Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-01-26
DANIEL WILLARD IS
At THROTTLE AGAIN
b. e. o. Head Rides in Engine
Cabs at Night to Speed
Up Traffic.
BALTIMORE, Jan. 26.


On some of the night trains running
between New York and Baltimore rail
road employees standing Mt Baltimore and
Ohio stations this week perhaps noticed
as the big locomotives whisked by an
individual with iron gray hair and pleas
ing countcnance seated in the cab with
the engineer and observing closely every
movement made by the hand on the
throttle That man was Daniel Willard,
president of the Baltimore and Ohio, and
probably the most talked Of railroad cxecn-
tive IN America today.
Riding the engines of both passenger
and freight trains il only one OF many
of the difficult tasks which Mr.. Willard
has imposed upon himself during the
current week to make the Baltimore and
Ohio more efficient, so that 1T can render
greater service to the country during the
war crisis.
Ii is during the night when the world
IL asleep that railrpading ~ the more
difficult At is the time when iasIty soufe-
tunes occurs that causes the delays in
moving trains over the big systems
And it was at night tnat Mr.. Willard
made up his mind TO get q closeup view
of operating conditions at the Baltimore
terminals
tBGk t3t llsl not SloI TAU
satisfied himself that things were going
right he decided to turn back the pages
of his career TO the time when he rode
III an engine cab as the engineer. THIS
| has been good many years ago.
WAS NOT SEEKING THRILLS.
Mr. Willard has not forgotten the
thrill of those days when he rode his To-
conotive with train going sixty miles
an hour This week, however, the head
of the Baltimore and Ohio system was
not after thrills. tle wanted to know
whether the engineers were running their
engines properly, whether the delicate
parts IN those engines were kept IN good
order and whether they could be depended
upon at all times To do the tasks they
were built to do.
There is not any part OF an engine
that President Willard does not under
stand He knows locomotive like a
book, and the engineers at the Riverside
roundhouse and on the big engines that
pull the trains between Baltimore and
New York discovered this fact this week
On one or two occasions Mr. Willard
observed that an engineer was not prop
eFiy controlling his throttle
THAT is not the right way, John, said
Mr. Willard codrteously; "try it this
way, as he caught hold of the throttle
| and opened it like an experienced man
should.
"By George said the engineer, the
big boss hasn forgotten how to handle
the locomotives" as he resumed his posi-
tion in the cab.
SHORT BIT BRILLiA Mt WAR - EECH.
Mr.. Willard was seeking efficiency in
IL IN
! that is vital phase of railroading
In the repair shops MIR Willard in
sisted upon every man doing his cit for
tie government during the war He i'm
| pressed upon them the necessity OF work
ing overtime if the occasion required it
"For instance" said Mr.. Willard, ''ii
| an engine is in need of repair it should
be repaired immediately, even though
some of you have to remain longer at
work. Every twenty-four hours delay
in moving to the seaboard freight which
should go abroad to our troops means
twenty-four hours delay In the. trenches
of Europe. Remember that.
This was the patriotic note sounded
this week by Mr. Willard in the Noun,
Clare shops. Persons who heard his
talk to the Mount Clare men say that il
was one of the greatest addresses that
one railroad man ever made TO another