Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1904-12-27
STONE VISITS HERE.
HIGH OFFICIAL OF 3. OF L. E. TO
SPEND CHRISTMAS WITH
RELATIVES AT AGENCY.

81
RELATIVES AT AGENCY.
Grand Chief Engineer, Accompanied
BY Mrs. Stone, Spent a Short Time
In City Yesterday-spoke Recently
In Gallon, Ohio.
From Saturdays Daily.
My visit to this city is Of no special
significance. Mrs. Stone and myself
having come here to spend few hours
with Mr.. and Mrs Charles D. Fullen,
preparatory to leaving tonight on No.
4 for Agency, where we will spend
Christmas with Mrs. Stones parents.
Mr.. and Mrs. L. F. Newell" said War
rem s.. Stone, Of Cleveland, Ohio, for
merly of Eldon, as he alighted from
Burlington No. 13 yesterday afternoon,
Mr.. Stone, Is grand chief engineer
Of the Brotherhood Of Locomotive En-
gineers When asked In regard to the
present differences between the Bur
1ington and its trainmen, concerning
shorter hours and less tonnage, Mr..
Stone professed ignorance, and added
when the situation was explained to
him, that he felt sure the matter could
and would be adjusted to the satisfac-
ton of all concerned.
Mr.. Stone just recently attended the
fortieth anniversary Of Division No. 16,
B. of l.. e. in Gallon, Ohio, where he
delivered an address on "The Old Or
der Changeth, Giving Place Unto the
New" He spoke enthusiastically Of
the meeting in Gallon.
MIR. Stones Address.
The following extract of Mr. Stones
address before Division No. 16, B. of L.
3. In Gallon will be Of interest to the
many members Of the organization in
this city!
Mr.. Stone spoke in part as follows:
1T is fitting tina. on an occasion like
this. the celebrating Of the fortieth
anniversary, that our remarks In part
at least, should be retrospective. We
can hardly realize in glancing at the
past, SO swiftly are the changes taking
place. that instead Of doing so for CEN
turtles, we are only looking back one
generation. There are many men liv-
ing and perhaps in the sound of my
voice tonight, who can remember the
white topped prairie schooners,' and
the great overland journey by OK.
carts and mule teams to California,
that required six months to make and
the route was marked by the bones Of
persisted explorers who either per.
ished from thirst or exposure, or else
had met death at the hands Of the In
dams. Senator Smoot told our party
in Salt Lake City that his mother
walked every step of the way from
Council Bluffs to Salt Lake City, Utah
and pulled fand-cart and that some
where along the trail either In western
only sister died from exposure and
sleeps there in an unknown grave.
There are men still living who can
remember when the hardy frontier
man was fighting Indians in the Mis-
sissippi valley So swiftly have the
changes come in recent years
and so closely has the railroad
builder followed on the heels Of the
explorer that it is difficult to realize
the magnitude of the transformation
achieved. Today journey across
our continent is only pleasant trip
of less than week, and in Aug. 1903,H.
P. Lowe in an emergency travelled
from New York to Los Angeles, 3,241
miles in seventy-three hours and and
twenty-one minutes.
mo nation can develop and pros
per without means of transportation
for Its products, and SO demands for
railroads was only the natural out
come of the events, and perhaps no
other one thing has done SO much to
place our country in the front rank of
the worlds greatest powers as our
railroads. With the railroads came a
demand for skilled workmen Of new
class to operate them, and SO the rail-
road engineer came to view, little
dreaming of the prominent part he
was to play in the years to come
In my opinion there is no more re-
sponsible calling than that of loco
motive engineer. You go down to the
depot and go to bed in your Pullman
with as little thought or care as if
you were in your own home. and the
night express pulls out of the depot,
with it's load of humanity and goes
flying into the night Did you ever
think of the load of responsibility that
engineer carries on his shoulders? Oh,
well, they say, he is paid big money
for 1t. When you consider the risks
he takes and the loads he carries l
say to you frankly, no engineer is
paid one-half enough.
The question of labor, like the
poor, we have always with us Other
questions come and go, but the ques-
ton Of labor and wages is always one
of the paramount questions before the
public. and probably always will be
while time shall last Labor unions
like empires, arise and fall, but the Ia
Dor unions of today have profitted by
the mistakes and failures of the la
Dor organizations that have existed be-
fore this time. And while we do not
claim the labor unions of today are
perfect, we do claim they are the
best the world has ever known.