The Saint Paul globe., 1905-01-29


healthy ring. 1t reads:
'Disobedienee of orders, violation Of
rules, or neglect of duty, will always
be considered a sufficient cause for
the dismissal from the service of the
company; but fines, forfeit of wages
or suspension from duty may be SUBJ
stituted with the approval of the gen
eral superintendent. Fines and forfeit
of wages thus imposed will not be
taken as source of revenue to the
company, but will be held in trust for
the benefit of those who are faithful
in the discharge of duty, and will be
used by the general superintendent in
defraying expenses arising from un-
avoidable accidents or sickness and for
other charitable purposes
Rules for Brakemen
The brakemen were in hard lines
those days, as was evidenced by the
following, taken from rule Is:
No alteration with any person will
be permitted-no matter what the
provocation may be. Strict propriety
and the avoidance of profane and in
decent language is required"
Under the head of engineers signals
is a curious rule relating to passen-
gers. 1t shows that even in those days
the trains started with some violence
and the company tried to safeguard
the passengers by the following rule:
THE ringing of the engine bell while
the train is standing is a signal for
passengers to take their seats
1t is to be presumed that if they did
not they might be thrown to the floor
of the cars or jerked from the plat
forms when-the train started.
The fact that the governmental reg
ulation of railroads as far as safety
appliances are concerned was much
1ooser than it is today is evidenced
by the following:
Passenger trains must not be run
without patent brakes connected when
such have been provided"
1t would be difficult thing indeed to
trace the course of all the trouble that
would happen to railroad company
nowadays in case the patent brakes
were not conceded, and the plea that
the train was not provided with them
would be the strongest kind of a basis
for a suit for damages in case ac-
cident happened to a passenger.
Rule 6 under this head Shows that
something has been doing in the mat
ter of progress among. the railroads
since the book was issued:
The rule reads: Passenger con-
ductors and brakemen should direct
passengers to alight on the platforms
provided for their suse."
The Inference to be drawn from the
rule is that if they were not so direct
ed they might get off at the cattle
chutes or water tanks or somewhere
else not contemplated in the railroad
scheme of 1864.
Details of Traffic
The book goes on and details with
the greatest particularly just how
traffic shall be carried on and in re-
ferring to freight trains says:
There is no preference of road to
freight trains in either direction. If
one, two, three or more trains are fol-
lowing each other, the rule is the same
wait thirty minutes behind schedule.
time, if they are not all in, and then
proceed running curves until the
trains are met. BY running curves is
understood to run at a rate not ex-
ceeding four miles per hour, with a
fagman well ahead of the engine
In this instance it will be noted that
the curves do not require the flag
man to be as far ahead as the rule
with relation to the passenger trains.
Speaking of the important question
of accidents, the book recites:
Conductors and engineers are held
equally responsible for running curves,
and in case of accident both are liable
to dismissal if any precautions have
been omitted. even though the rules
should not have provided for the
case"
Under the old rules when curve
running was feature of railreading
and when trains were constantly feel
ing the tracks ahead for approaching
were constantly coming upon one an
other at out of the way places.
Sometimes they would meet head to
head between stations and miles from
any siding which could be utilized
as place to pass each other.
The Pennsylvania provided for such
contingencies as follows:
AS a general rule when trains meet
on a single track between stations, the
train nearest to a siding should be
backed subject to the senior con-
ductor's decision, provided it does not
endanger the safety of either train or
violate a rule
The same rule applies today with
respect to running ahead of schedule
that was in force in those days, as is
evidenced by the following:
IF any train is run more than fif-
teen minutes ahead of time it will, be
considered sufficient cause for the dis
missal of conductor and engineer"
Had to Be Careful
1t was apparently understood that
the running of curves had tendency
to put train off schedule, and when
it was once off it was harder to get on
again than it is today. There was no
penalty for being late because it was
manifestly impossible not to be, but if
the train crew happened to get ahead
of time, which also looks like an i'm
possibility under all the circum-
stances, the crew was likely to be dis
missed.
Last year the Northern Pacific trans
ported twenty-four special trains of
'Masons from st. Paul to Portland and
landed each train at Portland exactly
on time. The Great Northern also ran
| a whole month over a whole division
and every passenger train was right