The Washington herald., 1907-06-09
By DEXTER MARSHALL.

tapped the key for a living.
Clarence Mackay, president Of the Pos
tai since his fathers death, knows
Morse, and could probably make a fist
Of sending message over the wire. even
If not a very good one. George Gould,
who prefers being a railroad president TO
heading the family telegraph property
has been held up as an expert telegraph
operator time out of mind. He had to.
learn to use the key when a youngster
TO please his father, and quite likely was
glad to do so, but there have been many
better operators than he ever was.
Once he went into the big operating
room IN New York-or perhaps il was
somewhere else-to send message when
few operators were on duty, or else they
were all so busy that he couldn't get any
one TO attend 10 his wants. Anyway. he
sat down at an instrument called up the
office he wished TO communicate with
and clicked out his own message. BY the
time he had got it off and was waiting
for a reply there was a lull and the
operator who had been taking him
called up one who sat near Gould.
'Petey. clicked the instrument so loud
that Gould could hear every click, who
was that plug that sent that? I didn't
recognize his touch"
Did Not Become Angry.
Gould didn't get angry at the rather
disrespeCtful allusion to himself: on the
contrary, it rather amused him. Fortu-
nately he has a pretty well defined sense
OF humor I'm his makeup.
Sir William Van Horne. chairman of
the Canadian Pacific Railroad. and pres
ident of the Cuba Company. which has
done some big railroad building along
the backbone of the Pearl Of the Antilles.
was a telegrapher at the start, beginning
au humbly as Marvin Hughitt. president
Of the Chicago and Northwestern. Van
Horne started on the Illinois Central,
Hughitt on one Of the roads now part
of the New York Central, but both have
filed the Office Of train dispatcher on
the Chicago and Alton. and both did a
lot Of rail-oading when young. besides
tapping the key on the way up the lad
der 10 the Job Of railroad president
HUghitt is six years older than Van
Horne who is only sixty-four. Van
Horne began 10 receive and send Morse"
just fifty years ago, when only fourteen
HUghitt began when only a boy, ALSO
he has many conservative qualities. For
instance. he dislikes the typewriter, and,
while he may have overcome his antipa-
thy 10 it by this time. only a few years
ago he would not think Of allowing any
important paper like a big contract, for
instance. in which his road was interest
ed to be drawn up in any way save with
a pen.
Van Horne has the greater sense o.
hUmOT. perhaps At any rate they 'eH a
story Of how, when chief dispatcher at
Bloomington, H., he took a grimly hu-
morous way Of impressing upon a new
operator the fact that a certain bridge
on the line was too low. On a large
sheet of paper he drew sketch Of a
moving train passing under a bridge.
Liked TO Draw Pictures.
On the top Of one car was the headless
body Of a brakeman who had been set
ting a brake. On the top OF the next
car back was the brakeman's head, blood
flowing from the severed neck and head
being shown by liberal splotChes Of red
ware Bridge No. H." ten or a dozen
brakemen having been knocked off from
freight trains and killed by that bridge.
Van Horne thought this CORY sketch
which he posted over the new operator
desk, would warn him more effectually
70 do what he could to prevent further
sacrifices Of life 1T that bridge than all
the verbal injunctiOns I'm the world. Van
Horne was always drawing pictures when
a yOungster and lost one job by making
a funny Caricature Of his chief The
wall of his Office I'm Montreal bears a maI
Of the Canadian Pacific. painted with Var
HOrne's own hand. which shows not only
the course Of the line and the geographic
cal and typographical features Of tht
country, but alsO'the average tempera.
tUre and the weather variations that
may be expected at all points. The west
ern end Of the line Is much warmer thar
the eastern end, because Of the modifying
currents Of the Pacific ocean.
There is nothing in the world that Var
Home likes better 10 do than 10 explain
this big map 10 an interested listener
When he does this. Sir William makes
Use Of a long wand. or pointer. exactly
as II he were a country school teacher
explaining an example chalked on tn,
blackboard. His story Of how he worked
az the task OF building the great Int
OF rail across the Canadian plains. Owe
the enormous Canadian mountains. ant
through the deep Canadian valleys
would be an entertaining one told b.
any one; as recited by him it is Of ab
sorblng interest.
Van Horne is native Of Illinois II
spite Of his prominence In Canadian rail
Toading. He had 20 become a Britisl
citizen when he became a figure in the
Canadian Pacific Railroad. since its re
lations with the Dominion government
are very close. He had made a big namt
on American railroads before he wa!
called to the Canadian Pacific.
Western Union Presidents.
Thomas 7. Eckert. long president o
the Western Union, learned telegraph,
fifty years ago or more when the writ
ing wire was a startling novelty. an,
reached his place at the head Of tn
Western Union mainly along telegraph.
lines being az the head Of the govern
ments military telegraph system in tn
civil war. But there was a time, befor
the war. when he was a railroad con
ductor, his run touching Columbus. Ohio
One day he had for a passenger the lead
- ing actress Of the period-perhaps Char
lotte Cushman-to whom railroad trave
was new, as indeed It was then to mos
folk
She was much afraid she would be car
rioG past the station at Columbus, ant
she asked the conductor to be sure t
notify her when the place was reached
Bat the train was late that day, a
trains sometimes are nowadays. and tn
conductor was so worried when at las
Il pulled in that he clean forgot th
actress. Brakemen evidently spoke as In