Image provided by: University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries, Lincoln, NE
About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 27, 1921)
The Omaha Sunday Bee MAGAZINE FEATURES VOL. 51 NQ. 24. fccefflm 3X960TpalnsA Ifs agame op checkers) says fheyavd-masfetr: Did you ever sit on the rear platform of a train as it entered . a large city, watching new tracks spring op on each side of your train until they formed a compli cated network of steel? If o, and if you are not familiar with railroading you doubtless wondered . how the engineer managed to pick out the right track. You may even have had an uneasy feeling that, he would choose a track already occupied. Perhaps you had been reclining lazily on the observation platform, listening to the clickety-click of the , wheels, and sleepily watching the track recede. The prolonged whistle of your engine and a slight slackening of speed rouses you a bit. You hear a sharp clack-clack as the wheels of your car hit a switch and then, as if by magic a score of tracks appear. The wheels strike a half a dozen moteswitchosy. you are whisked witly by several ' almost endless rows of box cars, your car grazes an outgoing pas senger train or two, and' then you pass under a signal bridge, ; ' Accidents Impossible. To'one side of the signal bridge is a tower, and in the tower is the highly complicated mechanism which enables your train to glide to a halt oil its proper track in the station without mishap. This mechanism, known as the "interlocking machine" makes ac cidents practically imppssible to a train entering a large terminal. One hundred and four passenger trains a day, or 37,960 scheduled trains a year enter the Union sta tion here. These trains carry sev eral million passengers a year in, out or through the city. The Union station alone serves tight railroads. Yet even minor acci dents art almost unknown. "How do you do it?" The question was directed at Charles Ostrom, day yard master. Game of Checkers. "Well, It takes brains," admitted Mr. Ostrom, with becoming mod esty. "Especially does it take brains when you have more trains than tracks." "What do you do when you have A Day Exploring the Ancient Dwellings in the Buried City . of Pompeii. "An egg shell over 2,000 years old! Dear, that's one of the most impres sive things we've seen." "Huh, wonder if they had it fried or scrambled?" Warren paused to view the fragile, petrified relic labeled: . "Found in the kitchen of the . House of Sericus in the excava tions of 1884." "And here's some cooking uten sils! What curious, long-handled spoons 1" Helen had" passed on to the next ease. ""Think of seeing spoons that were used before Christ!" In this museum of Pompeian relics, it was the prosaic domestic articles that most interested Helen. All museums exhibit specimens of an cient art. but a biscuit mold and a rolling cm used m 9 B. C have an V intin intimate appeal. . - "C Great guns, this is a cheerful V bunch P Warren crossed to a large -Use in which lay three mnmmihed postures. "Found in the cellar of a wtn shop where they had sought ref uge. Buried in the ashes and lava before they could escape. The figure lying face downward is that of a young woman, her hand orer her mouth to shut out the volcanic fumes." v Silently Helen viewed these jnie more trains . than tracks, Mr. Ostrom?" "Sandwich 'em," rcplied the yard master. "Put two on the same track, if they're short trains. "Being a yard master is like playing checkers, only it's always the yard master's move. And if he looses the game, well he doesn't keep on being yard master, that's all." "You keep records of all the cars in each train, Mr. Ostrom?" "Do we keep records? Well, rather. The only things going in and out of Omaha that we don'l keep records of are those air mail planes." ' The yard master explained that all cars are examined in the sta tion under his direction; that half a dozen switch engines, also under his direction, keep the cars in their . proper places. Keep Tracks Clear. as.-. The -matter-of-- gettiag trains to .