Have We All Hibernated?

66

HOQUIAM, WASH., Dec. 18, 1904. EDITOR JOURNAL: From the tranquillity of everything pertaining to an endowment insurance, or some means of caring for our Brothers, who, though not entitled to their insurance money under the present rules, still are really in need and worthy of assistance, through some combination of circumstances wholly beyond their control, would tend to indicate that Brother Freenor, Div. 372, was calling the turn" when he asserted that the membership would all come out "like angle worms about a month prior to our next convention." I believe that the proper time to discuss this really vital matter is right now, while we have ample time to adjust differences of opinion and finally to arrive at some practical resolution to be brought before our next convention. There can be no plausible excuse for our membership drifting along in the old channel,- -no improvements agitated, no reform in insurance matters broached or discussed until "just before convention," when every one tries to raise some question of moment, well knowing that under no circumstances is there adequate time to bring the matter to an intelligible or agreed condition until the convention is over. How like a shower we were visited with all kinds of vague suggestions, etc., just before "Los Angeles" this year. What came of it? It occurs to me that we are in a great measure similar to the old colored man who was trying to persuade a young and cantankerous calf through the streets of a village by means of a rope. After many entanglements and erratic movements he was interrogated by a by-stander: "Uncle Jeff, where are you taking that calf, anyway?" The old darky scratched his woolly pate in a perplexed manner and replied: "Well, boss, I don't t'ink de calf hab quite made up his mind." Now, we all know and feel that something should be done in this insurance matter, but, like the old darky, we are waiting for some factor to define just where we are going to "head in." Let us all take in

spiration from Brother Freenor, who, I know, feels the truth of his convictions, get at it and formulate our ideas into a short article for the JOURNAL; then we can begin the elimination process, sort out the best ones of the lot, submit them to a popular vote, and find ourselves in position to amply provide for the worthy needy without oppressing any individual member, and entirely eliminating the word "charity" from our list of members financially assisted. I submitted my personal idea on this matter some months ago, and prefer at this time to await suggestions from some of our more worthy members before entering into a discussion. Not a Division of this great Brotherhood but what includes among its membership men who are intellectually brilliant and qualified to discuss such matters in a forceful and convincing manner. Why not rout them out? You know who in your own Division can make a "good spiel" and keep a crowd of roundhouse " greasies" laughing or soberly contemplating his remarks, be the subject what it may. I'm going to make personal mention of a few-just a few, mind you,-members of my home Division who should come out frequently in the JOURNAL, especially on such topics as tend to enhance the welfare of the Brotherhood, not to mention the anecdotes and other matter they could easily offer, and which would be greatly appreciated by the reading members. There's Brother Henson, our F. A. E., a man who can "keep 'em humming" anywhere. We won't scold him too much, through reason of his manifold duties. Then there are Bros. Frates, Jackson, Hanson (C. E.), Pike, Tyson, Thompson and Oliver. Well, well, boys, I've got you dead to rights, and if we don't hear your gentle voices soon there'll be another list of names submitted that won't stop at a few. Some member of each Division please "follow my smoke"; send in some names of your Division Brothers and see if they won't "come out of their shell and look 'round." There are two Divisions at Spokane, one at Kalispell and one at Portland (136), and the writer has "met and known them all," so I won't

promise to stop with an exposé of my home Division, 362, but may take a fool notion to name some from the foregoing Divisions who are lax in their duties as to correspondence for our mutual welfare. You don't necessarily have to be "eddicated" to convey your ideas through the JOURNAL. We like to hear a man speak naturally. Just stick it on paper the way it "gives 'em a kick through your brain," and if there is some of it that won't stand the language of our realm, Brother Salmons can fix it in a jiffy and the end is attained. Come on, boys, wake up; we've got a train that is heavy and the grade stiff, but the "wind" is in good shape, plenty of sand, a good steaming fireman and lots of time to make the next meeting point. Let's start 'em rollin', get the Johnson bar up where it belongs, throttle back in the tank and we're there before we know it.

SAM L. WINTER, Div. 362.

To the Brothers of La Grande, Ore.

