Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1901-12-07
TRAINING GRIPMEN.
BREAKING IN CouNTRYMEN FOR CITY
RAILWAY SERVICE.


Attention and Plenty of Nerve.
where do the gripmen come from?"
strong armed, blue uniformed en-
ployee of the Washington and George
town railway was asked last night as he
left his car at the end of the route for a
cup of coffee and sandwich in the all
night restaurant.
why, from the country, most of
them. These fellows who are raised on
cigarettes and beer in the city don't
seem to have the muscle necessary to
throw on the brake and stop the train
on down grade. Then again country
man is mighty careful about going
through the streets. He's afraid that ev-
cry man he sees step off the pavement is
going to be run over, and he is absolute
~ certain that every team that comes
out from a cross street is going TO collide
with him. 1t takes him about two
years to get over this fear, and then, as
he becomes a little careless, he has few
accidents that smash up tenders and take
the paint off the coaches, and then he
gets fired, and the road is ready to break
in another countryman.
"How do they break them in?'
well, they are mighty careful with
them. A new man on the grip is about
the worst scared object in the world.
Talk about your condemned man being
scared when he's walking out to be
hanged-why, his sensations amt in it
with the man who's running a grip car
for the first time. To be sure, an expert
enced gripman is ON the car right be-
side him, ready TO throw on the brakes
and sound the lookout bell. But be-
tween the grip, and the wheel brake,
and the track brake, and the go ahead
and stop signals, and the look out
bells, and the people jumping on and off
the grip car, your new gripEan just gets
seasick. They say they don't mind it,
but they're talking through their bon
nets, that's all Then, another thing,
the way they throw ON the brake yanks
their arms out of joint and makes 'em
good and sore, l tell you.
There's something funny about
braking up grip car. 1 came from the
country to my job, but wasn't always
plowboy. When Twas young fellow,
used to work in a country printing Of
fee, and used to have to run Washing
ton hand press. Ever run Washington
hand press-you're in the newspaper
business? What Never run one? Well,
then, can't tell you anything about it,
except that if you don't know the trick
you can't throw 'er over and get an i'm
preston no more than a rabbit. You
may have muscle like blacksmith,
but if you don't know the knack you
can't pull the lever over, but if you are
on to the trick, and don't weigh more'n
90 pounds, you can throw her around
just like lightning and make 600 i'm
pressions an hour-that is, if you've got
good devil to do your linking.
'tWell, as 1 was saying, that's just
like braking up a grip car. Some big
fellows weighing 200 pounds, with mus
cles ON them like Fitzsimmons, 60 out
ON one of these grips with two coaches
behind 'em, and the way they brake FER
up makes all the passengers think they
have gone to sea. Then little fellow,
who don't look heavy enough to handle
team of mules attached to a sulky
pillow, gets a job ON the road, and he
grabs that old grip like drum major
throwing a baton, and he'll get the
knack of the thing right quick, and when
he brakes 'er up the passengers think
that the first waltz at the Charity ball
is just starting
'But while he may he throwing ON
the brakes all right he's kind of off his
pins when it comes to hearing the two
bells for go ahead. You see, a new man
can't do everything at once. Takes
about week to get the shiver off, and
during that time a regular gripman runs
with the new man, keeping sharp look
out. Then the new man, after his week,
goes to the superintendent and has to
pass AN examination. They ask him all
about the signals, and where other cars
cross, and where the dead men are
dead mans block You strike if you
don't let go the cable where you have
to, and if You ever strike dead man
your jobs gone, no ifs and ands about
it-and all about the street and so ON.
Well, if the new man passes the exami-
nation, he puts up $40, and they give
him a certificate, and he can go and put
that up for uniform and an overcoat,
and there you arches a gripman, ready
for 30 degrees below zero and 100 de-
grees above zero and his little old 81 a
day.
"The company's breaking in six new
gripmen on the Fourteenth street line
right now. Two of the old men died
and a couple quit. Each line always
keeps about dozen extra gripmen ON
hand ready for an emergency, SO they're
breaking in these new ones. One of the
new boys had an accident at Ninth and
the avenue the other afternoon. Ran
into an Anacostia bobtail car. By gin
ger, thought he was going to knock
the thing clear TO the Good Hope hill,
but he didn't. Scared? Well, the pas
sengers ON the bobtail wasn't half as
scared as he was. He could hardly get
off the grip to pick mp the pieces of the
fender. He thought he was as good as
fired, but the company never said moth
ing. Guess they thought they was lucky
to get off with as little damage. And
besides an accident right at the start
makes a Rripman extra careful for all
the rest of the time "-Wasbington