The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1901-04-19
WOMEN ON RAILROADS
~ THE SOUTHWEST MANY HAVE Be.
CONE INVALUABLE EMPLOYEES

sometimes railroad companies de-
/ part from an rules and traditions and
make innovations that. 10 say the
least are rather startling" said an
old Kansas City railroad man in a
conversation with a rep'~ter
Its only few years since the
Southern Pacific saw the sudden col
! lapse Of what seemed a very prom:s-
ing experiment. yet now it has an
other. and in this case, too, the re-
suits so far are very satisfactory.
Ten or a dozen years ago Old
Charlie Crocker. as he was familiarly
called by almost every employe Of the
Southern Pacific as a reward for a
particularly daring and merltorioEs
act. prevailed on the directorate Of
the Southern Pacific to educate a
Young girl She had lived almost all
her life in the mountains Of New
Mexico, with almost no associates ex-
cept her father. an engineer. and his
fireman. She was a railroad girl
from top to toe. and her knowledge
of railroad craft enabled her TO avert
what would have been a most fright
ful wreck Her reward was an edu-
cation such as few girls in her station
ia life ever obtain. Everything one
Of the finest educational Institutions
m the West could do was done for her.
and at the conclusion Of the college
term she was at her own request,
given a postgraduate course in me-
chanical engineering. Her schooling
finished, she was given a position IN
the Office Of the superintendent Of mo-
tive power at a nice salary which
was looked upon by the men in the
Office as kind Of pension. 1t was
supposed that she would, in Office par
lance, hold the chair and that her
time would be occupied by purely
technical duties but the young WON.
an soon proved she was worth more
than her salary. One day, within a
year Of her graduation. she submitted
plans and specifications for a new type
of engine There were a number of
new ideas in The plans and some de
eided improvements and Ii was Just
the thing the company had been look
ing for Some Of the best mountain
passenger engines the Southern Pa.
cihc ever had were built from that
set of plans
1T was a rude shock to the mascu-
line element in that Office that the
girl should carry of the honors they
thought were safely their own. and
then they fell 20 wondering what this
phenomenal girl would do next She
did what they all do II the right man
comes along Ono day big official Of
an Eastern railrond came through the
Office. No one ever know how it hap
pened. but The bright light of the mo-
tive power staff snapped mechanics
for matrimony- An experiment with
the new woman was closed, and the
first lady mechanic was transformed
into what size is ,o-day-a very happy
wife.
"Not until q little over two years ago /
did the siaid old management take
another plunge into officially unknown
waters. Then what spanish treach-
cry raised the cry. Remember ihe |
Maine and all the patriotic instincts
of the sons Of Uncle sam were at
boiling point o. + Pease, the train
master at ella Bend. A. NJ, jumped |
ont and put his name on the muster /
RON Of the First Territory Cavalry. |
Before he left he wired his resgna-
tion ana turned the office over 70 his /
wife, who for years before her mar
riagc, had been "a telegraph operator /
on the line An her married life She I
had been doing more on less OF the /
clerical work of the office. ella Bend /
Is a little place ia the middle Of a I
long division. lonesome as only a coal /
and water station ia the Great Amcri- /
can Desert can De. and it was almost /
impossible 90 keep a clerk there for |
any length of time In the interval I
between the departure OF one clerk 4
and the arrival of his successor. Mrs. /
peasc learned all the details Of the |
office work. and. on the departure Of /
her husband, It was very handy 1
knowledge
"Just at that time the road was
rushed % its utmost capacity by the 1
enormous government business It was /
handing and every cmployc was
working overtime Mrs. Pease wired |
repeatedly that Che office was with /
out a head. but no attention was paid /
70 the communications. and meantime I
she handled the office like a veteran. /
One day the superintendent Of the az 1
vision dropped into ella Bend The /
acting trainmastcr was having an
audience with = big engineer who had /
carelcssly rum through an open switch. /
He sat, q erinning watcher while the /
dainty little woman made the engine j
man sQuiim with her scathing COM /
ment on his neglect and when she /
told the big fellow lc could take q
thirty days vacation TO improve DIS /
cycsight She superintendent was -vi- /
IDENTIFY satisfied that the A. r. ~ was /
onto her Job Before he left be told /
her that the general manager was so /
weH satisfied with ber conduct Of az /
fairs that De bad authorized her per-