Fulton County tribune. (Wauseon, Ohio) 1883-1925, 1915-03-12

Pullman on the ~westbound train were
three men. Two of them, Z the
superintendent of the road and the
other an ex-railroad man, were en-
gagged in conversation on the merits
of railroaders in general, and con-
corning those who maintained their
positions through official relationship
in particular. The third, a we'll
groomed. portly gentleman. sat quiet
ly in the corner, pulled a cigar, and
listened.
"Railroading isn't a profession; it's
a science" the ex-railroad man was
protesting. I've always maintained
that these relationship jobs are a
detriment to the service, and it's been
my observation that, as a rule, the
incumbents W. make good"
I've known some exceptions ~
that rule; in fact, l ave n in mind
now" said the superintendent.
1T was in the old days on the nj.
l. and N. Old Man Goodefl had come
down to Kensington from the 500 to
take over the management of the
road; and while he didn't have a great
deal of style, he more than made up
for it in a system Of his own, that
resulted in making the two streaks
of rust and a right-of-way one of the
best paying little roads in the country.
I was a general utility clerk IL his
office at that time, and sorted but the
old mans mail. One morning I came
across a letter from Tom Goodell.
Tom was a brother Of the old Ian,
who had been in the lumber business
up North, but who had taken a sud
den notion that he wanted to be a
railroad man. The letter was a re-
quest for a job.
Joe Kelsoe was trainmaster up at
C~.nterpoint at that time. He mad some
set notions, like yourself, about Toms
kind, and wasn't at all backward
about expressing them. The boys
said he cussed a blue streak when
he got the old mans letter ordering
him to send Tom out braking on the
local to learn the road.
well, everybody knew at once
what that meant, and there was a
general howl all along the line among
the trainmen, not official, of course
but a lot of talk, and, as usual. that's
about where it ended.
About three months after that, Ed
Burton, a freight conductor with g
through run, came within an ace Of
5etting into a smash-up with an east
bound passenger on an order he mis-
construed, and, of course. went on the
carpet. The old man was always
mighty square with the boys wher
they got into trouble, and was dis
posed to be lenient with Ed, though
he had known for some time that Et
wasn't a man to be running a train.
He was o-yersensitive on the sub
ject, as that kind usually are; S,
when the old man offered to com
promise by giving him thirty days
and a gravel train when he got back
Ed f1ared up and quit, taking a pas
back to Arlington, where he lived.
THAT was the only time | eve
saw Ed to know him; aid when b,
came through the office, looking a,
black as a thunder cloud, I surmise,
he had been having his troubles il
the old mans little sanctum.
We'll, as everybody expected, tw,
day. later Tom Goodell got his train
THE night operator at Menden ha,
given him orders to pick up som
amntv cfonE oorc of ArIipoton ood
guess that's all that saved US from
about the worst wreck the road eve
had, for we would have gone into tina
open switch al a forty-fve-mile clip.
They usually went through fror
Menden without stopping, that bein
a part of the run where they made u
time. AS it was, they had slowe
down for the stop, and when they ur
expectedly shot in on the siding fror
the upper end, the engineer had hi
train pretty well under control; S
the little bump they gave that strin
of empties did no damage. The switc
had been thrown, and the ligh
changed SO that it showed white.
when they found out about tn
changed switchlight, the crew laid
to every cause but the right one. A
Tom jumped down from the caboos
steps. however, his quick eye ha
caught sight of a mar ducking aroun
the edge of the station that looked a
awful lot like Ed Burton.
He said nothing about this whe
he came up where the boys we're tall
ing, but the next morning he an
the old man were closeted for the be
ter part of an hour. l could tell b
his loud tone that the old man wa
considerably worked up about som
thing, for he always was a quiet sol
of a man. All the while Tom wa
talking in a low, pleading voice, an
now and then l could hear Ed Blu
toms name.
After a while they came out, an
the old man took his pass-book frol
his desk and filed out a blank.
could see his hand tremble as b