Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-01-14

piece of machinery as a locomotive. Also
and despite the fact that his character was
reported good or excellent when he was ex-
amined for fireman, the inquistor does not
take it for granted that the mans char
acter is still all that it should be for pur-
poses of railrOading. but once more infor-
nation as to his habits is carefully collect
ed If he has developed tendency to drink
in the meantime, goodbye all chances to
sit on the right-hand side of the cab. But
if in all his private acts he has been as ex-
emplary as his ability to pass the various
other ordealS has been well nigh perfect he
realizes his ambition, and one day. after
he has pulled freights for seemingly I'M
considerable long time and made runs on
accommodations, he is told off to take out
1.-THE 5 40 express. and his happiness Is COM
pIete, until the evil day when he is ordered
to appear before the examiner again
For Variety of Reasons.
He may be called up for supplementary
examination for a variety of reasons. He
has just recovered from a spell of sickness;
before lie can run an engine again he must
have mis- eyes tested, for sickness often i'm
pairs the vision. He disregards a certain
signal on the division; if there is doubt as
to his ability to distinguish the colors.
straight before the examiner he goes; and
if his color sense is all right, and he pro-
fesses ignorance of the signal and its mean
ing his previous answer to the question
framed about this very signal is produced
for his benefit and confounding.
OR perhaps the eng1nemanS name IS IN
cluded in the lists of the classes continually
being made UP for examination by the SUI
perint endent. Or he has been an engine
man three years, then, perforce, he must
undergo the whole batch OF ordeals again,
for nearly every road mas an lronclau rune
tina. once every three years every employe
that has to do with the running OF trains
must take the examinations.
Let an engineman fail in the vision test
let him fail to distinguish objects at a dis
lance say; let him call the color of red
by any other name; let him fall below the
standard in any respect and the yard en-
eine-if the defect is not too serious-and
the pumping stations are ms portions.
Never again will he take out the 5:45 ex-
press Never again, as he leans out OF the
cab window at Jimtown Junction, where
the train makes connection with the Soutn,
will he be the awe, the admiration, the
;dni of the bucolic youngsters who daily
flock stationward about train time. HIS
place will be filled by an engineman per-
hans eighty years old, for not lnfrequently
a Younger mans eyes give out first A
certain well-known railroad in the east
has a score or more of enginemen past
sfxty-five years whose eyes are IN no wise
dimmed by age, and have been marked
perfect on the records every time their
owners have come up for examination.
Every employee of the average railroad
who has anything to do with the running
of trains Is given examinations. similar TO
those already described, from time to time
The conductor, for example. is graduate
brakeman and, besides being conversant
9TH signals, etc, must know the train
lies and the tickets. He is permitted to
wear glasses if his eyesight at any time
fails below standard, and glasses can
remedy the defect. But as for the engine
man his vision must be of the brand called
nerfect: and that's why neither you nor l
can recall having ever seen a man who
wore glasses enthroned on the risht-hand
side of the locomotive cab.