Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1901-02-15
RAILROAD SPOILERS,
THE SECRET SERVICE THAT ONE BIG
SYSTEM MAINTAINS.

Memhass of 1t in Every Department..
From Yardmen Up-Curious Conn
p~lications When spotters Unknown
to One Another Cross Lines.
"Probably the most perfect spotter
system achieved by any private cor
poration," says S. III. Adams in AIMS
lees, 'is that of one of the big eastern
railroads, which is to some extent
modelled on the secret service system
of some Of the eastern governments,
though by no means SO complex. <s
$50 .~farreaching. and so direct, how
ever, are its lines Of communication
that the president of the organization
is himself kept constantly informed
Of the trend Of affairs and the changes
Of sentiment among the employees of
every division and subdivision Of the.
whole railway system. and that with
out the knowledge of any other persons
but his WI special corps of clerks
and secretaries.
"Nobody but himself knows the en-
tire personnel Of the wonderful service
that he has perfected. : His agents are
drawn from every branch Of the roads
operating staff. They are engineers,
freight brakemen, passenger trainmen,
conductors, signalmen, yardmen, sta
ton agents, track walkers and even
division officials. Should that road
have a strickland strikes are far less
likely to occur than they were before
the present system was put into op-
eration-the president will have de-
tailed warnings Of it from all the
storm centers long before the first NUT
terings find cautious utterance In the
newspapers. - -. h
"While it also acts as a defense
against thefts by employees, this sys-
TEN is intended primarily to prepare,
so to speak, a diary Of the disposition,
character, working efficiency and senti-
ments toward the road of the men. who
constitute the vast human machinery
of the corporation. The feeling which
eliminates in a general strike is not
the result of one act alone, but a slow
growth made up Of many grievances,
real or fancied. ~
ITO keep track Of the shifting mental
attitude of his employees is the aim of
this railroad president. If a certain
division superintendent has made him.
self unpopular, with his subordinates,
information to that effect comes 'fby
underground wire to the central office,
and the matter is taken under advise
ment. II the newest fireman on the
road attempts to stir up discomfort by
infiammatory talk, his views soon
reach the official ear. Every leading
spirit in the employees organization is
known to the president, who also
knows. whether, In a S of trouble, the
man is. to be reckoned upon as a CON
sentative or radical
"Sometimes this works out the mans
career in a manner quite Incompetent.
sible to him. For instance, Night
Waterman Brown is shifted without
cause that he can fathom from one di.
vision to another. Z How should he
know that rumors of trouble in that di.
vision have reached the presidential ca
and that he himself, being down in the
presidents little book as a speaker OF
weight and a counselor of conserva.
tive methods, has been shifted over te
act as unconscious agent in checking &
dangerous tendency? NJ FIX
"Some of the admiring coworkers o1
the head Of this system declare that II
two minutes reference to his collected
funds Of information he can unroll the
family history Of the woman whs
washes the windows of car No. 41144X
and tell whether. in her estimation, hi
himself is an oppressor-of the down
trodden or a perfect gentleman. S#.
where SO many invisible lines radi
ate from the same office, it is Inevitably
that some of them should cross. Curl
complications result from contac
between spoilers as unknown to eacl
other as they are to those whom the,
watch. za74.4
"Several years ago at a time Of gen