The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1905-01-23
TOUGH OLD TINE RAIlR0ADING.
n AILROADING amt what it ulster
II be-" said an old knight of the

/ SoSCs 1CT an example / was young
l machinist, and 1 was doing stunts for
/ the Santa Fe out in New Mexico, and
/ II l do say il myself, there was not
1 nany things that an engineer could
write in work book that 1 could not
! solve about an engine. 1 had been GO
4 ing along from place to place. like all
| railroad machinists do. and had gath
/ cred together wonderful amount OF
| rough knowledge such as enables a
I fellow TO make a sick engine run like
a house afire, but | had never aspired
| TO anything higher than machinist's
pay One day the old master me
chanic called me in on the carpet
ana, after cussing me all around the
office on general principles. told me
l would have to tackle the round
/ house at the end of tse division.
kinder hemmed and hawed like and
told him / did not want the job, but
| the old man said he was looking for
husky young fellows to run his round
| houses, and he guessed I was husky
enough to even make a boiler maker
| be good. / went down on the old No.
9-thats what we used TO call our
night train-and next morning 1 took
Charge of the round house, together
with some forty or fifty machinists.
boiler makers and their helpers The
frsen Sorter looked like they didn't ex-
aetly like the way I took charge, and
as had assisted several round house
Iorenen to resign / knew pretty well
what to expect. Along apout IL o'clock
L was going through the house and
noticed old Bill Pardee killing time on
a set OF valves, and / kind of gentle
IKE told Bill (who. by the way. was
one OF the best Hachinists we had in
those days, and who had also whipped
about fourteen foremen that guessed
II mere was any getting in the hay
tEat 1 woul1 bed there myself Bill
sWelled Up like a blistered boiler and
began to throw sparks out of his stack
and work water through his cylinders
ike lame engine. then he rose and
said: We'll, 1 guess I have been rail-
reading about as long as any of you
young round house foreman. and [ Just
reckons for once that lou can't tell
me how to doctor sick engine
Then he rose M a little higher.
Threw more sparks and started for
Where L was. l was Atanding along
SIDE of an engine pit. and as Bill got
close to me could feel the blood in my
VEINS pump like 1 had a gasoline en-
glne IN my hip pocket. and a great
feeling OF relief came over me. II
oldnt know much about running
round houses. but I did know how to
night, and when Bill got within arms
length shut both eyes and Bill rolled
over IN the ash pit. He crawled out
and Jerked him up once more and
Irued him up on the other side which
just about made a good Taachinist ont
or Bill He asked for his time. but.
Lord, couldn't fire a man like that.
so ne agreed to stay with me. and we
would call il off
The next day three BoiIerfnakers got
drunk, and when l tell you they got
drunk on that Mexican drink called
mescal YOU will know just how drunk
Iney uio get. promptly credited them
a lice no.
a couple of boomers who happened to
De along that day, i'm their place That
evening the fired men came into our
niue nut that we used for an office !
ana one of them locked the door behind
MIN and put the key in his rocket The,,
they proceeded TO tell me what kind of |
service letter they wanted. I got
cfoIherly with them and told EN- ]
could not give them any kind of
clearance 'cepting they were fred for
getting drunk Then they went In for
me. and / thought I would surely have
10 give them the kind Of a letter they
wanted, but Looked up and saw an old |
corn razor in a pigeOnhOle and / got
mat ana II didn't take long to run those |
DuToS tthatS what we used to call |
bolermakers) on the turntabIe and get
them started cut in an opposite direc-
ton 1 didn't have any official time
keeper I'm there with me. but it would !
De safe TO say that we did thirty miles
n
sat in the middle of the room was /
swinging my razor like a GOmanche In
dlan, and was crowding them SC close
mat cornered' one of them and took
piece or his blue shirt off with my
cutter. and then the next time around |
one OF them went through the screen
WINDOW, and finally they all got away
IL took two car whackers' eighteen
hours TO repair the Office. but a woman
could nave run that rOundhouse next |
The men began to talk among them |
selves and TO figure on how long / /
would last and finally a committee |
waited on me and requested me to re- |
sign NOW, the nerve that some OF /
these fellows have is rema rka BILE but |
this made me kind of feel my impor- |
lance, and / turned off the committee /
ana hlred some new men. / never made /
any reports to the master mechanic,
cause / thought I would run that
roundhouse according to nv way of /
thinking Things went along pretty |
smoothly for a couple of weeks. when /
Hcgshead Jones, who was chairman of /
the grievance committee of the railroad |
engineers, came up to me one evening /
and said: Charlie. 1 see you got me /
marked up to pull that local with that |
old 11S. and just want to tell you thai /
l would not haul water to Chinese |
laundry with her, and that I am going /
out on the engine ] brought in here
a
tlnkering on this engine and / guessed /
ne would either take out the rs or / |
would mark him off the bard and call |
another crew. Then he commenced q /
series of remarks that ended in his ell /
deaVoring to go through the round /
mouse. and he was fifty feet from the
Goor when he started to make the trip.
HiS brother, who was firing for me on
the coal. came running I'D and We got /
tangled up i'm pretty fair shape, and Z /
VIII give the devil his due and saw he |
licked me clean and fine. The master
mechanic heard about il the next day.
and that night 1 was heading for his I
office with my resignation running
through my head.
The old man called me in the ofice
and shut the door. Then he commenced
in good fashion, and said:
Charlie, hate TO let you 20. for YOU
MADE a good start, and. barring your /
argument with that fireman, you gave
promise of being first-class railroad !
man. but a whipped roundhouse fore
man in this country amt worth the ink |
II takes TO put his name on the pay roll
Now, If you had whipped that fire.
man would have had to make y.u 4
general foreman, but being as YOU let
Your steam get low in the face O. n
fireman I guess your raiirOad;ny is
about over. I am sorry but YOU can |
plainly see that to keep YOU there