South Bend News-Times, Volume 30, Number 239, South Bend, St. Joseph County, 20 August 1913 — Page 2

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TOP off at Uonlontown, X. J., on your next trip oast and pay n visit to (irore Washington Scott, locomotive onrii' r, whose al rt brain,

keen oe ami steady arm were the sole safeguards from disaster, iiijurj- and death of 10,X),000 people across 1,000,000 miles of rail, during the half centurj- the veteran's now withered hand held a throttle.Do not delay the vhit too Ions for the "(jeneral" as he lias Len called for decades i.-J ninety and two years of ase, and sits propped up at the window of his littie parlor calmly awaiting the warning signal by which l e will know the (Jreat Enpiner is ahout to apply the final brake to hi-? almost run down human mechanism. And when he hears the signal and sees the shining headlight from the

sreat beyond, he will nt quail, for h- has faceti wre k, flood and fire alou the steel highway too often to hold" bark, even though the runn:r.,7 orders h strange. On a platform in tho Smithsonian In-fstittitic-n at Washington stands the grotesque locomotive relic "Johnny 1'uU" or "Ohl ,," us,-d on the Camden and Amboy Kailroad eighty years a. llundre-ls of thousands i-f visitors annually stop to paze at this, old pirve of transportation machinerj. The xhihit spot has become sort of a minor Meea for antiquarians. Hut tho hand that made the "Johnny

. ..

A Wreck of Pioneer Uailroad Days.

Clearing Away a Modern Wreck.

must bo done tit a certain moment, pitch

in and do it. for your employer if the other

IJull" roar and roar almi; the track?! man isn't there."

Tho brain and the eye that puidod safdy the primitive locomotive throuli the rainswept nisht, over the rmdo switelus and

across sway in s: trestles spanning the

rising waters of dan.:erou culverts." "What of tho man who hdd millions of prx'cious lives in tho hollow- of his hand and was novtT found wanting? He sits at his window comparatively unknown, ho of blood and brain, while the inanimate piece of machinery in Washington is the focus of thousands of eyes daily. A most remarkable man is General Scott. If you and I live to be ninetytwo -wo may bo as remarkable but the accent will likely be on the may. Here is a man who st a h:s;h duty marl; when he first mounted a Locomotive. He has

There waa not a single quaver in the. nonagenarian's voice a- be enunciated this labor principle. His keen eyes he has nv er had to nse spectacles pazed steadfastly at his visitor. His strong face took on a look of consecrated purpose. His lips pressed together with determination. You could see that what he had just enunciated had been a strong guiding force of his loug life. "Wrecks? You'll hare to just say that I came near to having several bad wrecks, but didn't. You may lay it to luck or whatever may have prevented disaster in the way of caution and judgment' Tho "(ieneral" softly chuckled over the last

a view of the wreck, but there is common .trivial. Ho is alive to-day. His name the reverse being on, started back toward i constructed by him down to the smallest seL-in it even yet." is 'Hippy' Belsford. I met him a few! Bordentown. Had I not jumped aboard' part. He boasts of his kit of tools un-

The old "General" uttered a sound that 'years ago and asked him if he was the

was a mixture of a snicker and a chuckle

boy my engine had struck. He said he

as he told of the primitive wrecking ineth-was, and I had the laugh on him. Let me ods. Still he did not want you to think see, he must have been more than fifty

for a minute that the labor along rcchin? lines of those days was to be itm' same of. It was in every way dignified work and although he chuckled at the change the years had brought it was his turn to chuckle and not yours. Suddenly the veteran's face clouded. "I killed a little boy down near Tacony years ago. There were three children crossing the track. I saw them a long ways off. The two older children were ahead, and should nave kept closer to the little boy. There was time and there was a chance for him to get across safely. I knew he "ould do it if he only would keep right on after his elders. But although I had the locomotive rerersed and the brakes on, fate willed it that I should strike him. He slipped and fell just before I reached the spot where he was crossing. I struck his head. I can feel the engine pounding yet. That was around 1830. It always, upsets me when I think of it,"

would be so great that things might be

all ripped to pieces. But the good driving' The wrinkled old face contracted with wheel turned cdowly, then half aroundjthe painful remembrance and tears came and then over it went. We started and into the eyes that but a moment before I got the train into Trenton. There the had twinkled with appreciation of the

master mechanic was filled with wonder, droll wrecking methods of bygone days

years old when I met him. "Before I became an engineer I learned the carpenter trade. I worked all along the Camden and Amboy road repairing and constructing. This stood me in good stead. It was in 134G I started with tho company. ' One time, near Bristol, there was a washout, and the trestle over a gully broke down. One train, going from New York to Philadelphia, and another from ITiiladelphia to New York, halted each side of the washout. I had one of the trains. "As soon as I got to the place I saw that a little lumber would fix the thing

