ATA . .
Bee
PART IIL
I HE UMAHA
UNDAY
HULF-TGirE SECTIOH
T TO 4-
VOL. XXXVII NO. 4S.
OMAHA, SUNDAY MOENING, MAY 17, 1WS.
single oorr five cents.
GEORGE W. VROMAN VETERAN UNION PACIFIC ENGINEER
Forty Years of Life in a Locomotive Cab, the Eecord of a Man Who Is Still Active and Vigorous Enough to Take Part in Life Despite the Pension Granted Hin.
THE OMAHA DEC
Ekst Wert
FOR forty year George VT. Vroman has sat dally In tbe cab
of a Union Pacific locomotive, and for fire years previous
' with tte Wabash, with hi unfaltering Land upon the
throttle of tLe mighty steed of steam aDd Las guided it
safely over million of tulles of track; for forty-five years
George W. Vromaa baa aat In the cab of the engine of progress with
his mental eye upon the gauge which show the standing of his
fellow -engineers. In plain prone and without frills or metaphor, be
has daily had an eye on the welfare of his fellow-workmen and has
been a leader in their councils and their representative in the coun
cils with their superior officers, aim ays on the lookout to ee that
bett'-r whges and better hours were given the men to whose charge
are daily entrusted thousands of lives as they speed over the steel
rails tt lightning tpeed.
Geoige W. Vroman, who has recently been retired by the Union
Pacific on a pension which is said to be sufficient to keep him the
remainder of his life, was bom In tbe town of Fittbburg. Dane
rourty, Wisconsin, September 2", lfUl. Fitchburg is near the cap
ital at Madison, and here he lived until he became of age. In 1S57
he att'nded Albion academy for a year, and in lfLi went to the
Un! rsity of Wisconsin, where be remained for two years, until
c-ir: umrtances compelled him t quit college before completing Lis
full college course, and to go out Into the world to earn Lis own
v r. v thi on jb life.
When be bad reached his majority he went to Lafayette, Ind.,
where be entered tbe service of the Wabash railroad as a fireman,
;n I (( r ' rr, lfr61. For two years he shoveled coal Into tbe Iron
n.: ncter. nrd was then promoted to be an engineer. In tbe fall of
tbr.t year be was given charge of tbe roundhouse at State Line, be
tven in liana ai'd Illinois, which position be held for a year, when
h? cgaln resumed rosd service until January, lfcS. At that time
he resigned and c: me west to se-ek a position on tbe new t'uion Pa
cific n.iroad which was just completed between Omaha and the
Wirt. Pit January 2C, l&fH, he went to work for the Overland route,
marine a freight engine between North Platte and Sidney until
1F72, when be vim promoted to a regular passenger run. He mad
his 1 on? in North Platte and from that time until a few weeks ago,
when he was retired, he has been in continuous service of the Union
Pacific railroad.
Brought His Bride Along
The country was wild and full of bandits and Indians when Mr.
Vroman moved to the vest, but he decided that be would ask Mary
E. Jordan of Indianapolis to share his fortunes with him in the new
country, so on November 1, 1S72, they were married at Indianapolis,
and to this union seven children Lave been born. One died in in
fant; . bi t six still survive, four boys and two girls. Tbey are Blanch
M., Clarence J., Walter J., Arby T.. Ralph W. and Clarence W.
Ev-r on the alert to do something for the betterment of his fel-.-(
mpk, yes, Mr. Vroman, at Laramie, In April, 1877, organized
tie first rer.eral committee of adjustment, and was elected to tJas
office of general chairman, which position he held continuously, x
cij.t for one terra of two years, until the close of 106. This com
rr i i : r hug been of immense value to the engineers, nbt only of the
Union I'aciiic, but of tbe entire country, and has not only succeeded
In heading off several contemplated reductions on the part of the
managers, but has also been instrumental In securing several raises
in pay and a general shortening of hours.
One special case where quick action on the part of this commits
t"c headed off a reduction came shortly after the committee was
formed. On June SO, 1877, two months after the committee was
orni.iii7.ed, an order was posted along the line of the Union Pacific
making a reduction of from & to 10 per cent on all employes, effec
tive July 1, ti.UB giving but twelve heux' sotlce. A hurried call for
& feeling of the general committee tf adjustment was made tor
Ovr.hs, where, after a short conference with tbe officials, they suo
c erU c in Laving the order rescinded. This prompt action en tbe part
of tbe Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers in meeting this emerg
ei y proved beneficial to all employes of the road, for the cut was
i,ci. made in any department
Aetir.c under the advice of George Vroman the engineers of th
T: )on Pacific, In March, 1&&5, formulated their first regular sched
ule of pay and conditions under which they were to work. This
rreerr ent was made with the company, but the firemen were not
represent d. By recommendation of Mr. Vromaa they were carries1
florg r.nd received proportional benefit. Just befere the schedule
vat made tbe Kansas Central was taken Into the Union Pacific sys
tem. Here the enginemen were paid very low wages, bnt the acLed
nlf of the main line was made to apply to them, and they were
brought up to the standard pay.