HENDERSON, ME., Jan. io, 1905. EDITOR JOURNAL: Don't think for a moment that Brother McGibbon lost his hair from lifting his hat so many times or through natural embarrassment on the day of the excursion, as mentioned in the January JOURNAL, page 85, for I believe I was well acquainted with Tom some fifteen years ago, when he ran an engine out of McAdam Junction, New Brunswick, for the Canadian Pacific Railway, and there, as in the picture, his head was smooth, and I remember, he at that time laid it to carrying prayer books in his hat during his early days. So you see there is no reason whatsoever for the Brothers and Sisters of La Grande to feel responsible for his appearance on arrival home that day. Although, as our Brother says, he is young and he may raise some more, yet when one gets to be 40-excuse me, 29 -still 29 (did you say 29, Tom?) it's rather a hard proposition; but if he intends to try, would suggest that he use "Mother Kies' restorer, a McAdam, N. B., product. It's the only thing that will do it, Tom.

I see by the sketch that Brother McGibbon is still up to his old tricks, posing

as a ladies' man. It was so in the old days; but what surprises me most is how the Brothers ever got him back home with only two cabooses between him and the painted cars containing the ladies. Did they have a guard over him? Once this would have been necessary surely; especially on the Grand Lake excursion.

I was glad to learn through the JOURNAL where Brother McGibbon was located, and that he was still working for the interests of the B. of L. E., as we had been informed that Tom had turned Mormon while in Utah. F. A. E. Div. 440.

The Locomotive.

As along the Cresson hills you roam
And feast on the wondrous view,
A chorus of voices fills the dome
And comes rolling up to you.

They seem imbued with human life,

Though they issue from breasts of steel; You can hear the sighs of toil and strife, Which men and women feel.

Two long shrill cries make the air resound-
They come from a spot out of sight-
But an echoing answer proves there's fourd
A helper, who says, "All-right!"

A belching snort, the driver slips,
And, if ever an engine doth swear,
It is now that a volley escapes her lips
As black as the enfolding air.

But her mate puffs, too, and they seem to say,
As the wheels begin to roll

So slowly around on the iron way

With their tons upon tons of coal:

"Though it's heavy, awful heavy,
I can pull it! I can push it!
Now it's moving, slowly moving;
We can do it! We can do it!"
Methinks there is many a sturdy soul
In this struggling world of ours,
Whose burden is just as hard to roll
And calls for as mighty powers.
And often, too, the driver slips,

And a cry goes up for aid:
But, the sand applied, once more it grips
And bravely climbs the grade.

Washington, D. C.

EUDORUS C. KENNEY.

Division Addresses Twice a Year.

MIDDLETOWN, N. Y. EDITOR JOURNAL: The delegates that assembled in convention at Los Angeles, Cal., composed of intelligent men, who

were given authority to make laws for the benefit of their constituents, realized that more space was required in the JOURNAL for contributors, and in their wisdom excluded the Division Addresses, with the exception of twice a year; therefore, let the will of the majority be cheerfully accepted.

As I turn the pages of the January number of the JOURNAL, I am pleased to note the expressions of different Brothers from all parts of the United States, Canada and Mexico. To me it seems very pleasant and helpful-this exchange of thought among the Brothers-and fully repays for the sacrifice made. In making sacrifice we often receive benefit thereby, and I sincerely hope this may be one of the times, and that the Brothers will wake up and put forth their best efforts to make our JOURNAL one of the brightest and best magazines of the day. Let each one put on his "thinking cap"; he will be surprised at what he may evolve in the way of some short story, which will interest and encourage his Brother and spur him on to do likewise. Do not let modesty deter you from sending in your contribution, for has not our Brother Editor accepted my poor efforts, and does not Brother "Shandy" tell you what he (the Editor) will also do for you? So just brace up and do your prettiest. Let us hear from you soon.

This change will be the means of two copies of the JOURNAL during the year being preserved for address reference, where otherwise they might be carelessly thrown aside. J. PUFFENBERGER.

A Run for Life by an Old Engineer.