as sae passed me gathering s.ieed. and 'equalled in the town. Latter day carpenstopped her there would have been a bad: tors he pouh-poohs. They do not know accident. j hmv ti) ls? the .,jZP- Thoy aro piy "Could I run one of the bi; engines! joiners and framrrs. now? Why, of course I could. It's the! The old engine driver has seventeen same principle. You let in and shut off ; great-grandchildren. He has been, tenderly steam, and you apply your brake. I i looked after for years by Lis daughtcr-in-knuw about it all. Of course, in ajlaw, Mrs. A. M. Scott, whose respect and strange engine of a new type you'd have reverence for him make an onerous task to give me a little time to find out exactly seem light. His children are Mrs. Anna what all the new fixings were for, but it j 1-1. McCrackcn. Mrs. Liura Frar, Mrs. wouldn't take long no, sir, it wouldn't j Sarah V. Meserole and Winfield Scott, take long. I'm a little feeble since I j The family is a collateral branch of the fell, last April, but I could run one of the; General Winfield Scott line, biggest of them, all right. It's the engine! Running through all that the "General" knowledge that counts, and not the old 'has to say there is a vein of humor. Ho body altogether, although you do need saw the light side of life, despite the fact your throttle hand badly." ! that he took life's duties so seriously.

"General" Scott was born October 21,! Now and then his face would twitch at a

up. There was a sawmill half a xnile,isi2, in Bucks county, Pennsylvania, a 'good morsel of fun reminiscence. At

few miles from where he now is rounding up a long life well spent. It is twenty years since he has run a locomotive, his hand having been smashed in a yard accident. Hrt has never been a user of alcoholic beverages. He began to smoke when he was 10 years of age, and stil loves his pipe. All told he spent fifty years in an en

gine cab in fact, cabs were not in use early days," he relates with a twinkle of

three or four words of self-praise. "Here's the nearest I ever came to a big wreck. I was running south from

New Brunswick, and five miles out of

lived nearly evonty years since that ! Trenton, near Bear Swamp, while, the time and amid all the ups and dawns of; engine was u. king around thirty-five

lift? he has never found any g why that early ma::ho.d fcLould be lowered. If he l.a

over aga:n he'd do i: t!

judg-d by record

i reason 'Ir'0s an Lour may bo some less, for that

aspiration t

e s e way

s of wh.it wa

was bi- speed thos days one of the drivinc wheels ia::i,- off. Yes. sir. snun rirht

u to un it off and carried the connecting rod with it

r.ljlt rolled off the roadbed into a ditch we were crossing. I had six or eizht pas-

Never Lad suet a thing -been heard of before for a locomotive to pull a train witb the driving wheels of one side. After that all engineers Lad to learn Low to fix up nn engine disabled through such an accident. And later years proved they had need to know. "Wrecking crews and wrecking work? WLy, bless yonr soul, do you know tLey were two days getting that driving wheel and connecting rod from tLat ditch into Trenton. 'They certainly were. They didn't Lave the big cranes and the specially made ropes and pulleys and ma-j chinery they have now. TLey took up a

flat car with a gang of men, and tLen they built a sort of trestle at the ditch. Finally they got tLe wheel and the rod. It was all of two days, I reckon. TLat was ISoC. "WLy, wLen railroad trains were first wrecked everybody around was pressed into service. There were no specialists. Conductors, brakemen, baggagemen, trackmen, engineers and firemen all were called on. In tLe very early daye there was generally a consultation and a

great deal of wonderment was expressed

Think of the oddities of human nature. Here was a man ninety-two years of age telling with quavering voice and deep emotion of the death cf a little child more than sixty years before. The critical condition of Lis own life did not prevent him mourning for the little child taken from earth long ago. Out of the window the old man looked silently until he Lad recovered his composure. Then his mood shifted again and Le revealed a wLimsicil srnije as Le turned. "Some time after the Tacony accident I Lit a little boy as I was running between Bristol and Morrisrille. He was a little

away. I went there, and soon had a load

of logs and beams to suit my purpose. My carpenter trade stood me in good stead. I had tLe logs drawn down to the gully. I placed the logs as posts, and carried beams across. In a short time I had a bridge ready, and both trains were able to get across and go on their way. You know, folk don't want to wait all day when travelling. That bridge had to be built. There was no one else there

to do it, so I did it." There was a ring of pride in the old man's voice as ho related this accomplishment of more than half a century before.

