The sun., 1902-01-10

familiar with the arduous and complex
character Of the duties required OF loco
motive engineers at the present timel
Probably not one In thousand. From
the moment he steps into the round
house preparatory TO taking his place
by the throttle, the engineers obliga-
tions begin. He must read and become
thoroughly familiar with the instruc-
tons, particularly II they involve his
train, TO be found on the roundhouse
blackboard II 1t is there stated that
this signal or that is out Of order or is
working imperfectly. he must bear that
fact In mind when he approaches the
signal referred to. II at any point on
the road new signals have been installed,
whose significance differs from that OF
the signals formerly employed there,
he must know precisely what to do and
what not to do when he reaches them.
IL the dispatcher orders him to look out
for extra trains here or there, the order
must be followed and, on account OF 1t,
constant vigilance must be exerted by
the engineer until he meets or passes
the trains designated. At every station
along the line he must DO on the watch
for flags m lights which may tell him to
slacken speed or to come to full stop.
Wherever there IL a side track it Is the
engineers duty to see that the switch
signal at that point denotes safety
before passing it, At night he must be
ever on the alert for emergency signals,
such as torches and torpedos, and at all
times he must be responsive to signals
from the conductor Of his train. In addi-
ton, much of his attention must be
devoted to his engine, inasmuch as any
failure on the part of a fireman properly
to perform his duties reflects directly
upon the engineer. And, obviously,
the need Of running as closely as posi-
bio on schedule time demands that
the engineer should keep a sharp eye
on his watch.
With all these and score or more
OF minor obligations resting upon him,
is 1t not greatly TO the engineers credit
that his mistakes in the course OF year
are extremely few?
But there is another phase OF the life
OF this care-laden employee which de-
serves to be brought forcibly to the
attention of those creating 1t. II any
man is entitled not only for his own
sake but in the interest of the public
to short days work, that man is
most certainly the engineer, whose
faculties are always active, and whose
nerves, in consequence, are maintained
at an abnormal tension. How are
the engineers treated on many OF the
railroads in this country, as regards
short hours? On how many roads are
they required frequently to work fifteen
and eighteen hours a day? And how
often do they remain on duty for even
twenty and twenty-five hours at stretch
without sleep and. moreover in many
instances, with little to eat? IL some Of
the firemen employed on railroads not
far from New York dared to do 80, they
could throw some very interesting
light upon this subject. More than one
engineer has, from sheer physical ex-
haustion, fallen asleep at his post while
his train rushed ahead unguided. and
only the fireman's good luck to dis
cover the fact has prevented serious
accident
Let the Railroad Commissioners in
vestig gate this state Of affairs and they
may learn something that will startle
them.