-. their . tracks in . the station r sheds seemed a simple matter, as' de scribed by the yard master. "I know just when a train is 4ue, and figure out what track to bring it in on," said Mr. Ostrom. : "I then 'phone to the east or west signal towers, depending on which way the train is coming from, and tell the tower man the track it's expected on. He does the rest. "The big thing is to keep the tracks clear so as not to -delay the arrival of trains in the station." Mr. Ostrom pointed to a tiny structure, not more than five feet square, situated directly in front f the station. . . V ' His Palatial Offices. "This are my palatial offices," he smiled. "It's here we yard mas ters play ' most of our games of checkers. The booth is connected by direct wire with both signal towers." " "How long have you occupied that suite of offices, Mr. Ostrom?" "How long has this Union sta tion been built?" was Mr. Ostrom's counter question and reply, as he moved away, doubtless intent on some new move in his perpetual ' "checker game." i Which meant that Mr. Ostrom had been a yard master since 1900, when the station was completed. some remains that so tragically testi fied to the swiftness with which death had overtaken them. Her meager school history knowledge of the destruction of Pompeii, supple mented by a hasty reading of the guide book that morning, became suddenly vitalized." . . The "young woman" smallest of the shriveled mummies what had been her life? , Had she been mar ried? Had one of these men been her husband? 1 "Jove, these look burglar ' proof !" Warren had turned to a case of massive locks from Pompeian doors. "Take a good, strong jimmy to force that one." There were cases of jewelry, coins and Etrnscan pottery, all found in the excavations and all remarkably preserved. "Come on, we've got to move fast This whole show closes down at six we've only about three hours." "And they say it takes two days to do it properly. We always have to rush through everything," re gretted Helen, as they left the muse urn which stood at the gates of the excavations, to explore the Buried City itself." Here another group of guides be sieged them. Equally persistent were the men with litters who want ed to carry them through the ruins. "Guess we can toddle around on our own piu," Warren wared MAGAZINE r " ; v) hose job ittcludfjf , direction of -the Union $"fxfiott erttiittal The tower man in the west tower proved to be a busy per son. He was occupied juggling a few hundred thousands tons of rolling stock into its proper place; This juggling act was being per formed on the complicated "inter locking machine,", which might be compared to a piano. . . Rachmaninoff, playing his own well-known prelude, could have displayed no more technic than did Towerman H. J. McLenithan, as he played on the levers of his ma chine. '- ' No Wrong Keys. As for harmony-well, Rach maninoff. might hit a wrong key once in a while without serious re sults, ' but-let McLenithan pull a ! wrong leaver no, McLenithan ha3 it ill ove'r the great pianoist. &"Thert isn't'really a chance of anything going wrong, though," declared Mr. McLenithan when he had finished his rhapsody on the levers. "Everything ,is so ar- ranged that a towerman can't make a mistake, , "You see this machitfe is just what it's named, interlocking. ., There are only 77 levers, to' begin them away. "You'll have tp wait for some real suckers." Eluding the importuning guides, they mounted the steep lava path, from the top of which they had their first glimpse of Pompeii. " A city f deserted streets with gutted, roofless houses! Helen caught her breath. ' She had expected only ruins. Here house after house, save for the roof, stood almost intact They were all low stone structures of but one story, built around an interior open court . And the silence that curious list ening silence as though the very houses were watting for the return of their ancient inhabitants. "It's weird 1" shuddered Helen. "No wonder they call it the 'City of the Dead." "That looks like 'Main street' Let's take a whirl down there." "Wait, here's a plan," unfolding a map. "How curious, it's divided into nine regions and the streets are all named. Where are we now?" "You've got it turned wrong." Glancing over her shoulder Warren swiftly found their location, "Here we are!" "Yes. that's right 'Strada d Xola'," verifying it by the street s'gn cn the corner house. "And it was the Main street, it says so here. Dear, vou're wonderful, how did you know?" Warren's shrug implied, that he could spot "Main street" even though The Married Life of Helen and 'Warren OMAHA, SUNDAY MORNING. NOVEMBER 27, V KIJ IL K II " ft I ' . XV - - V ill V fci-: I 1 Ofotf Zk? signal fou?r with, . Everything is done by elec tric power. To line up a route for a train into the station it is necessary to set from three to seven switches properly. . This is all done with the levers." Mr. McLenithan pointed to a row. of small dials above his ma chine, . in which indicators re sembling block signals, moved. These dials, . he explained, show, when