His eyes glistened, and he held his Lead high. Then his face took on an indignant expression. "I'd like to box the ears of some kinds of men. I mean the kind of men who won't keep their attention on the work. I had a fireman one time who was always pointing out this and that along the line. He'd say: 'Oh, look, there's Aunt Sally's place,' or 'See that boat coming up the river.' I said to him: 'Look around the head of that boiler. If you look sharp you

ninety-two there is still the joke. A Bhort

time ago he took down an old concertina and played a rollicking cir. He wants to know what's going on and Lis advice, often asked, is always found to be round, with an allowance for human frailties. He has a dry, droll way of putting things at times. "When I was running on the road in the

thine to do at the right time-Grneral 0I1-vr ars U"Iml Tr-' and tLey were to hcw Md accident might be Scott would be abo!utelv correct in yvlz-? nUh rOI,- Tlwro "'re ocljr hacJ Tit Is wa before a start was made foi rent reunion rl c-' T if th 'h-V8' :Uld We wont the scene of tLe wreck. Of course thii 1 11 ru,,'Ul0Q a-1 1"u :uea piece. I can tell you. before I wa: SmTtrrtl, ut.r

"gomg some" either a'.ortg a rai'.n ad enable to set that traimto a stop. TLe pasotkerwe. Take from ti.e old man's own ! mercers all gjf out of th? little four-

lips his view of duty and his compr-. I-rn-i wLh,1 CHrs to wliat the matter. ! tooU in a very slo sive gmsp of the great life prober- !u? I'"? aw wh:lt kave haP-ith to-day. Possibl; "Th:s h,s be .n v ' r'" connecting red mixed up , y necessary was for Ta.s ha been mj cn.tLu ever u ith t!,i oth(.r Kachincr, aaJ thrown the ! Ltin. it. The wre

for

this

was improved upon later.

Then we had to run on a single track

ard could only proceed with wrecking

r slow manner compared

ly something absolute-

forgotten and hours lost

nince I was employed by any man:-. train from the track, they turned pale,!an kept so systematically &s now and When you are hired to work it is year ' r:- of them. I can tell you. j under wrecking divisions, duty not only to do that work for which' "Wf':!- 11 1'vkei like we would have to "The burning of pasener trains-and

you Tire hired, but to do any and all wrrk that is absolutely riores.-ary to Le dor.o at

stav T.lef,

all

meat with t.e train and ia fact of freight trains as a way of

t..e p. Lsser.:;, rs foot it into Trentou. Such. clearing a track dates back to when t 1 '

" - " it i t&tu, Vi "3 r v v uvw i it cvuij'j'vy a particular time, if you hte tho powrril examined the ermine all over, shut off' and drilled. The machinery for pulling and the ability to do that work and there ' tI" valves o:i one ?.:d. and fixed thojears apart was not there and the teleis no one c!e on hand to ,!,. ir n.'t !m. ! ir:lI!o1 r,wl v il would i.ot interfere with scoped coaches were gotten rid of and

trade on another s man's work. Hut if the other man's work is to bo done and

my purple. Thon I sanded the track; traffic resumed quickest by having a bonani started her. I was doubtful, and fire. I know some say railroads burn for a moment I thought maybe the strain wrecked cars to destroy as far aj possible

boy, just able to walk, about a year and a may. see the devil coming down the track.

half old. I Lit Lira witL tLe cowcatcher and knocked Lira thirty-five feet. Wasn't tLat awful?" It sounded awful enougL, but somehow tLe "General's" smile belied tLe alarm tLat one sLould feel over sucL an occur rence. Again came tLe chuckle. "I saw the little cLap, I tLink, about two or three hundred yards away. His parents lived rigbt alongside tLe track. He had never Lad a good look at the iron Lorse and tLis day Le strayed out of gate to tLe track to view it in tLe open. All Le Lad on was one little garment a red flannel nigLt gown. He stood right in the middle of tLe track, not a bif afraid, as we bore down on Lim, legs apart and sLakins a switch at us. "I shut off, reversed, and put on all the brake power possible. We slowed down a good deal, of course, with the drivins wheels turning backward as fast as steam could make them go. I made up my mind I'd try to grab the child. So I started to get out of the cab and go along the running toarti to the cowcatcher. In my eagerness I got wedged fast in the cab window. It was only for a second that I was'bad, but in that length of time and as I got out on the running board the enpine struck the little fellow. "He was knocked thirty-five feet into Lis parents' potato patch. Not a bone was broken, and Lis bruises were only

