The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1908-02-14

In the first place everything is done
in the strictest order and every mar
in the territory covered by DR.
Wakefield, furnished with written
order from those higher up in the
roads employ to the effect that ne
present himself at the office of the
examining physician on n given date
to undergo the tests required.
The most interesting thing in con,
nection with the examination of the
sight Of the men, is a peculiarly con-
structed lantern, which is made to
show every known combination of
railroad lantern signals and some
that are not known, in order to ac-
certain the correctness and the
promptncss with which the man being
tested can read these signals.
The engineer, fireman or flagman
takes his seat 20 feet from the Ian
tern, the room is darkencd. and the
! specialist begins to rotate a cylinder
on which colored bits Of glass cover
small holes. and from the outside
have the appearance Of the usual
lantern signals shown at night on the
railroad. and at day by thc scma-
phorc or the flag
Ry simple adjustment Of the lam
tern being operated, the size Of the
light is reduced to exactly that Of
the regular lantern seen at a distance
Of half mile. The light Of course
appears not larger than a small cncr-
ry, but the amount Of light falling
on the retina is practically the same
rs that from regular lantern, in
point of intensity, at half-mlc dis
tancc.
There are four grades or percent
ages Of condition Of the eyesight
which is included in the handbook
sent out by the road and prepared by
an eminent specialist for this classi-
fication work.
1t may sound strange to a man 10
be told that one eye on being tested.
shows strength or condition Of 20 20
means perfect 2ycsi~ht-or
30 30 which means Il partial dcficien-
cy Of the cyesight.
For instance Il man who holds q
certain position Of little responsibili-
ty may be able to show a record of
only 80 per cent, expressed in every
day term. and not in the scientific
method Of registering the relative ef-
ficlenry and strength Of the eye.
An cnginenan or fireman. how |
ever, must be able to show up a per-
feet vision before he can take hold
of the throttle Of one Of the South
crn's great six-whecl engines, or
guide a. swift-movin@ passenger train
through midnight darkness. with on
~ the semaphore lights and the lam
tern along the way to guide, while
the mistaking Of the color Of any sig
nal may cause the destruction of a
whole train. 1t is for this reason
that the Southern is exercising with
other railroads. the EXTREMIST caution
in the matter of having men in charge
with perfect eyesight and with per-
feet vision and with no trace of the
oftrn-hcartl-of color blindness.
"Just the oihcr day." said DR..
Wakefield. 'a railroad man came up
I" my office to take this examina-
tion., and he was sortin" ont the var
i"nS colors in the tray Of rolorcd
skrinS. which are tied up in little
bows Of various sizes. When stcpr-
ed outside for a moment and re1nrn-
in=. found that he had picked out
three distinct shades and colors and
had carefully piled them up for
skcinS Of one color. or slight shades
of that color. Tie made no remark,
except 10 pull ont his watch and say
that he was in 4 hurry. He never
realized that his eyes were seriously
| affected by color blindness
The examinations Of the railroad
men have been carefully conducted
here. and the railroad will receive the
reports of the specialist and if there
should be any man whose record in
rradin" the signals or in selecting the
c"lorrd Skcius or hearing the ticking
Of Il spccially-malc apparatus. at Il
distance Of 20 feet. is no! up to the
requirements The officials of the road