Los Angeles herald., 1906-08-02

ing out of the sic track into the Jaws
of death. Selling my lantern 1 sped
over the car roofs, giving frantic stop
signals as l ran.
Don't get mad, neighbori"-this to
me as / clambored down into the cab.
II must ha' dozed off and woke up
sudden with the idee that bloody spe-
cial had passed." and with this excuse
the engineer threw over the reverse
lever and backed the train into safety.
Fifteen hours later we dragged wear
lily into the Chicago yard to find not
a caboose on the caboose track and a
string Of yellow refrigerators laden
with fresh meat awaiting immediate
shipment. The worried yardmaster ex-
planned that packing house deliveries
had been so heavy that all the crews
had been sent east Ono news to us, we
had met them alb, and forthwith he
besought us to turn about with the
last consignment. To delay this pre-
cious freight meant losing the haul to
another trunk line, and yet by the
terms of our wage schedule we were
entitled to eight hours rest.
Meat be blankedl I'm all in," said
one "brankie."
MY homes at the other end, and my
baby's sick: l want to go back" said
the other shack; and cast my vote
with the latter after stipulating for
two hours sleep and a fresh engine
crew. Here was an instance of two
motives, parental anxiety on the part
of a brakeman, ambition for promotion
on the part of the conductor, overrul-
ing, in the absence of legal restriction.
a sane plea for rest, and creating a
menace to the lives of every passenger
and employe on the division.
Tht return trip was a nightmare. We
had arrived at Chicago at p. m. We
left at midnight, our low vitalities a
prey to six hours of winter darkness.
The preparatory two-hours' cat-nap
wrapped in our overcoats on the ca
boose transoms, only served to inten-
sify a lethargy and stupor which
seemed momentarily ready to engulf
us in sea of benumbing drowsiness.
Thanks, first, to Dame Fortune, second,
to the character of our freight, third to
a messenger l sent to the dispatcher
warning him of our condition, and.
fourth, to the freshness of the engine
crew, we were able to finish our fifty
two hours of service without accident,
and, sadder but wiser men, we stag
gered home to bed.
Nobody will question the necessity
of a good nights rest to the perform
ance of keen. accurate and efficient
work, and yet how many people are
there today who realize that the freight
train crews of our railroads especially
in winter and on single-track lines, are
often on duty twenty-four to thirty
six hours without sleep?
The artisan, the laborer, the miner,
the mill hand and the clerk work but
ten hours at the most during the twen-
ty-four, and yet the men who share
with the eight-hour trick dispatchers
the responsibility for the safety of the
travelling public rarely doff their over
alls short of the sixteen-hour mark.
They are paid overtime-of course
they are-and at an increased rate per
hour or per mile, but ask a dozen en-
gineers and freight conductors whether
the hardship of overtime is counter
balanced by the extra wages, and, un-
less some member of the group is try
ing to pay off a mortgage on a neat
little cottage and lot, every mans
answer will be an emphatic negative.
Work that is paid for in blood should
be prohibited and the toilers supplant-
ed by fresh, wideawake comrades.