Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1907-08-08
THE TRAIN BELL ROPE.
Now II and the Conductors Supremacy
Came TO Be Established.

Now II and the Conductors Supremacy
Came to Be Established.
| Although there does not seem to be
anything in common between pugilism
and railroad rules, yet the adoption OF
| the familiar bell rope that stretches
through every car of the modern train
was the result of Il fistic encounter. At
| the same time and by the issue Of the
same combat the supremacy Of the con-
ductor in railroad travel was ordained.
II was Philadelphia which gave both
to the world
! One of the oldest railroads In the
country Is the Philadelphia. Whining
ton and Baltimore, now known rs the
Philadelphia. Baltimore and Washing
ton, which was opened In 1897. Tho
terminus in Philadelphia was nj Broad
and Prime streets Prime street now
| being known as Washington avenue
and after crossing the Schuylkill river
ut Gray's Ferry the route ran along the
Delaware river on what is now the
| Chester line OF the Reading railway.
| The first schedule contained one pas
sengcr train, which went to Baltimore
one day and came back the next, which
| was considered remarkable feat In
rapid travel When train Il day each
| way was placed In service the people
| Of the two cities served concluded that
the acme OF convenience in transporta-
| ton had been reached.
| Next to the president OF the railroad
the most important functonarics were
the engineer and conductor II was II
question whether or not the head Of
| the line was not considered Il subsdl-
airy officer in popular estimation 10 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. m Englshman, had all the
] tenaclty OF opinion of his race. Wolf.
nn American, had the ingenuity OF the
Yankee and. seeing the need OF some
method by which he could cpmmuni-
cate with the engineer, devised the
! scheme Of running II cord through the
cars TO the locomotive. AS the engine
was n wood burner. Wolf fastened one
end of the cord to log, which was
placed on the engineers seat and was
| pulled to the floor when the conductor
desired to signal for stop.
| Fogg resented what he consid .red an
Interference with his rights on the
| platform of the locomotive and on the
first run out from Broad and Prime
streets with the new device paid no
heed to the displacement OF the log
from the seat when the conductor de
sired to take on a passenger from
farm near Gray's Ferry, but sped on
over the bridge and did not deign to
bring his engine to stop until Blue
Bell station, on the south side of the
lSchuylkil, had been reached. Then
he demanded to know Of Wolf why he
had been jerking that log all about the
locomotive.
Wolf hotl~ declared that he had sig
nailed 10 stop. but Fogg retorted that
he would stop when and where he
pleased and that, too, without any ref
erence 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 the cab to
settle the matter, and the challenge
was quickly accepted.
/ Passengers and n group Of men who
had gathered at the station to see the
train come iIr formed ring about the
combatants but the fight did not last
long, rs Wolf proved by far the SUI
perior artist with his fists and with
few blows made 1t almost impossible
for the engineer to see suhlciently TO
complete his run, but Fogg admitted
that he had been fairly beaten. and the
supremacy of the conductor OH train
was settled for all time.
As the log signal was crude and In
| effective, Wolf devised the use OF
bell on the locomotive. and this method
was soon adopted by all OF the Amer
lean railroads Then code OF sig
nails was adopted, and these remain
practically to this day. The only
change in the bell cord Is that by use
Of the mir from the brake system IL
whistle has superseded the bell In the
locomotive cab.--Philadelphia Ledger.