the switch is properly set. Signal on Bridge. He then called attention to the signal bridge,' which is about 400 feet . from the station. , "When the train leaves the auto matic block signals behind it is a signal on this bridge which tells the engineer whether to stop or go ahead," said Mr. McLenithan. "If the signal is down he , goes on, knowing his route is lined up." . Signals on the bridge' are con trolled by the interlocking ' ma chine. When .a train enters the switch movement the signal rises again, and a train behind it can- snot follow. Should the engineer disregard or fail to "see this signal, however, and attempt to follow i the first train his engine would be derailed. the town had been buried a couple of thousand years. "Here's your corner saloon," he paused before a house, No. 27, at the next crossing. "Wonder if they could mix a good cocktail? How about a dry Pompeian? . Why not? No more unlikely than a Roman punch. Where'd they rush the can? Don't see any side door." "Dear, you're uncanny! It was a wine shop. Listen to this: "In No. 27, were found many of the bottles and flagons now on view in the Museum. The carving over the door two men carrying a large bunch of grapes was the trade sign for a wine shop.' "So that's how you knewl" dis illusioned, viewing the quaint carved sign. The next few houses were very similar. All had held small shops in front, the family living in rear rooms which opened on the inevitable Court "They spent most of their time in these courts the 'Atrium' it was called," eager to impart her guide book knowledge. "I'd. think they'd have to these rooms aren't big enough to swing a cat Must've been the descendants of these old birds that built the fiats in Harlem." "Yes, it says the rooms were so small they made a recess in the wall for the head of the bed. Here's one in this next room. And look at thai frieze!'' mm M . V :g!,: 4 appears 4b keraet The derailing elamp works automatically, blocking the rails when the proper train enters the "movement." From three' to seven switches must be set with the lev ers to complete a movement.. Five amphers of electricity are required to throw each switch. What's in a Whistle? Towerman McLenithan says all towerman 4earn to recognize trains . , by locomotive whistles. "It's as easy to tell a Union Pacific engine from a Rock Island engine as it is to tell a "Pullman ' car from ' a box car," said the towerman. .,- . . .-. '.'This , helps alight. , When , a ,, towerman hears, a whistle he knows immediately what railroad ' the train is running on, ' By glanc ing at the clock he can identify the train by the time it is due. He has instructions from the yardmaster what track to send the train in on, and the rest is simple." In the tower, beside the tower- . man,, is a train dispatcher. It is the duty of the train dispatcher to keep an accurate record of the time all trains arrive and leave the terminal. He has direct telephone It seemed incredible that 20 cen turies had not faded the brilliant Pompeian reds and yellows "in the' frieze of dancing nymphs. A sunken pool to catch rain water was a curious feature of the marble paved court According to ' the guide book this pool, called an "Im pluvium," was used as' the family mirror for looking glasses were then unknown. "Huh, shouldn't think it would be very good to shave by!" grunted Warren. "No wonder those Johnnies grew whiskers!" "And imagine having to come out here every time you wanted to powder your nose! Oh, look, it's a lizard 1" startled by a faint rustle at her feet. It was a tiny green lizard, the only living thing in this house of the dead. Musingly Helen watched it as it glided beneath a moss-grown stone. "Well, you can't dawdle here we've got to dust along." War ren's briskness was a jarring note. On the next street were the more pretentious houses. In the House of Vettus, a rich merchant, the mural paintings were astonishingly served. Apparently the Pompeians gloried in the gruesome, for in one room the walls were covered with mytho logical scenes of torture. A nude woman chained to the horns of a bull, another torn to ' 1 M 7" ,1 Al r if Sc.ttj 1921. ur, m iofwj r ff ii '&td-tnasfer's etboatrd - :; - :.:: - :U - :sr - i'.v.: - S,:? - . r un ho conductor: -fells fire engineer connections (with all lines and with Lane Cutoff and Gilmore. On this particular occasion F. E. Fowler was serving as dispatcher. He was too busy to talk. , , How Trains Start, J. W. Adams is the responsible head of the system which includes the Union station and yards, and ' which