Evening star., 1924-10-17
LO W E II S
For the Living
Patrick E. Crowley.
BY SCHUYLER PATTERSON.

Bill the brakeman and 1 paused
at the edge of the railroad tracks
to watch the limited pass. Eight
heavy Pullmans rolled blythe last
recognizable as an official car. on
it's rear platform sat little man,
who waved in friendly fashion.
who's that?" 1 shouted.
"Eh?"
who's that man who just waved?"
"Oh, why that's Pat Crowley.
do you know him well?"
Sure. Every one knows him"
And among the 175,000 employees
of the New York Central Lines that
statement is true, Every one knows
Pat Crowley" Every one knows him,
admires him. and today is working
with-not for-him. For Pat Crow
ley, son of small-town station
agent. erstwhile telegraph operator,
dispatcher and division superin-
tendent, whose first job as messen-
ger boy paid him IS week, is today
President of the largest railroad sys-
tenn in the world, the directing voice
in a system which carries one-fourtE
of the traffic of the entire United
States over more than 10000 miles
of tracks.
Crowley's rise to success, his con-
quest Of obstacles, his selection to
fill his present office, are paralleled
only by the life stories of such men
as Lincoln, Hartman and his own
predecessor, the late A. H. Smith.
Lacking even a grammar school edu-
cation, naturally shy, impelled only
by an indomitable will to do each
task WELL he has made every inch
of the grade from the most humble
situation within the employ of a rail-
most pinnacle of achievement in his
line of endeavor. Today his board
of directors includes such men as
Chauncey Depew, William X. Wander
bilt, William Rockefeller, Edward S.
Harkness, Robert s. Lovett, George
+. Baker and Ogden Mills. But to
the men of the railroad he is still
Pat" Crowley, and they feel that,
regardless of the place to which his
outstanding ability has led him, he
is with them in spirit now as he
was 40 years ago, when he was
handling train orders for snow-bound
crews in northern New York.
The story is told of Crowley that
when he was superintendent of the
Pennsylvania division of the New
York Central two train crews became
confused in the directions they had
received. with the result that their
locomotives met head-on. Rigid disci-
pline called for instant dismissal of
all concerned, for, although there had
been no great damage, a serious ac-
cident might have occurred. The men
were suspended and Crowley hastened
10 the spot to ascertain where the
fault lay.
His investigation placed the blame
at the door of three men. There
was no question tba,- l,5
a very grave mistake. They and
their associates fully expected dis
charge would follow. One of them,
an engineer, was almost so years of
age, had always been a railroad man
and there was nothing ahead of him.
His career would be definitely ended
crowley returned to headquarters
ana made his report. A few days
later he reappeared and called in
'he luckless three. There was no
mistaking what he had to saw on
the subjects of carelessness, inef-
hclency and the essentials of good
rallroading. When he was finished.
however, he waved his hand toward
the door. Now, you fellows get
back to work. he said, "and remem-
Der IL any one of you makes another
such mistake were all going to be
looking for new lines of work"
NO better indication of the place
cro"ley holds in the minds of his
reno" workers may be gained than
liohh the Tact that this story is the
one oest remembered about him. II
is said that on most railroads tbara
are four brotherhoods, but on the
New York Central there are fiye-tbe
extra one being the Crowley and en-
oraclng the entire personnel.
Copyright, 1921