Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1902-04-02
FOOLS SEEN FROM THE CAB.
A Locomotive Engineer Mentions
Several Varieties of Them.

FOOLS SEEN FROM THE CAB.
A Locomotive Engineer Mentions
Several Varieties of Them.
The other day I round locomotive
engineer sitting on pile OF ties near
his great Rodman engine, which was
steamed up ready to make a dash
across the country. I told him 1 want
ed some facts connected with his long
experience as a runner. WELL re-
piled the engineer, "if you could see
with my eyes the things that 1 have
seen throughout thirty years of run
ming an engine, you would wonder why
our asylums are not oversupplied with
inmates. A man will come driving
along toward railroad crossing. One
of the inmates Of the vehicle will see
the train and call the drivers atten-
ton to it. The driver will then whip
his team into a run, cross the track
Just ahead of the train, and then stop
and watch US pass by. They simply
take desperate chances to cross ahead
of us, while if he had driven along at
the rate he was going when he first
saw the train, we would have gotten
out of their way before they would
have reached she crossing. This thing
happens many times in month, and
causes more accidents than you would
imagine. 1t Is no use to try to make
Jury believe that it was the fault Of
the teamster, of course.
when women and children are
about to cross ahead of us, we are
scared every time. The woman Will
stop a few feet from the track and
turn around to watch us approach;
she will forget all about her smaller
children and while she watches US
come along, the little fellows walk
right along and on to the track. Nine
times out Of ten where children accom-
panying their parents are killed by the
cars at crossings, it is because the
parents were watching the train In
stead Of the children.
we have to deal is the idiot who will
try to stay on the track as long as pos
sible. He will pretend that he does
not hear the train, and Of course we
know that he does. Just as we get
right on him, he will jump to one side
and laugh. I never see this done with
out a wish coming in my heart that the
simpleton had fallens and lost a
leg. We kill a great many pedestrians
throughout the railroad world just
from this one cause. So many idiots
will treat us that way, and we make
many sudden stops, only to be laughed
at by the pinhead who has done It,
that we finally conclude to pay no at
tention to it, and then some unfortu-
nate creature pays the panalty for all
their foolishness. OF course the vii
layers say that engineer on engine So
and-so was the cause Of old Mr.. So
and-So being killed on the track near
town, when the real cause OIL it has
been that a number of their smart
young men and women have been con-
tinually doing just as the old man was
at the time he was caught. Instead OF
different legislatures spending their
breath framing laws to make rail-
road pay for pig they kill, 1t would be
better sense to pass laws making 1t a
penitentiary offence for person know
ingly to remain on the track as near
as 1000 feet to an approaching train.
Another kind Of a fool is that one
who will get out of his wagon as the
train approaches, leave his wife to
hold the lines, while he gets as close
to the train as possible in order to get
better look at it. This is almost a
daily occurrence, and while the team
becomes unmanageable and runs of
with the wagon and family, the fool
husband waves his hand to every man
in sight on the train, only to look
around after the train has passed, to
see his children scattered over the sage
brush. I know a rushing train, as 1T
dashes over the country must be a
|
but a look at 1t does not pay for a
runaway team with a mans family In
| it.
| II said a little while ago that the
biggest fool was the one who would
stay on the track as long as possible,
but I don't believe he is any worse
than that one who will pretend to you
that there is something serious ahead
of YOU He will point down the track
and make all sorts of knowing ges-
lures and signs. He pretends that
there is a horse in culvert, bridge
gone or something like that. OF course
our training is such that all matters of
that kind must be pondered over in a
moments time. We are compelled to
consider it, and the fool by the track
may be giving it just at time when
something critical is being considered
in matters of our meeting orders.
Many wreck is caused primarily
from this source, and while the engi-
neer gets discharged for the wreck
which has cost several lives, perhaps
the real cause Of it was the unneces-
sary and lying signal given by the idiot
near the track. OF course we do not
see anything 100 leet from the right Of
way, but then these smart idiots stand
right near and give their signs. After
awhile so many like this deceive us
that it is like the boy who was looking
after the sheep. When the cry Of the
wolf comes in earnest we pay no at
tention to it.
Another idiot that is pretty plenti
full is the one who puts things on the