daily handles more trains '. and passengers than many .larger pieces by wild horses. Ixion, nailed to the wheel of torture on which he must forever revolve, and others, even more lurid, which the guide did not elucidate. . v "Prohibition wouldn't have stood much chance with these guys," War ren strode into the next room. "From these pictures you'd . think they spent most of their time tank ing up. Pipe the size of those high balls!" ...... Helen followed him into what had been the dining room. Here the walls flaunted riotous scenes of reveling. Bacchanti, grapes and huge wine flagons. The designs in the mosaic floor indicated the place for the dining table, and the couches, on which, while eating, the Pompeians re clined. The kitchen was even more in teresting. A great stone oven still held the ancient cooking vessels. Fitted in deep depressions were three huge copper caldrons, just as they, had been left on that fatal day August 24, 79, B. C "111 bet they never had breakfast on time if they had to heat this up to bake the biscuits." Warren poked into the deep oven with his cane. "And the weight of those pots! Imagine having to wash them!" thinking of her own light aluminum ware. "Plenty of slaves then. They didn't have to pay a tnippy-iirrant chock i 11 1 m H Til R9SI 4MF tm ...... I r Mt t . i i n tfefd-ttisisfec ClterhsOsfrom and his office terminals. , Despite his responsibil ity Mr. Adams is a genial man. ' "It isn't so very complicated," he said, in a voice which really seemed to infer, 'you don't know the half of it ... . ' , It is seldom a train is delayed in entering the Union station or leav ing it, according to Mr. Adams. 'A five-minute delay in other and even larger treminals may be quite 60 berries a month to cook for two people. Hello, what's this?" tapping a leaden pipe exposed in the crumbling wall. "Did those ginks have running water?" "Oh, yes, an elaborate system of waterworks it speaks of that. We must see one of their public baths they're supposed to be very won derful" For another hour they wandered on through this strange corpse of a city. House after house of echoing desolation, the painted walls, mar velously preserved, giving intimate glimpses into Pompeian life. "I wonder what this meant?" Helen paused to read the carved let tering: "Salve lucru" still legible on a worn door step. " Welcome.' on the mat," grinned Warren. "Those old codgers were strong on inscriptions peppered 'em all over the place." Warren's facetious comment and poking cane grated on Helen's rever ential mood. It seemed like sacrilege to pry into the homes and intimate customs of these people, whose lives had been so tragically wiped out A clangorous bell from the direc tion of the museum suddenly violated the stillness. It was a rude bringing back to the prosaic world of today. "Guess that's chucking out time," Warren glanced at his watch. "Five minutes of six. We'll have to mosey along don't want to be shut up here."' TEN CENTS 6 t&tieetrs. beecZtt Hgnri common, but here a five-minute delay would ' be considered catastrophic, Mr, Adams said. "Who tells the engineer when to start his train?" Mr. Adams was asked. , "Ah, that indeed is simple," he replied. "To the right of each track in the station is a dwarf signal. These signals have green (Turn to Pace Five, Column Serea.) "I wouldn't mind it would be s wonderful experience! Think of what , it must look like at night! Think olf it in the moonlight those strange streets and empty houses. I wonder if their spirits ever come back?" "Well, we'll not stay to see," he stalked on ahead. "Come on, I'm about fed up with this burg." Back through the streets they had explored; past the market place, the columns still intact; and they reached the road that led to the Marina Gate. . "Wait just a moment I want to see it from here." Helen turned for a last glimpse of the ruins, now. hauntingly sad in the twilight Over it all loomed Vesuvius, grim, menacing, awesomely near. From the funereal crater came a thin coil of smoke, as though still threatening the city that centuries ago she had so ruthlessly destroyed. "Dear, I'm going to read 'Last Days of Pompeii" again it'll mean so much more now." Then musing ly, "I'll never forget this picture- the houses are -wonderful in this, dusk. You don't expect to set the ' lights come out in the windows." "Well don't stand mooning then we're got an hour's drive back to Naples. It'll be after seren before we get any dinner," grouchily. "Come on now, stir your stumps V Next Week Their First Restau rant Dinner in Italy. 3 t f 1