Montpelier examiner. [volume] (Montpelier, Idaho) 1895-1937, 1915-01-15
HEAD OF FIREMEN
A MAN OF ABILITY

Nearly every member of the fire.
mems brotherhood calls him bill"
This is their way of showing their az
lection for William s. Carter, president
of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Fire
men and Enginemen. "Billn Carter
also possesses the entire confidence Of
his brothers in the ranks. The reason
for this Is well known among the Sc, 600
members Of the organization Nearly
every fireman whose living is derived
from scoOping coal or turning oil into
the furnaces Of our modern locomotives
is familiar with Mr.. Carter's career.
He was born in Austin, Texas, Aug
ust IL, 1869, and his boyhood days were
spent in western Texas, at that time
wild frontier country. There we're no
railroads in that section then and the
great ranches were few and far between
There we're virtually no improvements
Of any character west Of the Colorado
river and the only evidence Of advanc-
ing civilization were the dugouts of the
ranchers who owned the cattle that
grazed on the public lands of the state
Connecting with the outer world were
the wire- Of the government telegraph
running from Fort Worth westward 10
where the city Of 81 PAso is now pcot-
cd
Up 10 eighteen years of age Mr.. Cart
or led the life of a typical cowboy
Thsre were many Indians ia that sec
tion and the theft of cattle was a conn
mon occurrence. Mr. Carter recalls
that ordinarily the Comanchea were
the offenders and now and then there
would be little brush or skirmish be-
tween the cowboys and the redskins.
However, the Tonkawas were friendly
Indians and President Garter remem-
beers them as quiet and peaceable people
The bucks were good scouts.
In those days there was large ranch
which was widely known in that part
Of Texas as the Ducus ranch on Brushy
creek, and when Mr.. Carter was we'll
into his teens because of his knowledge
of cattle and business ability he was Of
fered the superintendency Of this place.
Shortly afterwards be assisted In the
sale of it and the new owner promptly
drafted him as manager of small
wooden tramway which was used to
bring green lumber from the forest.
est.
II took the job" Mr.. Carter relates,
land it was my first experience as q
railroad man. The cars were very
small and three large mules hitched in
tandem furnished them the locomotive
power. The drivers of the mules were
negroes and / was the superintendent
OF the drivers, the mules and the entire
seven mile length of the road
MIR. Carter received what was con-
sidered ct that time high wages for
this work hut when he was offered a
job as fireman on wood burning loco
motive on the old Central Montgomery
railway he accepted, although the sal
airy was smaller. He worked in the
small cab Of this old wood-buraer until
November, 1880, and for the next three
years he was out Of railway service en-
tirely. During part OF Is83-lS94, Mr..
Carter labored in the baggage depart
ment Of the International & Great
Northern railroad and from 1885 to
1889 he was in the locomotive service
as fireman on the same line From
1889 to Jnne, 1890, he handled the
throttle of a switch engine for the In
ternational and then entered the service
Of the Denver q Berkeley Park railroad,
q suburban line, and continued therein
until May. 1891.
The scene of Mr.. Carriers next labors
was down in Old Mexico on the Monte
rey & Mexican Gulf railroad, where he
hostled and ran a road engine, working
there until May, 1892. The next few
years he was q fireman on the M. X. &
T., and by this time had become so well
yersed in the engineman's craft that,
at the Harrisburg convention, Septsm-
Der, 1894, the delegates chose him editor
and manager Of the Brotherhood Of Lo-
connective Firemen's Magazine. He as
sumed the duties Of that position Oct
ober 1st Of the same year,
During the period Of his editorship
Mr. Carter was credited BY railroad
men, both employers and employees,
with bringing the ORGANIZATIONS pub
location up TO high state Of excellence
and prosperity. It was said Of the
magazine under his direction that ii
was the peer Of any other publication
in the world In point Of technical accur-
acy and the character Of the informa
tion offered 70 It's readers.
On January1, 1904, Mr.. Carter be-
eans Grand secretary and treasurer of