The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1906-04-21
and general managers and general

well, IOny uSeO 10 walk around the
tracks and inspect the switches and !
carry his little stick In his hand. After
aEyear or so he felt perfectly at home,
and had learned to calculate about
where train would land after it
passed the tower of the "puzzle'
switch. To be sure he had narrowly
escaped death a. number Of times, but
he had escaped, and he never thought
Of getting safer job; he would not
have known "nything better to do
than this, and besides, II he had
thrown up the job some one else would
have come to take his place. He got
along pretty well in the summer time,
but in the winter, when the snow fell
fast and the wind blew hard, It was
not an easy job. His clothes were
none to warm and his hands were
often numb; and the hours dragged
very YEARLY as he waited around the
yards holding his little stick in his
purple hands. He was obliged to 20 to
work in the morning before daylight
and work until long after dark, and
even Tony often though that he earned
every cent that he got. Perhaps you
would not have stood it; you might
have purposely slipped and fallen un-
der the great wheels Of moving train
and been done with it at once, but
Tony never thought :: of this. There
were several hungry little Italians that
he had to feed and, though he said
nothing about it and really thought
nothing about it, he loved these little
waits who were growing up on the
street. Then again, your must not
think that life was SO hard to Tony as
1t seems to you. God is very merciful;
he does not temper the winds to the
shorn lamb, but he tempers the shorn
lambs to the winds. But even Tony
thought that he ought to get more
pay in winter than in summer, for the
work was harder and the wear and tear
greater, but in fact he got less in WIN
ter time. The wages of the poor are
not paid according to the amount Of
life the master gets, but according to
| the number Of lives that arc offered for
the job, and these are more in winter
time.
Well, one morning Tony came down
to work while it was still dark. The
wind was blowing and the snow was
drifting fast. He took his stick, went
down the yards and commenced work.
ing at the tracks. The towerman was
| already there; in fact he had been
there all the time Tony knelt down
on the ground, reached out his hand
| and commenced picking the snow out
! from between the tracks. AS he knelt
| on the ground one leg extended back
| over another track. He glanced up
the track and beyond the tower, and at
! the other side Of the yards he saw the
! glare Of a headlight from an engine
| standing still. Tony was so used to
engines that this gave him no alarm.
He thought that if it came down it
would pass upon another track, and
| besides he would hear it if it came.
If you ever work in a yard you will
learn that you cannot give all your
time to lodging trains-you must do
some work and must depend upon
your eyes and ears and also your fell
| lows who work with you.
The grade of the: yard was toward
the south and the engine was north of
where Tony was ,,rleaning out the
switch. This particular engine had
no cars attached and was going south
to- bring some cars Of coal up into the
yards. The engine stopped few
moments before it reached the "puzzle'
switch, then it got the signal, released
the brakes and dropped gently down
behind the tower. No steam was need
ed to move the engine down the yards,
and the snow muffled the sound Of the
wheels. Both the engineer and the
towerman might have seen Tony's lit
tie red lantern down at the switch,
but If they looked they knew that it
!
it was to get out Of the way. No
| warning was given as the engine crept
| along. In fact there was no need OF
| warning; man should look out for
himself.
Well, Tony was leaning over the
track, with his left leg stretched out
behind. He heard no sound. The
morning was 80 raw ana cold and his
hands and face were numb, and as he
leaned over the track in the great,
cold, horrible yards, he had a. vision
of the promontory where he used to
sit when a boy. Once more he saw
that wonderful blue Italian sky that
enchanting sweep Of clear, blue water
and the high, green, snow-capped
mountains rising from it's edge-and
then a. mighty mass Of iron seemed
to fall upon his leg. The engine passed
over him. No one even saw him, out
he shouted until the man in the watch
} tower heard his cry.
Tony was taken to the hospital, his
mangled leg was taken away He
) took vacation for a couple Of months
and then went back home and brought
suit against the company to recover
damages for his lost leg. Tony and
! his family lived a year or two bor-
rowing money and running in debtAn
? the expectation Of the great fortune
that his lawyer said he could get
Tony was to have sixty per cent of ii
) for himself. He did not know ex-
actly how much it meant; he knew
: it was a great DEAL
Finally, the case came off. Tony's
lawyer claimed that the company was
negligent because the towerman
should have seen Tony's lantern and
not sent the engine down upon him
while he was kneeling over the switch
| a1so the engineer should have, warned