Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1903-02-13

.nougnts and the bad weather. nc must |
study faithfully every inch Of the track.
He must do this, not spasmodically or oc- |
casionally, but night after night year
after year. There is no applause from the
public or from newspapers to make MIN |
enthusiastic. Only the sense of duty
keeps him going. II he neglects one loose
fishplate. the rails may spread. the train
be thrown down an embankment and
scores of lives lost This man used to be
paid about $110 day. He is better paid
now, in some cases. thanks to the efforts
Of labor unions. But when ne gets old.
when his sight fails, when rheumatism
follows too much exposure to rain and
sleet his track walking days are over,
and on the very day that he stops walk
Ing his tracks he stops earning dollar.
The man who does his duty as sentinel
or in battle or on the deck of ship can
at least reflect that pension Will go to
his wife and his children If he loses his
afe and that pension will come to him
when he Is old.
But the track walker on his rounds, the
railroad engineer sitting in his cab, the
switchman in the signal tower needing
his complicated orders-all of these have
no pleasant thoughts of secure old age
as they work in isolation throughout the
night. There is none Of the cheering or
glory that makes the military life at.
tractive. There Is only small salary.
sufficient for the day, and no certainty
that 1t will last.
your life in the keeping of the engineer,
the track walker the man in the switch
tower. Are not these men savers of life
in true sense? Should not pensions
make their old age secure against want?
Merely from the point of view of sordid
~aNI{ ~ hNrn 70 h inNt rrv
pension system, to give these men peace
Of mind rs regards the future?
Here is the short story Of an engineer:
He was the greatest engineer on one OF
the greatest railroads. If anybody should
be interested in him. his name and ad,
the fastest trains on the line, He was
sober, intelligent, absolutely reliable. He
had never had an accident,
A change was made in the management
Of the railroad. and the old employees
were submitted to certain tests as regards
color blindness. This engineer was found
deficient In his recognition Of colors. He
knew his road and his work SO we'll that
he had been able to carry his people in
safety, but the fact was established that
he was not perfect in eyesight. Although
he was in his prime, he had to go.
OF course it was right that this engineer
should no longer run q fast train, but was
hours notice after he had worked faith
fully for the company for twenty years?
He was thrown aside as the carpenter
throws aside defective nail or the Wheel
wright defective spoke.
paid off and discharged" That was
the short story of the man who for twen-
ty years had worked faithfully and, with
millions of lives contided to his care dur
ing that time had never had an accident.
No other road would employ him, of
course; n9 other road could employ him.
With his wages he had raised and edu-
Gated family and helped those less well
off than himself. He drew his pay;
washed the oil off his hands and started
out to find work as laborer. Fortunate.
i fy some man took pity on him, and now,
in Newark, n. j., he is managing little
stationary engine af three or four horse:
power at wages Of which ysN can imagine
+, the smallness
Is It right that q man who has done his
duty as a goed citizen, high class en-
gineer. a sober, reliable man, should be
/ compelled to rely on pity In his old age7
| If man contributes to the country all
the honest work that is in him. should not
| some arrangement be made to let him at
| least die in a leisurely manner, free from
| want?
| The old track walker in the picture
swings his lantern and saves the train
and its passengers from rushing to de-
ptruction via washed out track II
S1s s B A hsxs gay ana b1e aaI
bsdv sha a,t a,s only hope VIII n soR some
Going through the country occasionally
In winter yeu have aeeR a Po9r old half
starved horse turned out on the roadside
to die. As you see him dejectedly eating
| the withered grass, with his thin ribs
sticking out. his eye hollow and bright
| with the fever of hunger, how do you feel
| toward the man that turned him adrift
after using up al the strength Of his
youth7
How ought we to feel toward the corr
porations that turn adrift hundreds Of
men every year? Their case is worse
than that Of the starving horse on the
| roadside. Their misery lasts longer, and
| their minds. realizing injustice, int1ict ex-
ira suffering upon them.
| 1t may be said to the honor of certain
corporations that they have begun to In
| stitute systems Of pensions.
| But these things should not be left to
| whim or to feeling of pity.
The nations great highways, the rail-
| roads, should be owned and managed by
the. government With government own
| ersnis the. faithful man would be fairly
ps stsr q p sS ~ y9ls aaa a g.
right.
incapable.
The Republicans have forty-hve ma.
| jority in the present house OF repre-.
sentatives and they have the Reed
rules, which have been exploited as a
code which enables the house to do
business" Nevertheless and notwith-
StapJjpg for two hours on Friday, Jan.
80, they Could met muster a quorum,
and business was alta standstill. Why
! don't they keep their members here to
| attend to their duties?
II ( III