The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1907-09-11
GENESIS OF BELL ROPE.
Combat That Settled Conductors Su-
premacy Over Engineer.

Although there does not seem to
be anything common between pugi-
lism and railroad rules, yet the
adoption Of the familiar bell rope
that stretches through every car of
the modern train was the result Of a
fstic encounter. At the same time
and by the issue Of the same combat,
says the Philadelphia Public Ledger,
the supremacy Of the conductor in
railroad travel was ordained. It
was Philadelphia which gave both to
the world.
One of the Oldest railroads in the
country is the Philadelphia, VIII
mington and Baltimore, now known
as the Philadelphia, Baltimore and
Washington, which was opened in
1897. The first schedule contained
one passenger train, which went to
Baltimore one day and came back
the next, which was considered a re-
markable feat in rapid travel. When
a train day each way was placed
in service the people Of the two
cities served concluded that the acme
of convenience in transportation
had been reached.
Next to the president Of the rail:
road the most important functiona-
ries were the engineer and conduc,
tor. 1t was a question whether OF
not the head Of the line was consid.
cred a subsidiary official in popular
estimation to the men who ran the
train; but Robert Fogg, who pulled
the throttle, and John Wolf, who
collected fares, won the Difference
Of the public because Of their high
and responsible duties.
Fogg, an Englishman, had all the
the tenacity of opinion of his race;
Wolf, an American. had the ingenu.
| ity of the Yankee, and seeing the
need of some method by which he
could communicate with the engi-
neer, devised a scheme Of running q
cord through the cars to the locomo-
tive. AS the engine was q wood
burner, Wolfe fastened one end Of
the cord to a log, which was placed
on the engineers seat and was pull.
ed to the floor when the conductor
desired to signal for a stop.
Fogg resented what he considered
an intarforencn with his rirhts or
the platform of the locomotive, and
on the first run out with the new de-
vice paid no heed to the displace-
ment of the log from the seat when
the conductor desired to take on q
passenger from a farm near Gray's
Ferry, but sped on over the bridge
and did not deign to bring his engine
to stop until Blue Bell statipn. on
the south side of the Schuykill. had
been reached. Then he demanded
to know of Wolfe why he had been
jerking that log all about the loco
motive.
Wolf hotly declared that he had
signalled to stop. but Fcgg retorted
that he would stop when and where
he pleased, and that, too, without
any reference to orders from the
conductor, whom he did not regard
as his superior in the management
of the train. The alteration grew
very heated, and Wolf invited the
engineer from his cab to settle the
matter, and the challenge was quick
ly accepted.
Passengers and a group of men
who had gathered at the station to
see the train come in formed a ring
about the combatants, out the fight
did not last long, as Wolfe proved
by far the superior artist with his
fists and with a few blows made it
almsot impossible for the engineer
to see sufficiently to completely his
run; but Fogg admitted that he had
been fairly beaten, and the suprem-
acy of the conductor on railroad
train was settled.
As the log signal was crude and
ineffective, Wolf devised the use of
a bell on the locomotive. and this
method was soon adopted by all of
the American railroads. Then a
code Of signals was adopted, and
these remain practically to this day.
The only change in the bell cord is
that by use Of the air from the
brake system whistle has super !
,eded the bell in the locomotive.
j