The Washington times., 1901-06-30

roading. and must De a sort of jack-of-aIl-
trades He must be an expert in the sci
ence of lining up track. his eye for a
guide, Rs he fills in the low places and
reduces the high points. He must be able
to spread and distribute the gravel be-
tween the rails and put good surface
on. He has to know something about
carpenter work, for there are a whole lot
of minor repairs to be made. He must
know something of the train despatcher's
work, so that he can tell just where the
trains are, or ought to be. and how many
there are, SO that he won't have a rail
out when a train comes along. And ne
must have thorough knowledge Of all
train signals.
ffnnisan must be a landscape gardener.
so that he can trim UP the weeds and
make the station grounds look pretty. He
gets into the telegraph department be-
cause he must repair sudden breaks in
the wires, etc As the bridge carpenter
Finnigan must Keep all drift away from
the bridges and see that the waterways
are kept open. He must be, in a way. fa-
miliar with the ticket business and know
how to handle freight Besides his man
ual labor, Finnigan must be a bookkeep-
er. In his books he must keep the time
of himself and his men, the hours they
work repairing track and laying ties. the
hours spent in laying steel and iron.
ditching, ballasting. cutting weeds.
loading old rail, loading OF un-
loading ties or unders. loading or
unloading gravel. making repairs to
bridges and eulyerts. repairs to cattle
guards. fences and crossings, clearing up
a wv tFau 81 Inc fraiObt
ing. new track and work in the shop per-
formed by any of the men under his con-
troll. The track walkers report to him
and the crossing watehmen and the
switch lamplighters report to him. He
must give a report OF every articie-and
they are designated under 1Si different
heads-received and used by him each
month. In repor ing ties he gives the
initial of the car, the car number. wheth-
er the ties are first or second class, and
the number of ties. He also reports the
number of first and seeond-elass ties
taken up in month, and finally gives
the total cost of labor on his section for
the month
why is it?" I asked one of the
brightest section men / met, that you
are seldom made more than section fore
men7"
For the reason that very few have the
ability and education to do more than
have charge of a section
In other words. when a man is made
section boss. Finnigan has come to his
own. and when he is taken out of that
sphere he becomes failure. That Is why
men serve as section bosses all their
lives. If they were aale to go up higher.
the general manager would soon know
it, and would put Finnigap where he
could do the company the most good
Finnigan and his men do not accom-
plish such a great amount of work IN
day. The work is too hard. An ordinary
gang can take out and put in from sew
enty-five to one hundred ties a day, and
put down the rails, as days work. Nor
do they cut a large amount of weeds in
a day They do what they can. and not
try to hurry except when a train Is in
sight. Then they get busy, for they never
can tell what officer may be looking out
of the rear car window. When they take
an inspector oyer their section they know
how to do it. II the section is in prime
condition they plug along about four miles
an hour. If Finnigan says. Put on lit
tie elbow grease there, byes," you may
know that there are spots that he does
not want scrutinized too closely. and no
man can inspect section carefully at
thirty miles an hour.
The manner in which F'innigan secures
informa ton is surprising. If Finnigan at
Indianapolis is ION the carpet" at 2
o'clock in the afternoon, every Finnigan
between this city and Decatur knows it
before "sun-up' the next morning. Talk
about wireless telegraphy! 1t is not to be
compared with the information that Fin
ngan sends to Finnigan. and no Finnigan
will explain how it is done. Finnigans
meet at the end of their sections.
well. Jerry, how are you cutting in?"
says one.
That's all you know Finnigan knows
the rest. In the 135 miles Travelled did
not find section man who would take
drink of liquor on duty. They did not
object to soft drinks and 1 thought de-
tected a few winks as they swallowed
the pop" and lemon soda at some Itt,te
station where we stopped for refresh
mcnts. The rules require temperance and
F'innigan sees that the rule is enforced.
All railroads give prizes for the best
kept section. T.:a basis is ten and each
section boss checks UP the other section,
gives certain per cent for lining up.
policing right-of-way, surfacing, etc, and
these per cents are added and the Finni-
gan getting the best per cent is awarded
the prize.
No soldier of the legion was ever more
faithful to his eolors than is Finnigan to
his trust He will kick and find fault
and swear at the management. but all
hours of the day or night he is looking
out that there Is nothing left undone that
might cause an accident. He is always
alert. and the horror of his life is lest an
accident should happen on his section.
The majority of the section bosses make