The Wahpeton times. [volume] (Wahpeton, Richland County, Dakota [N.D.]) 1879-1919, 1901-02-21
RAILROAD SPOTTERS,
THE SECRET SERVICE THAI ONE GIG
SYSTEM MAINTAINS.

THE SECRET SERVICE THAI ONE GIG
SYSTEM EiAiNTA,N5.
Members of 1t In Every Department
From lnrsln,cn Up-Curioux Come
plications When spottcrs Unknown
to One Another Cross Lines.
"rrobably the most perfect spottcr
system achieved ly any private COR
poration," says S. II. 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.
$50 farreachins aud so direct, how
ever. are It's lines of communication
that the president of the organization
Is himself kept constantly Informed
Of the trend Of affairs and the changes
Of sentiment amcag the employees of
every division and subdivision of the
whole railway system. and that with.
out the knowledge Of any o,hei: persons
EAt his own special corps of clerks
and secretaries.
"NoI,ody hut 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 tr.f3Emc1,
conductors. signalmen. yardmcn. sta.
tion 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.
eratlonthe president will have de-
tailed warnings of it from all the
storm centcrS long before the first NUT
tcrings find cautious uttcrance in the
newspapers. -
aeailfsf>risc f,s by rnployGdaesIh sys-
tenn is offended primarily to prepare.
otO speak. !! diary Of the disposition.
character, working efficiency and srHti-
ments toward the road of the men who
constitute the vast human machinery
CT til" corporation. The feeling which
| eliminates in 4 general strike is not
the rr*ul: Of one act alone. but n slow
growth made up OF many grievances.
| real or fancird
'rn keep track Of the shifting mental
attitude of his employees is the aim Of
this railroad president. If Il ccrtai1
division superintendent has made him.
self unpopular with his subortlinatcs,
Information to that effect comes by
underground wire to the central office,
and the matter is taken under advise
mcnt. lf the newest fireman on the
road attempts TO stir up discomfort by
fntlanlnlat0ry talk. his views soon
reach the Official 'e;r..-~Every leading
spirit in the employees organization is
known to the president. who also
knows whether, in ease of trouble. the
man is to be reckoncd upon as IL con-
scrvative or a RADICAL
Sometimes his wSyks out the mans
career in manner quite c1incompfehcn
s!bc o.sl,inl. For instance. Night
! Watchln4n Brown is shifted without
cau'~'-rhaF1aai gan fatbop from one d.
vision to another. How should Ii,
know that rumors Of trouble In that di-
vision have reached the presidential car
and that he himself. being down in the
|. presidents little book as speaker of
Isweiglt and counselor of conserva.
tive methods. has been shifted over to
act as unconscious agent in checking
dangerous tendency!
"Sone of the admiring coworkers of
the head Of this system declare that in
two minutes reference to his collected
funds of information lie can unroll the
family history Of the woman who
washes the windows Of car No. Ajax
and tell whether. in her estimation. he
himself is an oppressor OF the down
trodden or perfect gentleman.
"Whcre SO many invisible lines radi-
ate from the same ShcS& is incvitab ablc
that some of them ARpuld cross. Curl
Gus complications result from contact
between spoilers as unknown to each
other as they are to those whom they
watch.
"Several years ago at time Of gen
eral labor troubles certain railroad
got no less than five reports from its
confidential men informing them that
an empiOyc" who was several degrees
higher in the secret service Of the road
than any of them. had they but known
1t, had been making inccndiary speech
es.
"Ths was true. Matters had so
shaped themselves that the man ac-
cused had to appear as radical in or
| der to gain admittance to inner coun-
ellis where the important questions
would he finally decided. To the cha
I grin Of the authorities they were oblig-
cd to transfer him. Had they not done
/ 80 the suspicious of the men who make
+ the reports would have been ard ked.
That spoilers should know each dkher
as such is held to be highly undeSira.
ble. There Is always the chance that
they might work in conjunction instead
of acting as checks on each other"
y d