The Washington herald., 1909-02-21

watching a gang OF section hands piling
Uordwood alongside the track in the
train yard: Wood was cheap and plenti-
Sui in the West in those days and coke
had not yet suppIanted Il as fuel. But Il
kept a small army OF men busy most Of
the time replenishing the wood piles
along the line. says the New York Post
Among the workers. Hamilton noticed
dDne red-faced youth who put more energy
end intelligence into his work than any
Df his companions. he was agile; he lost
so time IN passing from one pile 10
another: he piled the wood just as though
be were doing the most important work
on the whole railroad. Hamilton stroIled
over and watched him at close range.
Finally. he spoke 20 him
Say. boy" he said. how would you
Ike an inside jobe need an active fei-
low Ike you 10 work around the station.
The job would be easier than what you're
doing row"
Thank you. replied the boy, but I
amt looking for a soft snap
whats your name?''
Brown.
ton as he turned on his heel.
Brown. the section hand OF 1853. is
William c Brown, who has succeeded
President Newman as head Of the Van
derbiit system OF railroads Although he
began work on road out West, where
most Of his Success as a railroad op-
orator has been achieved. he IS a native
OF New York state. having been born
I'D in HerldmeT County in 1888. He was
sixteen when he went West and got a Joo
cording wood on the St Paul road II
. would - hard 10 imagine beginning any
lower dcwn on the ladder than that his
salary was then only a dollar day. But
lie kept HIS eyes open and learned about
2 good many other things than wOOding
q locomotive before he had been AZ IL
many months
Learning to Telegraph
When he refused Hamilton's offer OF a
<'snap'' lob. he hadn't any idea OF Te-
manning a section hand ali his life. al
though most OF the men he was =0skins
with never got any higher. Within a
wear. wSiie working on the section st a
little town in Illinois. the opportunity pre-
scented itself fer Brown 10 learn teleg-
Eaphy in the evenings He accepted Il
then gladly, and thus opened the way
fo- his future advancement He has Of
ten said. however. that he believes his re-
fusaI of Hamilt0n's offer was a real
crisis ii his career. It got him IN the
habit Of avoiding "shaTps." and made !;
comparatively easy for him 10 find his
greatest enjoyment in hard work. Those
who know him say that his positive
genius for conQuering difficult problems
has been one Of the prime causes for his
success
By close application he picked Up teleg-
Taphy rapidly. and. before many months
became a regular operator Not salts
fed with merely doing his work well, he
studied thoroughly the whole question OF
the application Of the telegraph 10 the
movement of trains. After he had
worked at the key al various points on
the St. Paul road for upward OF a year
learning all the time more and more
about the way trains were handled. he
entered the employ Of the Illinois Central
in the same capacity II didn't take his
e1Tperiors long 10 find out that he was toe
valuable a man 10 remain as an ordinary
operator. and they soon promoted him tc
the rank OF an assistant train dispatcher
That was in 1S7z and with that road ne
remained as an assistant and as dis
hatcher until IS75
For another year he was q train 6is-
hatcher for the Rock Island. thence goine
10 the Burlington in a similar capacity
HIS service with the Burlington lasted
until 1891. and in this fOUrteen-yesr period
he became successively chief train dis
patcher. train master. assistant superin-
fendent and general superintendent ot
the road. In every position he occupied
he went al his work with the same de
70 STA ru~ nc e1rr
as a boy section hand In every position
he showed the same loyalty 10 the man
egement Of the road that he expected
sns his subordinates- Those who worked
= under him were quick 10 understand thai
sn him they had a superior who syn
pathized with them because he himself
had risen from the bottom ranks.
Breaking a Blockade.
He vas never afraid OF working ovel
zine. There are railroad men in the Wes
to-day who recall one Of these occasions
II was while he was 4 train dispatcher
Srith the Burlington road. A blizzard haC
stalled several hundred carloads Of cat
lie in the East Burlington yards. and
there was great danger Of their freezing
10 death If they were not taken out. The
Superintendent vas al his wits end. wher
Brown. who had finished his days work
volunteered HIS assistance BY working
al night without a let-up. they removed
fhe cars and saved the road many thou
sands Of dollars Browns promotion u
the post Of chief train dispatcher fol.
lowed shortly.
From 1890 to 1895 he was general man
eger Of two subsidiary lines Of the Bur.
lington system IN Missouri. Here bis
ability 40 an operating executive was
S7fsnlavpd so we'll that in 1906 hn Was
elected general manager Of the entire
Burlington system with headquarters r
Chicago. In 1901 he left the Burlington
with which he had been connected fol
twenty-five years. and began his connec
ton with the Vanderbilt lines as vics
president and general manager OF the
Lake Shore and Michigan Southern. Ir
1902 he became third vice president Of tbs
New York Central, becoming senior vice
president in 1906, when he was trans
ferred 20 this city 10 take complete chsrgt
Of the operating department Of the road
Many incidents Of his career during his
ouarter-century stay with the Burling.
ton emphasize his resOUrcefulness as &
manager. his habit Of quick thinking and
quick action in an emergency. and hig
willingness to DO his share Of the hard
work on every occasion While he was
Superintendent Of the Iowa lines. a strike
called Unexpectedly, tied I'D an east
bound express. The superintendent va.
IN his private car on the end Of the train
When he realized what the abandonment
OF the train meant ne walked forward
snd looked over the engine Then h
CALLED TO the trainmaster.
'It looks as though we must take thi,