The San Francisco call., 1905-06-11

long low car SLdUOlnS near. JOAh AOc~~4
in great white letters on the side =.
X r.
This" said Frank. sis a car from the
Pennsylvania coal fields, and Is the most
murderous combination ever contrived by
corporate greed Notice the long SIX
teen-inch dead blocks faced with boiler
iron: see there. where by the force Of
impact the facing has been fractured.
bolt heads protruding an inch and
jagged splinters awaiting like sharks
teeth. When you enter the link the
blocks are less than four inches apart.
your arm between them to the elbow. one
of those splinters catches your sleeve
and then" with the side Of his hand be
struck Johns arm at the elbow.
As a strange convulsive shudder ran
through the member John replied: But
surely there is some way to avoid It Lsots
of men grow old and keep their arms In
tact"
"A very good answer replied Howe.
but they do it in this way. This car and
those of the Lehigh Valley and Delaware.
Lackawanna and Western are coupled TN
this manner: You walk with the moving
car. resting your arm over the dead
block, reach down to the link, enter 1t by
guess. then with a quick turning OF the
wrist throw your hand from between the
clashing drawheads. At night your
body and the dead blocks effectively ex-
clude the light OF your lamp Look how
the ties rest above the partially filled
surface of this track-you, perhaps. IN
driving rain or binding snow. stumbling
through the pitch dark, ahead OF the
moving car, depending upon dancing
shadows or deeper gloom to nix the ex-
act fraction of a second to snatch your
hand from the hungry jaws awaiting IL
in the hidden blackneSS. Now, some of
these cars have a hook and a three-link
chain fastened to them. and it's easier
then; all you have TO do is to raise the
three link and drop it over the opposing
hook: but then again you have to couple
one of these to common sucker mouth
there is where fine work comes in-
Drifting around the country are probably
bare dozen of expert 'three-link
couplers,' of whom the best is called
Scranton Pete To make these couplings
you rest the outside of the middle link
in your hand lay the index finger along
the first one, and throw it into the draw
head. striking the bottom end of for
ward cooked pin; always remembering to
have the link stretched when throwing"
Another thing. Jvnn," he continued,
never forget that those drawheads
are not uniform in height: there is al
ways danger of thir overlapping and
jack-knifing' you"
What do you mean by that?" asked
Gray in surprise.
only two cars coming flush together
and a careless fielder furnishing angel
timber. replied Howe grimly.
How do you manage it when the
drawheads vary that much in relative
height?" John asked.
BY the use of what is called
crooked link Howe replied. Contin-
uing he added: Always place it in the
dead or standing car-and swing out
quickl. for if 1t breaks you are all in
Now watch me and Ill show you the
method used by the best car couplers;
first jerk the drawhead out'.-Howe
gave the appliance quick two handed
pull-"so that when on dead block cars
it will strike first. causing the pin to
fall right instead of being thrown to
the ground by the full impact of the
dead blocks. Now set the pin In this
manner; top toward you. and as far
through as il will balance BY the
way. there is big difference among
tielders about this process. some claim
ing the head should rest back. but I'm
inclined to like 1T as I've shown YOU
as when coupling into a high drawhead
on cars with platforms. the overreach-
ing board usually present will on the
upward buckle, In catching the pin
head, cause you to miss the coupling
Now as you almost Invariably work on
the engineers side I'll take you into
the advanced class. Stand in this man.
ner, placing the left foot outside of
the rail and the right well inside. Now
with your left hand get good grin
on the outside of the car: stand with
your back toward the approaching car,
keep off your heels. strain every cord
and muscle for backward spring. re-
membering that the straining left arm.
If mic urfII
every boarded resource Of nerve. sinew
or brain to extricate your thick breast
from a jack-knife.' Now we will i'm
agine it a. M on a dark night, you
have two tracks to take care OF: out in
the fog you hear the rumble OF a
Kicked car. you listen to the rail clicks
and form an idea as to it's speed: de-
eide that 1t Is not running at a dan
gerous rate; now you string your lamp
on your right arm. as the looming WALL
like ends emerge above you. give a.
quick glance at the drawhead height:
another at the end sills for protruding
rods or bolts. and remember. boy John,
that of all the men who. under the
shadow stand upon the earth. you
need the quickest eye. the clearest
brain and the most resolutely respon-
sive body. Stand in your tracks. gauge
your drawheads. then just before they
strike catch the link. quickly throw
IL tO the IeQulIcQ duSles IAlcn JERK your
hand and arm, with a slanting down.
ward motion, away, and with the aid
of your left arm and leg swing your
body into safety Never try to knock
non-falling pin down. the hand moves
quicker than brain or eye and some
day you might be coupling Pennsylva-
mia cars with seven-inch above nigger-
heads. and the companys surgeon
would be the only satisfied party to the
transaction
Now. again they might take no
ton to put you cutting. 1t is job that
looks very simple, only to pull the pin
furthest from the engine. lay 1t on its
dead wood and then get out; but, say
you get man like that fellow on the III:
time is everything here and men very
cheap. you give him kick signal: then
as the engine jams fercely ahead, dart in
to pull the pin: it is too large. or bent.
sticks at any rate; you pull at IL. running
meanwhile over half ballasted ties, trap
like guard rails unblocked frogs The
man on the engine knows exactly what