Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 27, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 February 1917 — When Firing Meant Real Work. [ARTICLE]

When Firing Meant Real Work.

Said an old fireman: “Firing in the early days meant working 24 hours. They’d come around and call you, and you had to go, no matter if you hadn’t an hour’s rest. One time-they came and called me for another run before I got in, even. When I got home there was my father; he was a carpenter at the shops and a railroad man, too. ‘Where in you been?’ he asked me soon as T got in. - . ■ “ ‘Just finished my run,’ said I. “ ‘The caller was here after you an hour ago. I think you’ve been loafing somewhere.’ “We had to stick to firing sometimes two or three days on a stretch. One night I pulled into Albany,” said Bud, who was holding floor just, then, “and I ha dn’t had a wink of sleep for 72 hours straight, and I started for my boarding house in Albany; but the boss called me over. ‘You’ve got to take out this train,’ says he to me. ‘I won’t,’ says I ;Tve had no sleep for 72 hours !* ‘Can’t help it,’ says he, ‘got to go,’ and he took me into the office and showed me a bulletin that promised to lay off a man who disobeyed orders. By the time I got home I was too tired to sleep.”