HP.R AND INITIAL.
ll foil. Dentil SCCHied
it ilila switchman wasn't
ick as thought ho
Hipp of thu track. There
i 'lie end of thu car at
locomotives, QB perfect ntnl
well equipped as any that
run on the road, doing the
work about the yards. Once
the prejudice of the "road
runner" ngalnst the yard en
glue was so groat that an
old engineer, who bad been
knocked down and mangled
while irtBslug the trucks,
praised Ood with his dying
breath that he had not been
killed "by one of those d d
p nles." Yard engines welsh
ing sixty nud eighty tons
are common nowadays. Their
work calls for great
strength. Kadi engine Is
supposed to be able to stnrt
any sort of a string of cars
on the level. One of the
old-timers tells this story
to Illustrate the point:
On Illll Turner.
"It was down In tho yards
at l'eorla. Old Illll Turner
was yardniaster for tho Q
and ho was a hustler. Onu
day one of them llttlo ponies
had coupled Into about a
mile of boxcars loaded with
corn. She couldn't start
'em, but she was slipping
nud snorting and making a
great hullabaloo about It
when Old 1)111 Turner came
sailing down the track.
" 'What In 's the mat
ter with you?' he shouted at
snorted the engineer, 'she's on her third llurllngtnn live and the Northwestern four greedily. One of the soldiers noticed the who was visiting the school, and she lluull)
time 'round. In this connection It must be remembered mute appeal. "Have a drink, old party?
"And you'd ought to seen Old Hill Turner that the Chicago roads do the greater part he said, passing the bottle over. The sand
getting nway front that part of the yard." of their switching on the Iowa side of the wich man grabbed It In two purple bands
In those days there was little pleasure river, tho Burlington's big yards being at and before the cavalryman could stop ti . lit
I'aclllc Junction.
These engines dally handle now. when ,
business Is slack, 2,7fi0 freight cars and Ml!
passenger cars, or n total of .'i.Utifi cars a
day. In times when business Is good these
llgures are Increased by one-half at least
so that It Is not an Infrequent oceurteuce
fiat fi.000 cars are handled In twenty fo.if
'lours In the Omaha yards
It Is easy to get some notion of the ex
'cut of this business. A railroad 230 miles
long, equipped with MO passenger cars
sleepers, day coaches, baggage, mall and
:B if TRANSCONTINENTAL TRAFFIC.
leu hid the axles cleared
lie engineer bad seen
bef
o the second truck
on cb would either have
rnk tienm and bo dragged
U I cjuaheil, the engine
urVVJerk stopped the
, Vfis switchman then,
d ("This class, took ud
lull jnd rolled out from
unsettled, and went on
hoiH'i:
th
nothing had hap
hances thu switch-
thu engineer.
" 'Nothln' at all,' shot back
tho engineer, 'only this ten
pot won't pull every car In
tho l'eorla yard.'
"Old Hill climbed upon tho
engine and took n look at
the steam gauge.
" 'No wondor you can't
start 'em. You'vo only got
eighty pounds of steam,'
" 'IOighty pounds of b 1!'
'IHHBIHBBBBBBBBBKBi
1NSIPU THU CAM,
Kr either engineer or llreinan on the pony
It was, and Is for that matter, the rough
est sort of bard work to ride all day over
the frogs, being bumped and Jolted by the
quick starts and stops, but this is mini
mized on the modern switch engine. It
requires a high grade of skill to success
fully run a switch engine. The engineer
needs a quick eye and an accurate Judg
ment of speed nud distance in order to be
able to quickly and carefully handle the
cars. Ho and his llremau aro kept busy
all day watching for signals and looking
after the safety of the men on the ground,
besides tho ordinary cares that fall to the
lot of an engine crew. Kterual vigllanco Is
Just as essential In the cab of a switch
engine ns it Is nnywhere on earth. These
men work ten nnd eleven hours a day, and,
while their lives may not bo so spectacular
; . - .
OILINC. UOl'ND" 1 & M
Inquired: "Can nnone tell me who Is the
governor of Massachusetts?"
No one could tell, not even Utile Oliver.
The teacher then told every one of the
pupils when ho got home to ask his father.
h.i as to be ready to It'll her the next day.
Accordingly, when the class was assembled
h' following morning, she gave out the
question, calling on Oliver to see what he
might have to say about It. Oliver
answered:
"I'a Hays he's the governor. Hut I don't
believe It. 'cause he always making fun of
evervthln' so!"
