New-York tribune., 1906-07-15
TEN YEARS AND OUT.
duerage Life of a Railroad Engineer
Is Short and Hard.
by yasaes u. Morrow.

States, Canada and Mexico. who stand together
IN single Brotherhood. They compose, perhaps
the most respected. dignifed and effective laboT
organization in the. world Recently they met
az Memphis. by their delegates. and in wisdom
and decorum remained in session for four weeks
No disagreements. no scandals. no threats no
TooIishness came out Of their close, sagacious
and intelligent assembly.
An Iowa man. Warren Sanford Stone. is their
chief. He is foTty-six years old. hearty. candid
and cool, and has pulled everything from local
freight to a iiraited. Put him in overalls and a
jumper. and you would trust him for mile a
minute. night day He has gone faster than
that across lie prairies. without collisions. head
on or other kinds, and always in the right Of
way a deep chested. tall. muscular man. with
gray eyes-friendly eyes. but calm. steady and
brave-and hair and mustache streaked with
frost. he is a fine picture of health, strength
and courage. Furthermore, his head is large
enough and sound enough for his job
My father had large farm in Iowa." he said
90 me the other day. 81 entered college with the
Law in mind. but several OF my brothers were
railroad men, and the life they led, together
with the wages they earned. ured from
school and into 1iremans place on the Rock
Island system. In four years and half 1 got
an engine. I was an engineer for twenty years
and never had but one employer" a
And you escaped with your life?"
Il ran into an accident or two, but it wasn't
my fault. / had fast daylight passenger train
part Of the time and killed thirteen human
beings in one year. That wasn't my fault, either
The terrors of an engineers life the idiots
who walk the track and farmers who whip up
and try TO get over. Persons who drive horses
seem to have mania for beating the locomotive.
Il they would stop when they heard the whistle
and the noise of the train or would jog along
as before they would escape. But they will do
neither A good many of them stand up, look
like wild around the eyes and lay on the
lash The next instant they under the
wheels or in tree or a field along the right
OF way"
Are there hoodoo' engines?"
no. kept engine for six years which
had a bad reputation-every who took it
had lost his job-but found it to be all right.
Bad engines are generally unlucHy because the
men who run them ought TO be doing something
else-carrying a hod. for instance
IN your opinion what is the first quality of
an engineer"
Common sense: but that is universal need
and is no more necessary to engineers than to
any one else Second. would say a quick and
reliable mind If you running sixty or sew
enty miles an hour you can't take situation
home with you for reflection and advisement.
You have got TO and be in a hurry about it.
with gifts TO get money and 10 make speeches
In our brotherhood We stand for seniority every
time all else being equal. but there is a special
aptitude for fast trains and consider and
recognize il. Moral courage is required to run
a train at a mile a minute The engineer trusts
the semaphore and the crews Of the
freights who, although weary with work and
loss OF sleep are expected to get out of the way.
Thus the engineer Of a limited goes crashing
into the night. knowing every foot OF the track.
reading every light and putting his faith in
others Sometimes the lights are the other
side and the fireman. stripped TO his Undershirt
even in zero weather, springs forward to the seat
he never uses and calls the signals. The
gineer repeats them back, looking straight
ahead. and the fireman, chilled to the bones,
sweating at every pore. goes back to his ever
lasting shovel Curves are taken at full speed.
Towns passed with the throttle wide open.
Yards dancing with clear red and green lights.
each OF which is voice and sign to the
gineer. are here one minute and gone the next.
There must be physical courage in the teeth Of
all this but greater and better still is the moral
courage of the in the cab-his confidence
in others as well as in himself and his readi-
ness to assume responsibility on the spot.
II fast man is late three times he is out
and another engineer takes his place This
silent but relentless threat is over him night and
day * he likes his job There are plenty of good
engineers who would not take a fast train If
they could get out of it They are not afraid
but they don't enjoy the work. Allen Tyler
who was chosen to run over the division out Of
Cleveland with the elghteen-hour New York and
Chicago special, came to me the day before he
was killed and told me how proud and happy he
was for the chance. So. in describing some Of
the conditions which surround an engineer I
have attempted to indicate the qualities which
make him competent to hold his place"
What IS the membership OF the Brother
hood?"
Fifty-four thousand. We have subdivisions
IN all the states and territories and also in Can
ada and Mexico. We are growing at the rate Of
four thousand engineers a year. The freight
traffic in this country doubles every decade, and
II 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. Information 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 our
members is forty-one years. yet there are en-
slneers OF seventy who are running fast trains
When You see an old man in a cab, however. vo,
can wager your last dollar that he is deliverinr,
the goods. 'e
The heures have given may need some ex-
PLANTATION Standing alone they seem to be fn
credible. II must be remembered that engireors
suffer more from exposure than do anv other
workers. This is especially so in the West
When the front window of his cab ts cor,ereJ @
with snow or frost the only thing the enginee,
can 40 IS to hang his head out of the side win
DOW. he MAJ be running forty or ffty miles a.,
hour. and the wind l,e co,piv1 -gr,.e 60