The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1906-09-01
LIFE OF A LOCOMOTIVE ENe1NERR.

motive engineers IN the United States,
Canada and Mexico, who stand to-
gether in single Brotherhood. They
compose perhaps the most respected,
digni6ed and effective labor organiza-
ton in the world. Recently they
met at Memphis, Tenn, by their
delegates, and in wisdom and deco
rum remained in session for four
] weeks. No disagreements, no scam
dals, no threats, no foolishness came
out of their close, sagacious and in
telligent assembly.
An Iowa man, Warren Sanford
Stone, is their chief. He is forty
six years old, hearty, candid and cool,
and has pulled everything from a
local freight to a limited.
"What is the membership of the
Brotherhood ?" he was asked:
'Fifty-four thousand. We have
subdivisions in all the states and
territories and also in Canada and
Mexico. We are growing at the rate
of four thousand engineers a year.
The freight traffic in this country
doubles every decade, and it requires
good many new men to meet the
natural expansion of business. Three
hundred and eighty one engineers
were killed on duty in the last two
years. Notwithstanding our growth,
we haven't enough men to supply the
demands of the railroads. In forma-
tion which has been carefully obtained
shows us that the average life of the
engineer is only ten years. In that
time he either dies on duty or from
natural causes or is totally disabled.
The average age OF Jar members is
forty-one years, yet there are engi-'
neers of seventy who are running fast
trains. When you see an old man in
the cab, however, you can wager
your last dollar that he is delivering
the goods.
"The figures have given may
need some explanation. Standing
alone they seem to be incredible. II
must be remembered that engineers
suffer more from exposure than do
any other workers. This is especially
so In the West, when the front win
dow of his cab is covered with snow
or frost, the only thing the engineer
can do is to hang his head out of the
side window. He may be running
forty or fifty miles an hour, and the
wind may be coming right into his
face at the same velocity. Flesh and
blood give way under such terrible
conditions, and hundreds of engineers
go to pieces every winter. Some of
them recover and some don't"
"How long must a fireman serve
before he gets an engine ?"
"From two and a-half to three
years, but in the meantime he must
be man of iron and willing to work
like horse. Firemen on modern
freight engines shovel from eighteen
to twenty-five tons of coal each trip.
The limit of human endurance has
been reached with them. 1t IS no
longer aquestion of larger and strong
er engines, but the problem is to
stoke the engines already in use. 1t
seems to me that machine will have
to do it. Two fremen are sometimes
employed on single engine, but that
arrangement is hardly practicable.
One man works, gets overheated, sits
down and takes cold. The other man
when his turn comes, has the same
experience. The best figures we can
get, and they cover ten years, show
that only II per cent. of the firemen
on American railroads become engi-
neers, and that only 6 per cent. get
passenger trains. Some of them, hav-
ing little stamina, give up, but more
of them lose their health.
Nowadays a fireman doesn't
straighten up from the time his en-
gine gets under way until his run is
over. Furthermore, the door of the
firebox on modern engine is about
face high, and the intense heat often
ruins the freman's eyes. At least rs
per cent. of the fremen who serve
their time fail to get engines because
of defective sight. Even if the eyes
can be made normal with spectacles,
the fireman cannot become an engi-
neer, although he may have grown
up on the road and been steady and
competent man. After he runs an
engine for while he may be permit
ted to wear glasses, but he is barred
from certain trains and from all en-
ployment as an engineer on other
lines.
"But let us get back to the fireman
who has served his time. He goes
gayly about his business and at the
end of two years is ordered to head.
quarters or another examination, a
bienniel performance which continues
so long as he lives. He is compelled
to know his engine and how to get 1t
to the next station if it breaks down
and must understand the electric dyna-
mo which is often in the front of the
cab. He must be familiar with the
mechanism Of airbrakes and pumps.
Consequently an engineer not only
runs his engine, but heats his train
and frequently lights it."
"Can an engineer who is not
member of the Brotherhood get en-
ployment?" 7"
eyes, tenth of the engineers in
this country are not in our organiza-
ton. We give them no trouble and
make no effort to deprive them Of
their places. All that we do is to in
sist that they be paid Brotherhood
wages, work Brotherhood hours, and
have all of our own conditions and
| privileges. These matters we arrange
with the railroads and not with the
men themselves. Some of those who
are out would be welcome and some
would not be accepted by as under
|