Busy Days for Vroman
The Kansas Central was segregated from the Union Pacific sys
tem in March, IS and alleged to be under separata management
under W. H. Baldwin, jr., whose father was one of the directors of
the Union Pacific system. Before he Lad Lad time to warm Lis
official chair Mr. Baldwin proponed a redaction of wages of engi
neers and firemen., to take effect April 1. Tbe engineers and firemen
til J a conference with Mr. Baldwin, asking tor a restoration of tLe
v-mv.-s in accordance with the schedule, but be declined to make any
cot t ssions. The enginemen called upon General Chairman Vroman,
wl j met Mr. Baldwin at Leavenworth, Kan, and after a very short
coherence Mr. Baldwin offered to restore about one-half the reduc
tion. Mr. Vroman simply said that he could not vary from the
schedule without the sanction of the general committee of adjusts
rm-r.t and would take the rase up with General Manager Than. a L.
Ki:..bail at Omaha. The general committee met in Omaha, and,
alter a conference with Mr. Kimball lasting several dure, it was
proposed to Lave tbe Question arbitrated. Captain Rus'in, who at
that time was general manager of the Omaha Cable company, oper
ating cars In Omaha, was selected by Mr. Kimball and Mr. Vroman
as arbitrator.
On June JC. at the Millard hotel, Mr. Vromaa and General Man
ager Kimball presented their doucumentary evidence and made their
or: arguments before the arbitrator, who on the following flay ren-6e:-d
his decision In favor of the Brotherhood of Locomotive En
gineers, restoring the wage of the men on the Kansas Central
ra it oad.
This arbitration Las gone down In nlrnsry as a notable event and
was considered a remarkable victory for organised labor because It
was tbe first case on record of a difference between railroad em
ployes and railroad officials being adjusted by arbitration. It is
more common now, bnt It was considered a notable concession at
that time, as it Lad no precedent In history.
Another Great Victory
GEORGE W.
and leading officials of all the principal organizations were prepent
at the Learitg. TLe court room was crowded to its fullest capacity
and all were Intensely Interested in the every act of the court and
the evidence of the witnesses.
Tbe aert morning, April 5, Judge Caldwell ordered that the re
ceivers ahould conduct the business of tbe road under the old sched
ule of pay, la accordance with the desires of the employes The
case was netable from the fact that organized labor had reached the
jurisdiction of the highest court ever reached in the history of or
ganiaed labor. The press of the entire country took up the case and
It w as eemsaented on as a precedent as to the rights of labor serving
under the Jurisdiction of a United States court and under receivers.
No further friction was had for some time, as everything moved
VROMAN.
got busy andV succeeded in having an increased compensation al
lowed for running engines of greater capacity and handling greater
tonnage per train, but with greater profit to the company.
P. M. Arthur, grand chief engineer of the Brotherhood of Loco
motive Engineers, was for years considered to be one of the moFt
able and conservative labor leaders this country ever produced. In
every convention of that organization, held during his incumbency,
he had no opposing candidate except once. On that occasion the
name of George W. Vroman was presented, and he received 122
votes, and it was to be seen that with a little electioneering he
would Lave been elected to the office and given the title of grand
chief engineer. This shows the immense popularity of the man who
has always been willing and ready to go to tbe front for bis fellow
along quite well until the company began to procure motive power men. He had no fear of the money powers and was always fight
of greater capacity. Mr. Vroman and the general committee again lng for the rights of labor.
