing. in some in
stances. 10 the fact that the man has not
nerve enough to crowd her. Sometimes
1t Is also due 10 the fact that he does not
Know the good points of the machine he
is handling.
when I'm in my cab aud on a run
there Is constantly with me the realization
of responsibility. and | am always on tie
lookout. II is not exactly right to say that
l look for danger, hut ! am constantly
watching out 10 see that there is nothing
thnt is going TO wreck the train right in
front o; me.
i hnve had the good fortune never TO
have met with an accident, but that does
not make me less careful when | am on
run. / tell you, 1t makes me feel queerer
than | can describe TO sec n real or
fancted obstruction on the track along
which i am moving. find it particularly
necessary TO exercise unusual care in rum
hins through a thickly wooded district af-
ter a storm. j am not frightened Mt such
times. but | always feel as IL something
was likely to happen every minute. don't
get nervous. but l have that feeling just
the same.