Lord Kelvin. the eminent F.ngllsh
scientist, was a practical liian In all things
Nothing annoyed him more during his
lectures than Inattention on the part of
IiIh pupils. Ho once surprised bis class by
tho quick and amusing manner In which
ho solved n problem on sound. In the
midst of nn experiment Lord Kelvin had
ceased lecturing and was silently watching,
along with most of the students, the
progress of nn experiment. There was a
dead silence, which was suddenly and
rudely broken by the sound of a marble,
which an Inattentive student had purposely
dropped and which continued to roll and
drop, drop, drop down all thu Hers of
benches till It reached the ground lloor
Meanwhile Lord Kelvin had quickly turned
around and observed where the marble
emerged onto the lloor. He counted back
(he number of times be had beard It drop
ami then announced:
'Mr. X of tho seventh Her, you may
he hail diank at the least half a pint of r,M,ort to mo after the lecture.'
cheap whisky. Then be wiped his lips on
bis coat sleeve and returned tho bottle.
The cavalryman's eyes bulged with wonder.
"If I had a thirst llko that," he said,
i'd never do another day's work."
At a gathering
Chnmhcrhiiu's In
of prominent men at
Washington the other
Tho eminent scientist had correctly
snotted tho culprit.
The other morning u gentleman with
white beard, closely cropped, and quite an
alderman'le girth, walked down Ponnsyl-
vn n In avenue to the eapltol, relates the
'OILING ROUND" UNION PACIFIC.
express ears: 2.7f0 freight cars and forty
llvn mii'lni'M inmlnvitii- Hill I im.li In tint I'l'HKtlt III Ivn Allen. "Hint two HIII'll lirllllailt Sllld VCTV dftCIl
ns those of tlio men who pull the limited, If 0j,orntnK department, would be looked men as you ami Slump do not seem to be resemblance-?'
(..in it,.. ....nvniuMiimi tiiniK.1 to ll.,. mm Washington Host. On the way bo stepped
and downs of politics. In the party weio "" " '"'! h'i't ''V John Pentium to make
Private .lohn Allen of Mississippi nnd nurcbase. The shopkeeper looked at his
Senator Slump or Idaho, both of whom hive customer closely.
Just concluded unsuccessful senator al "' '' ""' uv,'r ,''" '"" 110 "Hked.
canvasses of their respective, states. "that vou looked like ex-Prcsldent Har-
"Wtiat's the matter down In Mls.-lsslppl risen?"
nnd out lu Idaho?" someone asked Rep- "Yes." was the reply. "I have heard It
Do you tlillik tliere is a
If wnsn t for them the limited would never ,m i,., ,,, u.i,i...i,i.,iU ,,u ,,..,in. ..,,,.,1. u.nni...l in in,, mumi..?" "I should sav so." answered Pentium
get out of tho yards. 8lzC(1 proposition lu Itself. Many a town "Well, now," drawled the Mlsslsslpplan of "I never saw (ieueral Harrison, but from
Oniiiliu ViinlN Ar ionil." 0f metropolitan pretensions wuild lie boast- famous wit, "Idaho Is a long wny orf, nnd I his picture 1 should say you were a dead
Omaha's several switching yards are busy ful If It could demonstrate that In Its yards can't toll you much about why Slump got linger for him."
places, but they bear a gtoi reputation wore handled in a mouth as many ears as loft, tint I can tell you about Mississippi. I The purchaser gave a little chuckle, as If
among railroad men. There are degrees In nrn handled lu the Omaha yards lu a day know all nbout It." Then, lu a eonlldontlul lie were Intensely pleased, and then wenl
yards as lu everything else. For instance, during the dull soukoii. This list of coin- whisper and with nn air of Imparting some out of tho shop, proceeding on his way to
It is the general understanding that If a parlsons may be continued Indellnltely
man can work In the Kansas City yards he These few will serve to sh ,w how exlen
stnrtllng secret, ho added
'Mississippi the eapltol. Peiiham went to the door and
can work anywhere
Not so very many
years ago it was the
custom down In the
Kaw bottoms to bury
the unsiu-ci ssful as
pirants for places on
the switching crews.
They were usually
killed beforo the
yardniaster got a
chance to discharge
them. It Isn't be
cause I here Is not a
great deal of work
done dally In the
Omaha yards that
they have a good
name. It Is because
the tricks aro so
arranged that tho nun
s me chance to do their
paratlvo safety. In order
notion of what
OOINO TO WORK.
slve the Omaha
switch yards really
are. And then add
to these yards In
South Omaha and
Council HlufTs, wllh
their great trackage
and dally tralllc, and
you'll have a notion
of lb ' immense tin
p rtauce of t li e
swiuhmau to the
business world In
this vicinity. Multl
lily him by every
railroad center lu
the United States by
overy division sta
tion on every trunk
line, and you'll gel
really have an Idea of his relation to the business
work in com- world in geiiei.il.
to glvo somo Ho Is not n hero. Ho Is merely a man
Is done dally The. Heo who works.
gathered somo llgures during tho week.