You and I are responsible for the safety of all these people behind us. Nobody else is or can be responsible but us. Keep your eyes on your work.' "I always aimed to stop my train whenever necessary in half the distance that I could see. If an engineer on another train coming opposite to me had the arae rule about distance seeing and stopping why you can see we'd only have a very little bump if we came together at nil. Lots of things look amusing to you nowadays tLat were far from amusing then. It was a man's work I can tell you to run trains when signals and all else were of practically no use to you. And all single track running, too, remember. And to think of the big locomotive snovr ploughs now! "Why, I Lave helped gans of men with shovels clear a passage for my train to get through a particularly Ligh drift. "Brakes Lave been great revolutionists. Improve tLe locomotive all you want to the top notch, but if you do not teep pace with brakes it is of little value. One time when I was fireman our engine was Leaded down a piece of track where there was a fence closed across a pot tLat should have been left open. The engineer shut off, reversed, and put on hard brakes. Then Le jumped from Lis side and scrambled up a little knoll alongside tb track. I jumped on my side to a platform. The engine tore through the fence, stopped, and,

with the first engine he fired. The calculation that he ran 100 miles a day, for C00 days a year, for 50 years, would more than equal 1,000,000 miles of transit. The transportation of 10,000,000 passengers

within that time is also well within the possible limit When he beran as a fireman, in 1S4G, blocks of wood were heaved into the fire box for fuel. When the Johnny Bull was sent to the world's fair Le was designated to accompany the old locomotive, being the senior engineer alive. He declined the honor, a- he is a man very little given to display and putting himself in a prominent life tit. A noteworthy incident connected wirh his long career as engine driver was the death of Li3 brother Edward in Washington in lSCC. Edward had enlisted in the cavalry. At a drill he was wounded by a comrade and later died in the hospital. "General" Scott was sent for, and after Lis brotLer's death arrand for the transportation of the body back to Bordentown. Even in tbose days of patriotism the railroads charged double fare for the transportation of a dead body. It made no difference if the body was a soldier's. Upon

his still keen eye," the railroad ran its tracks through a piece of land owned by us. When it came out that they Lad really trespassed oh us, did I complain? Not at all, not at all. I was working for them. Didn't want to get hold of the hot end of the poker." The old engine driver will show you with another chuckle a photograph of Lim.se!f in a wu'. "My own wife didn't know me when I got it and she saw me for the first time," he relates, primly smiling. Which impels him to tell you the other wi trtory. A relative had some of her hair cut off. The "General" had never worn a wig. He hated the idea of wearmg strange human hair. So he had

his relative's hair sent to the wigmaker, with an order for a wig. He called at the wigmaker's as a stranger and tried oa his own wig. He was disgusted and astonished as he loolicl in the mirror. "And I went out without buying a wig, and I never sent after the one I ordered," he laughingly concludes. At the open window, just at sunset, I left him. A motorcycle puffed its rapid approach. The old man looked out on the

the arrival of the body at Philadelphia i avenue, e agerly watching. The cyc "General" Scott obtained a pass 'for its whizzed by. The "General" shock his carriage to Trenton. From Trenton down j head thoughtfully. "He's going fifty miles

i to Bordentown he bore the coffin holding! an hour if he's going at all," Le said anJ

Lis brother on the tender of his own engine.

the emphasis to tho remark miht Lave

.meant wonder or protect "Twice as fast

WLen the "General" first started as, as old Johnny Bull," he added, in a low fireman, the pay of that grade was $1.00 ! tone.

per day. An engine driver received only twelve or fifteen cents more. The old en-

"Goodby, 'General'; may you be without iain as long as you Lve," I e.nld as I

gine driver was a great favorite with the: shook hand3 in farewell, "bosses" in the early days. Oa the annual The old engine driver's head sank on Lit inspection trip he was always selected as breait for a second. Then Le raised it the engine driver to run the special train 'and reaching out for another handshake, containing the bigwigs of the road. All he -said tremulously: carried are dad long a?o. It was a hazard-j "Good by, goodby. Tell anybody who ous job because the train had to run "ex-j may ask for me that I am glad I am not

tra" or in between the regulars. There was i forgotten. Glid I'm not forgotten."

the regular time table to dodge and at the .ame time keep the bosses absolutely safe.

And as the last syllables left tLe aged lips the locomotive of the Philadelphia

After all his years on an engine "Gen- j train, passing near by, blew two long and eral" Scott still remains proud of his skill j two short blasts, as if to assure the vetas a carpenter. The front porch of his jcran that as long as steam had a voice Le Lous3 facing on FamswortL avenue was j would Le LeM in kind remembrance.