Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1916-01-14
FOR ENGINEERS
RAILROAD AWARDS RED SPOTS
FOR EXTREME EFFICIENCY.
Eastern Line Has Peculiar Method OF
Keying Employees UP to Pitch Of
Perfection-Many Have Been
Long in Service.

The other day there was celebrated
the eightieth anniversary Of the break
ing Of ground for a railroad at De.
post, N. Y. The peculiar part Of the
whole business is that it was due in
great part to a woman's whim.
Eighty-four years ago a girl Of Ram
apo, N. Y, married a man from the
same town named Henry L.. Pierson.
The two went to South Carolina on
their honeymoon. When the bride got
to South Carolina she heard that a
steam engine was to make its first
trip (of six miles) from Charleston to
Hamburg.
Never having seen an engine, and
not being content to leave the state
until she had seen everything in it,
she insisted on taking the trip with
the engine. She did, and although the
ride was neither as pleasant as it
might be, nor yet so smooth, she be-
came so enthusiastic about it that
when she returned to Ramapo she
talked of nothing else.
Her brother-in-law, Eleazar Lord,
and her father-in-law, Jeremiah Pier
son, listened to her arguments in IA
vor of a local railroad. and four years
later ground was broken at Deposit
for what eventually proved to be the
i Erie railroad. Jeremiah Pierson be-
came it's first president.
But this story isn't about that. It's
about red spot engines, which attract
ed a lot of attention at the celebra-
ton.
When a young fellow living along
the right of way of the railroad be.
gins to see red spots dancing eter,
nally before his eyes, it is not at all
symptomatic that he has a bad stom-
ach or poor circulation; it is prophetic,
rather, that he is due some day to be
an engineer.
OF all the railroads in the country
this is the only one that awards red
spots to it's engineers. That is, if they
keep their engines abnormally clean,
economic on coal and water, and yet
keep to their running schedule, they
are allowed to have the numeral plate
on the front of the smoke box of their
engines painted red, with the numer-
ais in silver. If their excellence in
these respects is something to marvel
at, in addition to the red spot they are
allowed to have their name painted
in gold letters on the engine cab.
And when, at the end of his run,
such an engineer finishes his securing
and polishing above the running board
and then turns his engine over to the
wipers, these gentlemen go at that
engine as though they intended to
clean it off the track altogether. And
when the engine is put in the house
the inspectors go W. her with mi
croscopes, and then go owe her again.
When the hostler takes her out again
for her run and turns her over to her
engineer he wipes the steps where his
feet have stepped. lest they leave a
sooty imprint.
And of all these lei there are
four with their names on their en-
gines running into Jersey City, Har.
vey Springfield is the topnotcher,
You can see yourself perfectly in the
headlight Of his engine; your figure
will become comically convex and
broad in the crossover pipe.
There are about forty-six men be-
longing to the Order Of the Red Spot
who run into Jersey City, but, as has
been said, only four with their names
on their engine cabs. And a peculiar
thing about this class Of engine driv'
ers is that none of them seems to
show the strain of continual engine
driving. All their faces are good nat
ured and %rubicund, and the eyes OF al
are bright and keen. 1t was a sur
prise to hear that Barney Walsh, who
drives No. $50, and looks about forty
five, had been working for the rail
road for just that number of years.
His explanation of his looks is very
simple.
"An engineer" says he, never
breaks down gradually; he goes to
pieces all of a student" And here he
looked very shrewdly at his question
er. He gets" he continued, what is
called locomotive ataXia!"-New York
World.