Mr. Vroman left tbe throttle long enough at one time to take the
position of mechanical fort-man of tbe Union Pacific shops at North
Platte, but was soon Induced to take up the cause of tbe engineers
as the genera chairman of the board of afijustmect WLile in this
position he held not only the esteem of all the employes, but was
considered by the olllcials as broad minded, conservative and able,
and to him to a great extent must be attributed the comprehensive
schedules of tie Union Pacific railroad and the exceedingly har
monious relations that have always enstd between the road and
it employes in the engine and train service. General Manager Moh
ler was once heard to say that only tbe loyalty of Lis trainmen could
put such a larce volume of business over tbe crowded rails, and it
is such men as George W. Vroman who tend to produce this har
mony which works to the welfare of alL
One Plan That Died
At one time Mr. Vroman conceived the idea that It would be a
fine thing to build a railroad in which the railroad employes of the
country could invest their savings. He figured that there were then
1,000,000 railroad employes, and that if each would invest $10 a
road could be built from San Diego to Salt Lake, following prac
tically the same line as tbe new San Pedro line follows. His Idea was
to build a line without bonded indebtedness Laving the men pay for
their shares on the installment plan. Associated with Mr. Vroman
In this scheme was U. S. Grant, jr. The road was planned at tbe
wrong time, as the financial troubles of 1Si3 and lkM blocked the
plan.
In October, lff, the Union Pacific put on the fast Chicago
Denver special and east-bound from Julesburg to North Platte the
eighty-cine miles was s. li:duled at fifty-four miles an hour, the
fastest schedule west of New Tork at that time. Engineer Vroman
was selected to run that train, and for nearly five months averaged
fifty-seven miles per hour, and many nights when the train was late
made tbe run of eirhty-one miles in from seventy-three to eighty
cine minute, and had no delays on his account. The class of the en
gines at that time did not have the large driving wheels sixty-nine
Inches being the largest at that time, while now they have engines
on the run with wheels eighty-cine Inches In diameter, or nearly
seven feet.
Of thrilling experiences Mr. Vroman Las Lad his share, as one
may well imagine when it is considered that for forty years he drove
Lis engine over tbe plains from North Platte to Sidney. He could
write a volume of his narrow escapes, but the most thrilling was tbe
Bin S;rinps train robber on September IS, 177. Mr. Vroman was
engineer on the Overland express that cicbt when the train w ai
stopped by robbers, one of whom shot at tbe engineer from the
water tank, but. fortunately, he escsped injury The robbers secured
$65,000 from tbe express car and from the passengers, but did not
attempt to rob the mail, which contained many thousand dollars
more in registered packages.
Chase for Robbers
The story of the chase of these robber is most thrilling. Joel
Collins was nearby wiih a bunch of cattle he and his men had driven
from Texas. They appeared on the scene and offered their services
to search for the robbers. D. E. Leach, telegraph operator at Ogal
lala, went to Collins' camp and there saw some circles which had
been cut from handkerchiefs to make mabks. He came back that
night and saw Collins and Lis men dividing the swag. Collins was
recognized in the depot at Buffalo Park, where the station agent
saw him reading a letter. The sheriff was notified, but he let Col
lins go. Afterwards the sheriff changed his mind and went after
Lim. When they met Collins and his companion were killed. Tied
In the legs of old overalls was found $20,000 of the money In gold.
The weight of this Lad Lindered tbe men in their escape. The rest
of tbe gang was tealously followed and all were either killed or
captured with the exception of Sam Babs, who made Lis escape, al
though wounded.
Engineer Vroman Is at present retired frowr'artive service and
resides w itti his family at North Tlatte, the next door neighbor to
Colonel W. F. Cody, with whom he has been Intimate for the last
thirty years. One of Colonel Cody's sisters married a locomotive en
gineer. Ed Bradford, at North Platte.
Although retired. Mr. VroRan is a very active man and Is prob
ably the best known locomotive engineer In the United States, Li
prominence for maty years In tbe councils of the grand conven
tions Laving given him a wide acquaintance and a reputation wLich
Las extended over the entire field of organised labor. His broad
knowledge of all branches of railroad business Las made Lim a most
valuable man in all conferences which he Las attended and today
Lis advice is sought by railroad men because of Lis broad experience.
Hayti's Strange Ruler Unlike Any Other Potentate
Another notable lictory was won for organized labor a few year
later through the effort of Mr. Vroman. During the year of 188
and 1M, through the acquisition of contiguous lines, the Union
Purine had a mileage of S.000 mile, and the men and officials wer
moving along wimmingly through these prosperous years until Oo-toit-r,
1 K 3 . when the panic caused tbe system to pas Into the hands
cf receivers. In February. 184. the receiver petitioned the United
ftaiea court lor the district of Nebraska, proposing new schedules
nd making a reduction on all labor, both organleed and unorgan
ized. George W. Vromaa Lad been made general chairman of the
b.iard of chairmen. rtrreseiitlng all organised labor on the system,
and be called a xuetig of the general chairmen at Denver immedi
ately on hearing of the application. They formulated an answer to
the receivers" petition, which they filed, and were given a bearing
'.fore United States Judges Hal let t and Bluer, for Colorado and
QVyoming. They won their caae and the reee'vers took an appeal to
tne United States court of appeals at St. Louis, before Judge H C
CaldwelL Tbe receivers were ordered to a hearing early In April in,
Omaha in the United States court, before Judge Caldwell, wiva Judge
titer Fitting with Lim.