As to the number of cars handled the
llgures are not exact, owing to the 10
luetauco of tho roads to stalo their busi
ness to tho public, but they are ap
proximately correct. Tho oilier llgures aro
flPI'llril I 1 f 1 1 1 lllnut.u .if 111., vni'.lu i,l..,ii In
the Illustrations on this page will enable "!. " l""K. 1,11,1 1(;o,,Kr"88 lml"
tho reader to form some Idea of tho extent fH JurlK lct on over tho territories. "Oh,
of thu trackngo yos," bald tho ueuntor, remembering ox
Terminal traJkago and switching facilities ITesidont Harrison's recant article in a
In Omaha aro controlled by the Union "'iJBadiio, "It can oven make a Presbyterian
Paclllc, llurllngton, Missouri Pacific, North- L,;",W';UK rol glon.
western and Omaha Bridge & Terminal , A" t',01 J8tlH lughed-all except
companies. These companies have a total J"8t,co 11,1,;as', who; bul"B 11 1 resbytorlan,
of 230.7 miles of tracks In tholr yards. not t,,1,,k tho rtif"rcllC0 ut n11 ''"'""rous.
Ovor these Is handled tho business of tho ,. ... ' .. .. , ,
companies owning tho yards and in addi- . "'reo soldiers wearing tho bluo nnd yol-
tlon that of the Rock Island, Milwaukee. w of tho Unlt.Ml States cavalry did a good
Illinois Central. Hlkhorn, Omaha, Sioux u'"ill"u u' ,m' lu .,,.. -
Inc "un 111 vi' I rli ' ' tn ft ti u in u-ii ti u I ti ti 1 1 11 if In
City & Paclllc and Omaha & St. L011U
roads. '
Short Stories Well Told
Senator Lindsay wns discussing thu Porlo
Rlcan cases beforo tho United States su
promo court last week when Justice While
"1
GEO A 1
ijMBfflrWilliirtoi
AN HASY WAY OF COURTINO PICATH.
IOitiliiiu-iil I'or a llullroiiil.
oni i of things It Is not
swrwmian to go between
j pi (incoiipio them. One
IiTj lluyStratlons shows a
ug tilw sldo ladder while
th, 1 ,hreak8 tho coupling,
I UK I lie.
0 n kept In touch with
the Wltchlng engine, or
is lie men who work
lov to call the big 111a
tli cars around cannot
th ilgothat has taken
opm tit, oven during the
nrp place tho switch
a nad engine, disabled
legMtd to what was then
1 w fk. Ttion enmo tho
lo r-wheoled nHalr that
dildsllpped and slid
Hut lox cars kept getting
r, aul tho pony had to
ow havo magnificent
isn't sending Us best men to tho soniito tills looked after him. Standing lu the doorway
year." was "Al" Reed, tho district agent of tho
Atlantic Const llnu. "Al," said Pentium,
During the lato ux-dovornor Wolcott'a "(lltl V"" that man who wns In hero
Ing "sandwich" man who was standing lu term of olllco as governor of Massachusetts 't now?"
, front of Trinity church, Now York. The his youngest son, Oliver, was lu onu of tho "Yes." said Rued.
soldiers wero making a hilarious wny to primary classes of a school. Tho teacher "I told him," said Pentium, "thai he
Smith Kerry, Kvory block or SO they wan onu dav ohIIiil' mm,. Hi Innw ,,f hr llttln looked lust Midi nx-PrMl,li, nt llni.plu.il, "
To handle the business tho Union Paciiic stopped anil took observations through a pupils, to glvo thorn a chaiico to stiow "Of courso ho did!" exclaimed Reed,
uses thirty-five engines, tho Terminal com- tile black bottlo. Tho sandwich man's what thoy know about one thing nud an- "That was Harrison himself."
pany three, the Missouri Pnelllc eight, tho tooth chattered nnd ho looked at thu bottlo other for tho entertnlnment of a lady ,;,
MarJ' lie had Just returned from
a visit to the old homestead in
Tennessee, where a colored nurau
nearly 100 years old was still a
tieasured liimate. It piuzlod bur
that Chloo should bo called
"auntlo" by her mother and the
family, hut at last she accept d
tho fact and did likewise. II, r
playmates, trooping in to weliO.no
her homo, began to onuincr.1.0
tholr possessions inquired d.ii.i..;
hur ubsoiioo.
"I've got a hlai k p riy," crowed
Charlie exultantly.
"I've got a new baby brother,"
cried Jcsslo.
"M'm! That's nothln!;; I've got
two of 'em," letorti d , rod.
Mar.'orle's eyes llafli d. "Oh!"
she cried, "I've g it a heap 111 r n
that, I'vu got an auntie as . Id u.i
Mefiisola and hlnck us tur."
IN TIIK HURL1NOTON LOCAL YARPS,