Rensselaer Republican, Volume 18, Number 1, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 September 1885 — LIFE ON A LOCOMOTIVE. [ARTICLE]

LIFE ON A LOCOMOTIVE.

Talk With art- Engineer—Some Remarkably Fast Runs. “Do you find engines in these days easier to handle than when you first took hold of the lever ?" “Oh, yes. There have been so many improvements of late years that a locomotive is much easier to run. It is much easier to get up steam. The use of coal instead of wood tends to this result; and then the patent injector is a great improvement over the old pump. The automatic air-brake is a * great help, and there are many minor improvements constantly brought forward—all ,of more or less utility—which lighten the labor of an engineer. Some roads use a patent bell-ringer, which is run by steam, but I never took kindly to it. It proved a source of annoyance more than anything else.” “I suppose there has been a great change of style in engines- in the last twenty years?” “Yes, they are much heavier, for one thing. In the old days a locomotive had td pull only three or four car 3. One with a 15-inch cylinder and 22inch stroke, weighing twenty-eight to thirty tons, was sufficient. Now trains are made up of fifteen to twenty cars, and the weight of the locomotives has been increased to about forty-six tons, with 18-inch cylinder and a 24-inch stroke. An engine with the ‘tank all leaded and ready to start on a run will weigh seventy-five tons.” “Have engineers improved as much as the engines?” “Decidedly, yes. In the old days an engineer was nobody unless he was one of the boys. He was expected to be ‘hail fellow, well met’ with everybody, and the amount of whisky a first-class engineer could consume in a night was something fearful to contemplate. Now, however, drinking is absolutely prohibited. While the ‘boys’ were good in their day, there are many who would not do for these times. They are a better-educated class in these days than they were formerly, for they do not sjfend their spare time in carousals. But still you will find them a jolly set, withal.” “Is it necessary to be a practical machinist to be a first-class engineer ?” “By no means. The very best engineers are those who are first ‘wipers’ at the round-house, next firemen, and are finally put in charge of the locomotive. By constantly being about an engine they become familiar with the different parts, and soon learn how to hkndle it, provided, of course, that they take an interest in the business. ”

“What is the average time of an express train in these days?” “Including stops, about thirty miles an hour. There have been some remarkable bursts of speed, however, but these were on extra occasions. Phil O’Neil, who runs the Omaha express over the Northwestern, carries the horns in this regard, 1 believe. With the ‘Wabash’ he brought a party of directors from Clinton, lowa, to Chicago at an average speed of a mile a minute for 138 miles. This was in 1884 Preston, another Northwestern engineer, made a record when he took the Jarrett and Palmer troupe from Chicago to the Bluff when they were on their way to San Francisco. He left Chicago at 10:30 pi m,, arriving at Clinton, lowa, at 1:10 a. pa.; left Clinton at 1:15 a. m., and reached Boone at G:2l a. m.; left Boone at 6:40 a. m., and reached the Bluffs at 10 a. m. That means that he made the run of 488.5 at an average speed of 46.45 miles per hour. That was a great run.”—C/iicago News. , ■ ■ An Anecdote of Beau Brnmmell.

“Your dinner, sir! Why here is the bill for that, which you see, with the wines, amounts to three pounds ten, and this you have handed me is only a shilling!” “Yes, I see it’s only a shilling," said Beau, looking curiously at the coin which the landlord held up to him between his thumb and finger, “but I can’t help that. You told me I could have a dinner for my money, and I assure you, on the honor of a gentleman, that little coin is all the money I possess. By some unaccountable accident it happens to be only a shilling ; I wish, for your sake, it was something else.” A puzzled, angry look came over the face of the landlord for a moment and then gave place to a broad grin. “Well! I suppose this might be called a joke, eh? One of the very good, if not very funny sort. Your name is—” “Brummell, sir; Beau Brummell, at your service.” . “I thought so. Well, Mr. Brummell, I assure you that, while appreciating the joke, I am not so selfish as lo want to monopolize the whole benefit of it, I’ll tell you what I’ll do,” and, with a chuckle, he took Beau’s arm, led him to the door and pointed across the way to the house of his rival. , “Do you see that house on the corner there?" “Quite plainly,” said Beau. “ Well, I will give yon a receipt in full for the dinner you have had and more about it, provided you will go to-morrow and play the proprietor of that house the same trick.” Beau paused a moment, as if in thought, then, drawing out his card? case and handing one to the host, said: “You’re a good fellow, and I should like to oblige you. There is my card. If you will furnish me with a list of proper establishments I will attend to them in their proper order; but with this fellow across the way I might havo some difficulty. You see I was there yesterday and he sent me here.” The Caterer.

Some Pointers for Heavy Drinkers. Much of the popular delusion concerning snakes is contradicted by Rheem, of the Smithsonian Institute. The venomous hoopsnake, which takes its tail in its mouth and rolls along like a hoop, and the blowsnake, the breath of which is deadly, exist only in the * imagination. The idea that serpents sting with the tongue is erroneous. An impression prevails that the number of poisonous shakes is great, but in North America there are but three species—the rattlesnake, the copperhead or moocasin, and the coral. Snakes do not .jump; they reach suddenly forward —perhaps half the length of their bodies.