Otgn iiHI labor aU cvw the oonttry w& Ixtereated la th case
PORT-AU-PRINCE. Haytl, May 10. Possi
bly somewhere in the jungle of Africa,
or perhaps in the mystic east, or on the
planet Mars, there is a president, poten
tate, shah, rajah, sultan or some other
sort of ruler who Is as atrange and grotesquely
impossible' as President Nord Alexis of Hayii, but
ccrtai1BCNatbere t none to cempare in the Western
Hemisphere. Castro of Venezuela, that ""monkey
of the Andes," cornea close, perhapa, but Castro'
style diters. and, while he defies the great power
of the earth, he doe not approach In pure pic
turesQ ueneas the venerable old man who aits in
the presidential palace here and runs this little
black republic to suit himself.
Imagine a typical Ethiopian between $0 and
100 year of age, bloodthirsty and apparently
only half drilized. a .dealer of death to political
enemies, a iliever in tbe horrible voodooism, and
jou Lave Just a taint Idea of what he really is.
1'or anything more one must come to Haytl and
see tor himself.
For ll'S years the country has been under tb
same sort of rule as now. The natives gained
their Independence from the French, and since
that time the history of the country has been one
of strife and bleod.
Ehut eff frcai all the rest of the world, it has
gone on a downward path, until now it seems
that nothing can save It from utter ruin except
Intervention by the powers. No steps have re
cently been taken toward saving what is left and
building upon it. The' government robs the peo
ple, and the pccple, thoroughly accustomed to this
procedure, don't seem to care much.
Alexis rule with a hand of Iran. Some day a
rerorction against Lim will doubtless be success
ful. If Le lives until snotber may be organised, but
for the present Lis will Is law. A personal or po
litical enemy is dealt with summarily and harshly.
The shooting of twenty-eeren alleged con
spirators on March 16 by order of Alexis Is the
most recent example of Lis way cf ruling, ywt um
time paste and the perspective is larger that
slaughter will be bnt a mere detail la the history
of Lis regime, perhaps one of the wxirsi detail,
bat xto so very much worse than many other things
Llch Lav been don and other which wCl be
done, bo doubt, bales foreign!- take Large.
The c-fcf3ar if Aiwmla i - fir tor.
His father was a so-called prince of Cape Haytian,
the northernmost part of the country. Alexis the
elder heid a high position in the household of
Emperor Henry Christophe, a barbarian, who left
behind him when he committed suicide in lfc"0 a
horrible trail of blood and deeds which native his
torians pass over a "many unfortunate acts."
The ideas of CLrlstopbe were handed down to
Alexis, LiuiBelf a ptge to tbe emperor. A mighty
and brutal man was Christophe, whose history u
told here is BcarceJy believable.
Once Chrisuipbe doubted the loyalty of the
chief of police of Port-au-Prince, and theieupcn
he asked this officer if he were really ioyal. The
chief naturally enough said he was, whereupon
Christoihe told him to prove it by bringing the
heads of his ( the police chief's ) w lie and cauhtrr.
which the tUit-f did, and Chr.siopbe was convinced
of hi6 love and support.
At another time Christophe became enraged
with the French and lsbued a decree that there
after the official language would be English, and
that if nfter twenty-four Lours an; one spoi.e
French in Lis prtM nc" Le would be exec uted. To
complete the transformation he changed his own
name to Henry and Las since been known ai
CLristophe, and sometimes as Henri Christophe.
The traditions of Christophe which have b-en
Landed down from the last century deal with
nothing save bloodshed and the atrocities he com
mitted. His own death was violent and somewhat
heroic.
In 1I0 he was stricken wi:h paralysis, where
upon Lis political ener. ies started a' revolution.
He swore to cure Limsclf of Lis ailment and at
tempted to do so with a bath in a aolution of herbs
and peppers. It gave Lim momentary relief,
enough to p rmit Lim to mount Lis Lorse and start
for the front.
The paralysis Quickly took hold again and
Christophe was carried back to Lis bed. His sol
dier went forth to battle with the rebels, Chris
tophe directing the campaign.
Then cam the news of desertion from the
government rank and the revolution was thus
made successful. When the king rece:ved this
Itlormatioa be shot himself ttrotih the Lean.
