Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-02-20
ROCK ISLAND OPERATORS ARE
UNDER THE CONTROL OF A
SIGNAL DEPARTMENT.
Old Rule Books With Mass Of Regula-
tlons to be AboIished-lmportant
Changes in Burlington Relief Depart
ment-Rairoad Notes.

way. The latest thing In the way OF
operating trains comes in the form of
an order to abolish all the old rule
books with their mass Of regulations
for the guidance of the employees Of
the system in the place of which a
new manual will be used, which will
be complete and will consist of such
rules as will be absolutely necessary
In the operation of trains.
Too many rules have been the bane
Of existence of the trainmen or other
employees in the employ of the Rock
Island for the reason that, since the
establishment of the system, there has
been a constant addition of new regu-
lations from year to year until the
members of train crews have become
/ lost in a maze of orders instead of be-
! ing able to commit to memory few
which should be Of value to them.
The road has been in existence for a
period of about thirty-five years and in
that time the mass of rules has grown
necessarily to this day, with the re-
suit that volumes could not contain a
lot of information to the trainmen and
operators.
Caused Confusion.
| New rules have been added and in
terpretations made until the original
rules have been lost sight of to the
confusion Of those who are to be guild
ed by their reading. All of these are
to be thrown into the waste basket
and new set adopted which are now
universally known as the standard
code because of their general use by
=, of
Grafton Of trains will be greatly sim
plified by the use of the code, and to
this end the Rock Island road is said
to be striving In order that in opera
ton Of trains as well as in every other
department the service will be COM
plete and the danger of wrecks lessen
ed.
To great many Of the old timers in
| the employ Of the Rock Island system
| the adoption of a new set Of rules will
mean a great hardship as the old ones
will have to be forgotten entirely,
and the new ones brought out more
strongly to the fore. This will not sbe
as hard with the younger class of
trainmen as the old rules will be
eliminated and such ones as will apply
to the operation under the new code
studied. The rules of the standard
code are not all found in the present
book of the Rock Island and these will
need to be supplied, but in the end
it is thought that the result will be
satisfactory.
Change Monday.
| On Monday one Of the most import
ant changes in the operations Of trains
was brought about when the train op-
orators of the Rock Island system
were placed under control of the sig
nal department. instead of the tele-
graph department under which they
have heretofore been controlled. The
| signal department is comparatively
new one and is recommended under
the provisions of the standard code,
and is designed to prevent wrecks by
the use of superior method Of sig
Mailing and dispatching trains. All
operators in the employ of the COM
pany are thus taken from under the or
ders of the telegraph department
where double duties are put upon
them and placed where the greatest of
care will be given the prevention of
1 disasters and greater efficiency gain
ed in the operation of all trains on the
system These changes will cause an
entire Encouragement of the system
before working order is secured
throughout
Superintendent Meet.
\ Several meetings have been held by
the general superintendent of the
system with regard to these changes
and the officers of the company have
been working industriously to effect
the adoption of the standard code with
as little difficulty as possible. The
| entire work is in the hands of ]. O.
Crockett assistant to the general man
ager. Mr.. Crockett has stated that
there will be no change in the rules of
the company in regard to discipline
and the general conduct of the en-
ployes, but that all these will be in
corporated in the new rules of the
4 company.
The operators of the system will be
| the first to feel the force of the
changes. as they will be affected at
once. The train men will not be
obliged to make the changes in rules
| of operation until the final plans are
perfected, which will be sometime
during the present month.
Burlington Relief Changes.
The many Burlington employees in
this city who are members of the relief
department will be pleased to hear
that several important changes which
are to the advantage of the members
are to become operative March 1. The
death benefit unit is increased from
$3.50 to $500, an increase of 20 per
cent, without any additional cost to
the member. The amount paid in case
of the loss of a limb in increased s10O
for the first class and other classes in
proportion. Restriction as to travel in
foreign lands is discontinued and the
death benefits will be paid Irrespective
of the cause of death. Provisions are
also made for members taking extra
accident death policies of $500 each. a
member of the fifth or highest class
may carry ten Of these extra benefits
If he SO chooses.
| Popular Conductor Dead.
] The funeral services Of the late