The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1901-02-22
HOURSOF AGONY
AN OLD RAILROAD MANS STORY OF
A BLuNDER HE MADE.

How he Felt While waiting For the
News of the Disaster He Believed
to BE Inevitable ON Account Of His
own Carelessness.
"It Is very easy to get into the wrong
department Of a railroad" said one of
group of railroad men In the hotel lobby,
a portly man with hair that was snowy
white. 81 made that mistake In the very
beginning of my career; went into the
operating department, and 1t required one
Of the severest lessons of my life to teach
me that didn't belong there. Let me tell
you about it. The first position Of impor-
lance that ever held on a railroad was
as q dispatcher on one Of the western
roads, In the hottest country the sun
shines upon in this hemisphere today. It
happened in Arizona. The heat was so
intense that to sleep was utterly impossi-
BILE until nature became exhausted. Dur
ing the day the thermometer frequently
registered 120, and l remember how We
used to hold a lighted cigar under the in
strument just as the overland passenger
train pulled in at noon with tourists al
most Frustrated. And many a hearty
laugh we had, too, as they gazed wonder
ingly at the thermometer with the mer.
curry up to the highest point, after which
they would send scores Of kilograms to
friends in the east describing the heat.
II was working what we called the
third trick from midnight to o'clock
in the morning. Our Office controlled
nearly 500 miles of track. We had three
mountain ranges on our division, and ev-
cry railroad man knows what that means
to a dispatcher. 1t was necessary to split
all our freight trains into several sections
to cross these mountains, and as we had
only few telegraph offices, and those
we did have were far apart, we had to
do some pretty close figuring to prevent
delay of trains. This sort Of work Is
sufficiently trying in a cool climate. In
land where every one was constantly on
the verge of collapse 1t was rendered dou-
bly, hard.
Zone night in August went on duty,
as usual at midnight and received the
transfer Of everything on the division.
We opened a new train sheet at II
o'clock, and after checking of with Q
blue pencil all the trains that had reach
ed their destination I placed this new
sheet over that used the previous day.
There was an order on the hook to run
a regular west bound water train ahead
of time for point at about the middle
of the division, and at o'clock I started
it out. I must have been half asleep
when I gave that order to the operator,
for neglected to do what every dis
patcher does, what had done always
before issuing running orders-I failed to
look at the old train sheet. Had done
SO I might still be a dispatcher instead
of general manager. Now, all Of you
know that a train running ahead Of time
has the rights of an extra only. Ten
minutes after receiving the report Of the
departure of that water train glanced
at the old sheet. What I saw sent the
blood to my head with q rush, and I
dropped back In my chair helpless, for
away up in one corner Of the sheet saw
that an extra was coming east. / had
sense enough left to call up the station
from which the water train had just de-
parted, In the hope that It might have
fingered in the yard and might still be
stopped by the switchman. But It was
too late. What could dot There was
not another night Office on that part Of
the division, and two trains were rushing
toward each other with nothing to warn
them Of the wreck that knew must oc-
cur.
"I have heard Of mems hair turning
white in a single night, and have read
of others being driven mad under condi-
tons more favorable than those through
which lived for two hours that August
night. For 120 minutes 1 lived over ev-
cry smallest detail of my life. I followed
those trains mentally over every inch OF
the division. 1 knew just about where
they must come together. 1t would oc-
cur on a sharp curve where neither
would see the other until it would be
10 cfN II thn
on the faces of the engineers and the
fremen as they caught one fash Of the
headlights and then came the crash, the
escaping steam, the grinding and creak-
ing of broken timbers. But over all I
heard the cries and groans Of injured
men, and every one Of them was friend
of mine.
''For two hours I was obliged to con-
tinue sending orders to 40 or so trains on
other parts of the road, and all the time
/ was waiting for the message that
would contain the details Of the collision.
l tell you. gentlemen"-here the white
haired man rose to his feet, stirred by the
recollection-"I wouldn't live that night
over again for all the world. I couldn't
tell you in an hour of all the thoughts
that crowded to my mind as worked
and waited. Nearly all the men compos-
ing the crews on those two trains were
married. l knew their wives and chill
dren. 1 had grown up among them, and
before the break Of day.. thought, they
would be widows and orphans, and IL
should never dare to look them in the
face again. Perhaps the law would pun
ish me. Here the idea occurred to me
that I must escape. 1t didn't matter
where / went. wanted only to 90
where should not be seen by those who
knew of my criminal carelessness. About
o'clock I had figured that in a few mo-
ments should know the worst. By that
time was no longer fit to handle trains,
and, although l had said no word to my
call boy, he knew that something was
wrong and without consulting me awoke
the chief dispatcher. I remembered see
ing Johnny come into the Office. Then, !
may as well confess it, lay down on the
counter, or some one put me there. The
next thing 1 knew was that water was
being dashed into my face, and the chief
was saying: Come, old man, it's all right.
They didn't hit; they met at Ludlow.
The climax was dramatic. Every man
. In the party sat bolt upright to catch the
last sentences, for the voice Of the gen.
eral manager was husky with emotion.
81 never sent another train order in my
life. I never shall. That" said the
speaker as he arose and motioned to the
clerk for his key, twas how ran trains
and allowed them to arrange their own
meeting point. But, then, as stated In
the beginning, it happened in Arizona,
the hottest land under the sur" kan
An Easier Thing.
I'll think I must have made a mis-
take" said the man who stood in the door
of the dental parlors and looked about
him.
perhaps so," replied the dentist, who
was sharpening up gum cutting lancet.
"My wife. you know, has been teasing
me for the last FIVE years to get my pho
tograph taken, and this morning l finally
set out to have it done"
"a nd got in the wrong Shon." said the