The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-06-11
Mr.. THOMSON'S FIRST STEP.
cor. SCOTS WAY OF MAKING
MAN OUT or BOZ.

Apprenticeship in the Car Shops of the Late
President of the Pennsylvania Railroad
story OF His Rise Told in Reply to II
Request for Advice rs to n Sons Training.
Thomson. whatShall do with my boy2"
The question was asked Of the President Of
the Pennsylvania Railroad Company shortly
before his death by an old friend. a rich man.
rs he TO be man or milksop;" was tho
reply. "A private secretary or IN employer OF
private secretariss2'
Il do not know yet" snid the millionaire.
but mean TO give him every chance" Then.
with laugh. Il would like him to succeed in
the world as you have succeeded. to win the
power tho influence the emoluments that are
yours. You were the son OF father well sup
piled with the good things Of this world and
your youth was passed among surroundings Of
ease and refinement. All that didn't keep you
from reaching tho top. Why can't heH'
"Gtdon't know" said President Thomson.
with a qulzzical smile. Perhaps he docsn I
know what went through. 1t was soon after
Thomas A. Scott became general sursrinten-
dent OF the PENNSYLVANIA Railroad. with Offices
at Altoona. that my mother went t. him. AS
an old friend OF our family and asked him.
What shall do with my boy Frank This
was in the summer Of 1853. and l had lust
passed my seventeenth birthday. / had re-
Gently been graduated at Franklin College,
and thought knew as much az most college
graduates think they know. Yet / had the
greatest confidence in my mothers judgment.
The sweetness OF her disposition and the ex-
cellence Of her good sense rendered me. the
youngest other children. especially devoted to
her. l did not know that she had formed any
plans for me to pursue the profession Of my
father. who was Judge. and had no special
desire to be LAWYER. although the honor in
which he was held in all western Pennsylva-
MIA and the dignity OF his POSITION in the com
mu2ity in which I'was.brouEht updid not fail
to inspire me with n high admiration for such
n position In life. To my mothers question
Mr. Scots reply was If you want to make n
man Of Frank apprentice him In our car shops
here in Altoona for tho full term OF three
gears with the same hours the same work and
the same wages that every other apprentice
there has
THAT ia just the thing said my mother
Although neither she nor realized Just what
that three years apprsnticeship meant. Mr..
Scott unquestionably knew and had my mother
known. / am sure her resolution would only
have been strengthened.
"On the 10th OF September 1853 l started
In to work. and that day L earned my first
| money 1t was 80 cents. and It represented
ten hours Of labor at six cents an hour. 1t
rerresentcd n grea. deal more than that to me.
for 1t was the first hard work had ever done
The surroundings were such as naturally to
impress themselves strongly upon the mind
Of u youth brought UP amid the geatlsr occu-
paticus and diversions and Injuries Of life.
In the shops at Altoona at this particular
time there we're in progress EXPERIMENTS. in
the equipment OF RAILROAD cars and locomo-
tives. which were destined to exert lasting
effect upon what is.sometimes. known as tho
science OF railroading. Passenger cars were
then lighted by the old fashioned oil lamps
and the Journeyfrom Philadelphia TO Pittsburg
over the Allegheny Mountains. for the Penn
sylvania Railroad had lust been flashed be-
tween those POINTS, "A distance of 444 miles,
was made picturesque BY tho glowing coal
stoves which we're considered the acme Of
heating pparatus, and by the oil lamps. ueces-
sarily rendered smoky By the druuGhts 1t
was now considered practicable to light pas
senRer cars with gas and the apparatus neces-
sary for such equipment was then being
experimented with in the Altoona shops.
Another most important device for the
management OF fast railroad trains was Just
then being tried with a view to its application
to our trains If found practicable. This was n
system Of brakes and brake rigging. The To-
comotivss in use at that time. the heaviest OF
which believe did not weigh ever thirty tons.
az compared with the ninety ton locomotives.
for EXAMPLE, now in use. were constructed to
burn wood but il was recognized that some
substitute for this primitive fuel would have
to be found at an early date and skilled me-
chanics at Altoona were building locomotives
and designing furnaces to us. anthracite and
bituminous coal. These were lut n few Of the
important operations i'll progress at the time
when had tho good fortune to.cnter upon This
nOvitiate. There was indeed nothing that the
PENNSYLVANIA Railroad needed in the way Of
mechanism that tho Altoona shops did not
provide. ENVIRONMENT there was. conse-
quently. notIonIy liberal but a general edu-
cation in mechanical railroadIng. by and by
we apprentices began to pride ourselves on
knowing how to separate great machines into
their component parts. to name each part aud
to put them together again.
"Afterthe surprise that naturally felt in asso-
Citations so different from those to which | had
been acoustic med.I got my first idea OF tho hard
part OF physical labor. | knocked the skin of
my knucklcs. Of course: my finger nails we've
soon broken and Elackencd and my blue
Jumper and overals quickly lost color under
the machine oil and CRIME 1t was not long
though. until l began to take an Intelligent
interest in what was going on about me.
That meant that | forgot tho hard knocks Of
the first few days work and then ceased to
render over the wisdom of the adoption OF an
other career. l had to think all that was
good for me about the duty Of each day. and at
night | was too tired to do anything but sleep
| don't say ! was not tempted to quit but two
considerations came promptly to aid my de-
termination my promise to my mother and
my prde.
All this timo Mr.. Scott. who was hmseI, Il
self made man in tho best sense Of that term.
and who had lived a life Of constant occura-
ticn since he grew up in the vicinity OF Cham.
hersburg. had kept his eyes on me in the shop.
although | saw him but seldom. BY and by
began to forget how it was that ! came there.
| know that | never received n favor or iuIUl-
gence on account of the auspices under which
! had entered my apprenticeship. Larry IN
March. 1850. we heard that Mr.. Scott had been
made Wee Iresidunt OF tho p9nnsylvauia Rail-
road. There was u great dcal OF talk In tho
shops about this. and for one felt natural
pride IN his promotion, hut did not suppose
that his elevation ,wCu d make any difference
in my station. went on working in the shops
every day and going to bed tired every nj ght.