The new South-news., 1908-10-10

FROM NN' iN''"| H'NNNNi" 100 'H' '|i
ribio wreck OF Adobe. COL. last week.
that disaster was clearly onused By "a
lapse Of this Kind on tho pHri Of one
Of the Denver and Rio Grandc agents.
I'm the face OF negligence of the
roft that Killed upward of forty peo-
pie IN Colorado, Che railroads are al
most helpless There "a little that
can ho done TO guard against such in-
difference 10 duty na that SHOWN by n
man who viii. no matter how great
his fatigue. fan asleep knowing that
hundreds OF lives are dependent upon
his vigilance The railroads nse the
utmost care In hiring men. and do
everything To make sure that they
nre performing their duty conHcicn-
siously. Once In whilo. however. n
fool will get by the boards Of cxamin-
srs BY whom all railroad employees In
responsible positions are nov hired.
aud. when he does. only too often it
takes a wreck 20 show him up
a tiagmnn Who Lost Ills Head"
Twenty years ago. one OF the large
railroads Of the East was poor. There
never has been a time when It hasn {
been poor, but at this particular pc
Rod the treasury had but recently
been looted for the third time in ten
wears. Tho salaries OF some OF tho
officers were In arrears. and wrecks
were unpopular, not 80 much from
the danger TO human life as the cost
OF rebuilding the roadbcd and repair
d l.4 tff t,f Ia INT a
vision Of this fairoad there was a
young oivii cn&neer who had been
but few ycarf out OF college. by
u N M j, 81 !E r. ID ~ lg1ulpusmssA'
rHn rNcrrFTrN IN NNi'Nng W the sec
iion of the line over which he was
''road MASTER" until it became the
envy OF the other division roadmas-
tcrH, and attracted the notice of "tho
old man" himself As Lowell said
Of two OF Emcrson's associates.
They mieht strip every tree and II
would never catch 'em.
His llcspcridos have no rude dra-
ron 60 watch en-.
When they send him n dishful. and
ask him 90 try EN-.
lie never suspects how the sly
rognes came by EN-:
He wonders why Z is there are none
such his trees on
And thinks 'em the best he has
tasted this season"
Thanks 10 sly old Irish foreman
sith a pretty knack at raidlng. the
ionng roadmaster was laying a foun-
dation for record breaking future.
when he had wreck and bad one.
ilc was laying new track on section
Of his division shut OF from the rest
OF the limo by heavy curve. one OF
the section hands was sent back with
torpcdoes and red flag TO warn
trains TO come on slow" He was
particularly warned 20 look out for
an express which WAS due about half
an hour after he went out. The
track gang had Just lifted an cid rail
preparatory Go letting IN new one
when this train rounded the curve at
fun speed and went into the ditch.
Disregarding everything else. the
young engineer. knowing that his
reputation was at stake. ran back to |
the spot whero he had posted the |
iagman, taking the foreman aud a |
laboror With him as witnesses. They |
found the man as pale as death sit l
tag by the side OK the track, his nag /
beside him. lie was trembling Ike a |
leaf, and the only explanation he |
could give for his failure TO signal I
the engineer was that the onrushirg /
train frightened him SO that he was \
unable TO move hand or foot. lm- /
probable as this seems. subsequent |
inrostisatlon proved that the same
man wss discharged from another
road for having failed 20 fiag a train
that he had been sent out TO stop.
The swift approach OF train appar-
entity Affected him In much the same
way that standing on the edge of
precipice does some persons.
\ Strange Case of NERVES"
The tendency toward sudden
panic" on the part OF men Of this
class who have once been involved In
wreck. constitutes real danger in
railroad life. and explains why Il Is
often considered necessary by the
master mechanics aud superIntend-
ents TO discharge the engineers and
Signalmen connected with an acct
dent, even though they may not have
been in any way responsible for II.
An engineer who has once gone into
The ditch with his machine" is never