Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1907-04-11
a NEAR
PRESIDENT NOW
How Railroad Discipline Wins
In the Long Run.


painfully reading the latest story of
the trusts alleged wickedness when
Mr.. Boiling, freight conductor Oft
duty, showed his labor journal in his
race with a heavy finger laid upon a
name at the top of capitalized list
of new executive officers of great
western railroad.
"There'll be harmony in that board.
all right" chuckled Mr.. Boiling. "You
knew our old division superintendent,
didn't your"
only slightly. thank you" said Mr..
Harvey, studying the name. "a soft
spoken, short, stout Irish gentleman,
with a cast, I think"
THE same" observed Mr.. Boiling,
with glass eye, a bull neck, and
short mustache, just turnin', and them
shoulders, hey?
I'll tell you about the time he had
the short-spoken, tall, thin German
gentleman who's runnin' the engine
to-day up for discipline"
"Oh, don't!" pleaded Mr.. Harvey.
"The whole train knows that story.
Here, read this life insurance piece.
It's scandalous."
Thanks" pursued Mr.. Boiling, re-
lentlessly, laying the newspaper atop
of his full dinner pail The engineer
used to have a dirty Dutch temper
when he was firm and so all hands
just couldn't help plaguin' him, till
one day the baggage master overdid
it out on the branch line and got him
goin'."
Mr.. Harvey sank back. Through
Rear-closed eyelids he watched the
smooth, spiral revolving of the tele-
graph poles as the fiier shot along.
Mr.. Boiling, like the train, went on.
Say, it was scand'lous! The pair
of 'em fought all over the sidin' and
switches in plain sight of the Pull.
mans and all them swell commuters.
They held her, too, for nigh on to two
minutes before the rest of the crew
could drag 'em back on their jobs.
They had two full days to think
it over before things happened. Then
the baggage master got shifted to a
long, heavy, local run where he
wouldn't have time to rag firemen or
anythin' else but trunks and baby
wagons, and the fireman was ordered
upstairs.
THE boss believed in settlin' things
man to man. When there was trouble
on the read he'd find out who was at
the bottom of it. and then, like as
not, he'd call the man up to his pri
vate Office, snap the door, and tell
him what he thought about it till the
man would hit him or quit"
Il recall" said Mr.. Harvey, "he told
the Y. M. C. A. that good railroad ma
terial was very scarce, and that when
the road got the men 1t wanted IL
offered them every inducement to-
Don't interrupt" snapped Mr.. Bolt
ing. And then, as l was sayin', he'd
give discipline accordin', with never a
cent to pay. He didn't go much on
finin' or suspendin'.
$50 he spoke his piece to the fire
man and the fireman told him he
wouldn't dare say that to him out on
the tracks. The boss said it all over
right there, and the fireman told him
he was too old and too little, and
that he wouldn't hit a one-eyed man
anyhow.
Then the boss said things about
the Dutch in general and the Prus-
slams in particular, and told the fire.
man he was some other kind of a
'fraid cat beside.
Not hearin' nothin' for half an
hour, the chief clerk called the opera
tor and the private secretary to back
him up and open the door.
Say, it was scand' lous. There was
the superintendent of division and the
fireman lynn on the carpet huggin'
each other. They'd upset every stick
of furniture exceptin' the big desk.
They'd slammed that into a window
and swept it clear. The bosss bad
eye was knocked clean out of his head
and t'other was shut. The fireman
couldn't see out of either Of his,
neither And there they lay, the boss
and the fireman, both clean winded,
huggin' each other, and still passin'
each other love taps, like inherent
children.
"Well, company doctor worked on
'em till after dark before they was
fit to send home to their wives. An
the boss didn't fire the fireman, Meth
er. He gave him locomotive of
his own before the year was out"
But these trusts are simply aw-
full. We voters must get together
the next big election" suggested Mr..
Harvey, YEARLY reaching for his
newspaper.
Mr.. Boiling quickly transferred it
to his own inside pocket
Same as me and you and the rest
of the train did last time, hey?" he
retorted, pleasantly smiling upon his
companion and close buttoning his
leather-lined pea-jacket. Cheer up.
The comets comm"