Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-09-06
THE NERVE 1 of FOLEY

Written for The Evening stbff by Frank H. Spear.

| Copyright. 1900, hy Frank n. Spearman)
There had been 5unors all winter that
the engineers wersrgoing to strike. Ger
tainly we of the operating department had
warning enough. Yet HI the railroad life
there is always friction in some quarter;
the railroad man sleeps like the soldier,
with an ear alert-but just the same he
sleeps, for with waking comes duty.
Our engineers were good fellows. If they
had faults, they were American faults
rashness, a liberaIity bordering on extrav-
agance, and headstrong, violent way of
reaching conclusions-traits born of ability
and seif-confidence and developed by pros
perity.
One of the best men we had on a locomo-
tive was Andrew Cameron; at the same
time he was one of the hardest to manage,
because he was young and headstrong.
Andy, a big, powerful fellow, ran oppo-
site Felix Kennedy on the Flyer. The fast
runs require young men. If you will no.
tice, you will rarely see an old engineer on
a fast passenger run; even young man
can stand only few years of that kind of
work. High speed on a locomotive is a
question of nerve and endurance-to put
it bluntly. question of flesh and blood
You don't think much of this strike, do
you, Mr.. Reed?'' said Andy to me one
| night
Don't think there's going to be any.
Andy"
He laughed knowingly.
What actual grievance have the boys"
I asked.
1.-The troubles on the east end" he re-
piled, evasvely.
rs that any reason for calling a thou
sand men out on this end?"
''If one goes out they all co.
Would you go out?'
would 1? You bet!''
"a man with a home and a wife and a
baby boy like yours ought to have more
sense"
Getting up to leave. he laughed again
confidently. That's all right. Wen bring
you fellows to terms
Maybe" I retorted, as he closed the
door. But I hadn't the slightest idea they
would begin the attempt that night. I was
at home and sound asleep when the caller
tapped my window. I threw up the
sash; 1t was pouring rain and dark as a
pocket.
What is it, Barney? A wreck?" I ex-
claimed.
Worse than that. Everything's tied up"
What do you mean?'
THE engineers have struckr'
Struck? What time Is it?'
''Half-past three. They went out at 3
o'clock Throwing on my clothes l f1oun-
dered behind Barney's lantern to the depot
The superintendent was already in his Of
flee talking to the master mechanic.
Bulletins came in every few minutes from
various points announcing trains tied up.
Before long we began TO near from the east
end Chicago reported all engineers out :;
Omaha wired, no trains moving. When the
sun rose that morning entire system,
extending through seven states and terri
tories, was absolutely paralyzed
1t was an astounding situation but one
that must be met 1t meant either an ig-
| nominious surrender to the engineers or
fight to the death. For our part. we had
only to wait for orders. 1t was just 6
o'clock when the chief train dispatcher
VINO was tapping at a Kew. said.
Here's something from headquarters"
We crowded close around him. His pen
flew across the clip; the message was ad-
dressed to all division superintendents It
was short but at the end Of 1t he wrote a
name We rarely saw In our office. 1t was
that of a railroad rmagnate we knew as
the old man." the president Of the sys-
TEN. and his words were few:
Move the trains"
Move the trainsH repeated the superin-
tendent. Yes; but trains can't be moved
by pinch bars nor by main force"
We spent the day arguing with the strik-
ers They were friendly, but firm. Per-
suasion. entreaties. threats, we exhausted.
and ended just where we began except that
we had lost our tempers- The sun set with
out the turn of a wheel The victory Of
the first day was certainly with the strik-
ers. a. ~ s>'~ - -.
Next day 1t looked pretty blue around the
depot Not car was moved; the engi-
neers and fremen were unit. But the
wires sung hard all that day and all that
night. Just before midnight Chicago wired
that No. 1-our big passenger train. the
Denver Flyer-had started out on time.
with the superintendent of motive power as
engineer and a wiper for fireman. The
message came from the second vice presi-
dent He promised to deliver the train to
our division on time the next evening, and
he asked, Can you get it through to Den
ver?"
We looked at each other At last all
eyes gravitated toward Neighbor, our mas
ter mechanic.
The train dispatcher was waiting.
What shall 1 say?" he asked
The division chief Of the motive power
was tremendously big Irishman, with a
voice like fog horn. Without an instants
hesitation the answer came clear.
Say 'yes!'"
Every one of us started 1t was throwing
the gage Of battle. Our word had gone
out; the division was pledged; the fight
was
Next evening the strikers, through some
mysterious channel, got word that the
Flyer was expected. About o'clock
depot.
1t was after 1 o'clock when No. pulled
IN ana the foreman Of the Omaha round
house swung down from tire locomotive
CAP. The strikers clustered 'ound the en-
CINE like swarm of angry t s: but that
night though there was plenty # jeering.
there was no actual violence hen they
saw Neighbor climb into the 80 to take
the run west there was a SUI lence.
Next day committee Of 81 ,ers. with
Andy Cameron. very cavalier, q, sheir head,
called on me.
Mr.. Reed said he. officiously, we've
come to notify you not to run any more
trains through here till this strikes set
tied. The boys won't stand 1t; that's all"
With that he turned on his heel to leave
with his following
Hold on, Cameron" I replied. raising
my hand as 1 spoke; chats not quite all.
suppose you men represent your griev-
anee committee?'
Yes, SIR
Il happen to represent, in the superfn-
tendents absence, the management OF this
road. l simply want to say to you. and to
your committee. that I take my orders
from the president and the general man.
ager-not from you nor anybody you rep
resent. That's all"
Every hour the bitterness increased. We
got few trains through, but We were ter
ribly crippled. AS for freight, we made no
pretence of moving it. Train loads Of fruit
and meat rotted in the yards. The strik-
ers grew more turbulent daily. They beat
our new men, and crippled our locomotives.
Then our troubles with the new men were
almost as bad. Theyabnrned out our crown
sheets; they got mixed mp on orders all the
time. They ran int9npeE switches and into
each other copfJu, had ,Js verx