TEXARKANA, TEX., Dec. 16, 1904. EDITOR JOURNAL: The following story is about a run for life by an old engineer on the Texas Pacific Railroad 23 years ago:

I was signaled ahead by Captain Joe Barber, with Will James baggageman, with a good brakeman and fireman, and as I thought, as good and jolly a crew as ever sailed out of Ft. Worth. We left the city limits a little after daylight and

everything went well, passing all stations on time, until we hove in sight of Roanoke. We were traveling east, and just west of the station we were flagged, and just ahead of us were several freight cars in the ditch. We stopped and saw at a glance that we would be detained several hours, and it being the custom in this thinly settled country at that time to look out for a boarding house first thing, and they were very scarce in this part of Texas at that time, I was getting my engine ready to stay there some time, as Captain Barber, Will James and all the passengers came walking by the engine. The captain looked up and said, "Lyman, looks like we will be here several hours. I will go down to the station and report." I said, "Joe, where will we eat?" and he looked across the prairie and pointed to a house over a quarter of a mile away, and said, "There is the only place we can eat here," and he and the passengers walked on and my fireman joined in the procession, saying they would go over and order whatever we could get to eat. So when we got ready to start I took a good look at the house where we were to dine. I noticed several horses hitched to the fence surrounding the house. Captain Barber, passengers and all were just rounding up on the porch and it being nearer for me to cut across the prairie, I accordingly cut and was walking jauntily along when I noticed directly in my front a red cow with a young calf not over 100 yards away. Now, everyone who knows anything about a wild Texas cow on a prairie with or without a calf knows she is a very dangerous animal to a man on foot. They seem to pay no attention to a man in the saddle-how I longed for a saddle-this I knew as well as any cowboy on the plains. I took in the situation at a glance, and having been an old soldier, Lyme left oblique march. I was trying my level best to keep from attracting the red cow's attention. I sized up the distance from where I was to the boarding house and looked over my shoulder to my engine. I was by this time nearer the house than the engine, and I kept making a gradual circle

around the cow and keeping an eye on every move she made. I took one more look at the house and Barber, the passengers and cowboys were on the porch watching me and frantically waving me ahead. Just then I heard a bawl and looked for the cow and she had started for the big engineer. I flew into the air like a thing with wings, for I knew up to date there was no way known to modern science of calculating the speed of a mad red cow. Now, I being a born jig-dancer and a big, strong, athletic man (Barber and James told me afterwards that they were confident that I could outrun a little old red cow) I made a wild dash for the house and the cow was making a wild dash for me, and I could tell by the sound of her hoofs on the ground behind me that she was gaining on me rapidly. My breath was giving out, but I was nearing the picket fence as fast as possible. We were both doing our best. I took a quick glance at the group on the porch and saw a cowboy cut a pony loose and mount and was on a dead run to meet us. That encouraged me greatly. Then was the effort of my life put forth; I could almost feel those long horns penetrating my anatomy, but now the cowboy with his pony was running with us, and in a shorter time than it takes to write it I was within a jump of the fence. Then came the superhuman. I caught my breath and gathered for the last spring, and as I left the earth I felt the hot breath of the wild cow against me. I cleared the fence, fell into the yard and the last thing I remember was the cow tumbling against the fence immediately after me, and the growl and bark of some ferocious dogs that had been under the porch, and of course, thought I was some wild animal coming in so abruptly and proceeded to chew me. The next thing I remember I was lying on the porch and Barber and James holding my head up and bathing my face with cold water, and I heard the cowboy say, "If I had had my gun I could have stopped him sooner, but I had to rely on my lasso." He had rode out to meet us, turned and ran with us, dropped the lasso over the cow's horns

and gradually drew her in until she fell against the fence and broke the palings.

I soon gained strength and was able to finish the trip on my engine, and now I raise my hat to a cowboy wherever I meet him; and to this day I get as light as a feather at the sound of the lowing of a

COW.

My friend, Joe Barber, passed away at his home in Ft. Worth the next year after this great trial of speed that is not down on the train sheet, and the noble young man whom everybody loved, Will James, the baggageman, has too made his final settlement and passed peacefully to the Great Beyond a few years ago in the city of Ft. Worth. My old fireman, I have forgotten his name, but the last I heard of him he was running in Mexico, and will, no doubt, recognize his old friend, if this meets his eye. Fraternally,

LYMAN S. ROACH, Div. 496.