It 1 doubtful if an? one ctonmed the loss.
Eaviag beea ln.b4 wi'-h tin sort of rule, it
U prLa; u4 aarytain Cat i krt Is the xaaa Le
is, although more than four-score years have gone
by since Alexis used to wait upon Emperor
Cbristopbe. Alexis came into the presidency in
lio: by force, as bate all presidents of Hatl.
He had made other efforts in previous years, but
had never been successful.
They say tow that he desires to remain presi
dent until be. dies, and that he also has an ambi
tion to proclaim l.imfatif emperor, but this latter
ambition will doubtless be put afaide unul the pres
ent difficulties tee been put out of the way.
Were it not lor the earnestness displajed the
whole situation v ould seem aosurdedly impossible.
It is uselest to call it oj-era boulle, for from tn-.t
point of view it is even more. The most pictur
esque part of life here is ti e aim with its scores
of fc.ncri.ls and all. It is extremeiy funny to a
foreigner, but the soldiers thenst.;et take n muct
seriously.
President Alexis on a Sunday morning granted
an interview to the correspondent of The Bee. The
audience was given in a reception room of the
presidential residence.
Thit. executive mansion lies in the southern
part of the city. It is built of brick and wood,
two stories in height ana, strange to say, is
painted a slate eoior, with a dark and moilest
roof. Tbe buil:ng itse-lf is surrounded by a com
pound enclosed in an iron fence with another sur
rounding that, thus affording two lines of protec
tion. On the east and north of the executive reser-. a
tion lies the 'ast Chr:) d? Yars lij the ccn; t of
which is a huge statue of D.'ssa'ir-'S. who exter
minated the whites in 1M'3. The CI a:n;i de i'!irt
is like unto nothing else than a bit cf pasture
land, where a flock of sheep and n any gatf re
constantly grazing. There aie no drnes or inad
w a?s; the native carriages drive at where in the
reservation and thus a network of roads, or tra.is.
Las mar-ed impossibly what could easily be made
an attracth sj-ou
On this i: under morning th-re w as a re view
of aoidiers within the palace ground. This the
foreigner did not see. possibly because the sol
diers wer nct in good form, or po.L!y U cause
no one thought about extending tb-m an invita
tion. The entrance to the grounds is through a large
galea ay. a paaa on each Sid fur pedestrian
and a larger one In the center for horse and
vehicles. Half clad soldier filled the street out
side and the compound within.
The uniform perhaps too dignified a word -of
the private, who is a soldier only occasionally
and a street laborer at all other times, consists of
a sort of blouse, trousers tattered and torn and a
dilapidated hat- The invariably wretched condi
tion of the hats we surprising. No one ranking
under the grade of colonel seemed to Lave need
for shoes.
The officers of higher rank were uniformed
brilliantly, but no two were alike. It seemed that
each officer must hae" concocted his own dress.
Sometimes there were brilliant scarlet breeches
with a purple stripe, sometimes the order wa re
versed and another dash of color given by a green
coat with a ust amount of gold lace. There wa
a marvellous variety of hats, the cockade with
worn a. grett.es resembling nothing more than a
moth-eaten feather duster.
There was a pause in our progress at the gate
way and a general he must hate been that at
least was called. He gave the sign and. after
standing aside to permit the exit of half a dozen
prixates. we were permitted to enter by the sentry.
Ibis individual sat on a boxlike chair at on
side of the gate. He had in his possebsion a long
rite, a chassepot of the tpe turned out about '70,
with a ba.or... t "I he butt of the gun jested between
his I t. re bee It as he sat on the box; the point ot
the bayonet supported the gun against the upright
J...11 if ilit- pule. .Lis making tne opposite side of
a l &nnr. To inrn.it past.age the energetic senti
nel l;.z;: reii-hed d n and lifted the gun toward
him, then. nHt-r the part had passed th.ough, ha
let it drop l...ci; into j .act'.
The t ; -nt i c-ivevi,; was guarded by a number
of soldiers Li d a s:; ail i rass cannon, a Napoleon.
Th get.eral tmeij of tbe place was neutralized a
bit by sweet pt-vfi, :, tioui the rose gardens oa
rr.li- r side Presi'tt Alexis a great loer of
v e v e i . v . i.
The doors of the palace were three, each with
a chafoet, ,t leaning d a; oi aVy a'-roia. a at the
otLer gte. v;ih a darky sent.uel to watch it. A
lij-'hlj-c-oiored both in uniloriii and otherwise
cftoer nodd. d toward a aeniinfol and the party
want through.