Reduce Representation, Etc.

PHILADELPHIA, PA., Dec. 17, 1904. EDITOR JOURNAL: Winter is here— snow is on the ground, and a dreary night, and as I look over the pages of the proceedings of our long ago conventions I wonder to myself as an organization do we go ahead or are we going behinddoes time give us wisdom or as we grow old do we show our dotage?

I take the records of the year 1869. Would you believe it, Brothers, when I tell you that it took eight days to do your convention work with eighty-four delegates. But you must remember that at that time we were endeavoring to create an interest in our profession as engineers, and now with nearly or about 600 delegates methinks we have done so, but do we grow any wiser? I do not believe so, for convention after convention since that time, article after article in our JOURNAL has said, “Equal taxation for members for all delegates," and on the other side they say, "Give us equal representation then will we agree to equal taxation." That was fought out in 1886 at the New York Convention, but to no account, and at the last convention it seems the

divine vision has got to be fulfilled that many shall run to and fro and knowledge shall be increased and so, personally, in patience I wait and hope that if we as an organization have been slow in knowledge that in time we may in wisdom be able to get out of the old 19th century idea and become progressive 20th century. To do so let me call your attention to two things. First, let us reduce our convention membership down to one hundred members, each Division to pay her pro-rata cost and each delegate to have a voting capacity of one vote for each 100 members, one-half vote for fifty, threequarters for seventy-five and one-quarter for twenty-five; that will represent them all on any system and set a good example to our General Committee of Adjustment, and possibly the time will come when one man can represent the Brothers of any system at our annual convention and the great cost be reduced so that other objects of interest can be maintained with the balance of the cost of our convention now, whereby we may be able to assist in relieving many of our old members in distress.

I read in the Grand Chief's address in the year 1869 these words: "I recommend that the trustees of the Widows and Orphans and Disabled Members' Fund be authorized to invest the same in a building suitable for the transaction of the business of the Grand International Division, etc., and the rents and income to be paid into the fund." Why was this not done? Can you imagine what the B. of L. E. would have saved had it been done? Many things good we have neglected and many things which we should change we neglect to do, and like sheep, follow after custom, even if it leads to destruction.

Our conventions have grown too large and expensive and following after the example set by them come our laws relative to our G. C. of A., in which we take the convention membership as an example of what the committees shall be. As I understand the intention of our G. C. of A., it is to prevent trouble between the members of the B. of L. E. and the officials of the road and at the same time to

settle all differences between the same when the local committees are unable to do so. If I am right let me ask fair and square, is it just and right that upon a large system it should take fifty to sixty delegates to represent less than 3,500 engineers at a cost of about seven to ten dollars per day? Do you not think that twenty men could do this better and at so much less cost? I am not opposed to the G. C. of A. or to the members that compose the same, but I am dead down opposed to a continuation of a law that has followed the Brotherhood ever since I joined it a law that prevents twelve men on the same system to having the representative, that shall be paid by the others, who are not so fortunate as to have a small representation, for all being on the same system all will or could be looked after the same by a representative body of twenty men, these men elected by the men on the system, regardless of what Division they belonged to and then and only then the men on the system taxed alike for the cost.

I may have more to say on this subject, but let us reason together. Let each and every member read the proceedings of the last meeting of their respective G. C. of A. Count the membership represented -count the number of members each Division has that it takes one man to represent-count the time consumed and the cost for this meeting and what it would cost if they were in session five weeks. Add to that the cost to each Division for their local committee work and then if you don't come to the conclusion that first, we should have a paid or salaried chairman; second, that all our grievances are local and that if the local committee cannot settle them they might as well be dropped; third, decide for yourself that if our following after the ways of the Grand International Convention isn't foolishness on our part; fourth, is there any good reason why the G. C. of A. business cannot be done by twenty good men, or not; and above all remember that the cost of all this comes out of your pockets and be willing to pay it be it 28 cents or 28 dollars. As for me, I person