A recent case in the courts of this county, has set me to thinking
of some of the wrongs heaped upon railroad men so much, that I shall
devote this article exclusively to a review of the opprobrium bestowed
upon all men connected with railroads, by the people who every day
travel under their control, with their lives subject to the care and
watchfulness of these men, for whose abuse they leave no opportunity
to escape. Does a train run off the track, and thereby mischief be
worked, every possible circumstance that can be twisted and distorted
into a shape such as to throw the blame upon the men connected with the
road, _is_ so twisted and distorted. The probability of any accident
happening without its being directly caused by the scarcely less than
criminal negligence of some of the railroad men, is always scouted
by the discerning public; most of whom scarcely know the difference
between a locomotive and a pumping engine. An accident caused by
the breaking of a portion of the machinery of a locomotive engine
on the Hudson River Railroad, which did no damage except to cause a
three hours' detention, was by some enterprising and intelligent (?)
penny-a-liner dignified into a proof of the general incompetency of
railroad men, in one of our prominent literary periodicals, and the
question was very sagely asked why the railroad company did not have
engines that would not break down, or engineers that would not allow
them so to do? The question might, with equal propriety, be asked, why
did not nature form trees, the timber of which would not rot? Or, why
did not nature make rivers that would not overflow?
Let two suits be brought in almost any of our courts, each with
circumstances of the same aggravation, say for assault and battery, and
let the parties in one be ordinary citizens, and in the other, let one
party be a railroad man and the other a citizen, with whom, for some
cause, the railroad man has had a difficulty, and you will invariably
see the railroad man's case decided against him, and in the other case
the defendant be acquitted, to go scot-free. Why is this? Simply, I
think, because every individual who has ever suffered from the hands of
any railroad employee, treasures up that indignity, and lays it to the
account of every other railroad man he meets, making the class suffer
in his estimation, because one of them treated him in a crusty manner.
If a man's neighbor or friend offend him, he tries to forgive
it--earnestly endeavors to find palliating circumstances; but, in the
case of railroad men, all that would palliate the offense of rudeness
and want of courtesy, such as is sometimes shown, is studiously
ignored, or, at the mildest, forgotten.
I knew a school teacher once, who said that the most barbarous
profession in the world was that of teaching, because it drove from a
man all humanity. He got into such a habit of ruling, that it became
impossible for him to understand how to obey any one himself.
The same thing might be said of a railroad conductor; for, every day in
his life, he takes the exclusive control of a train full of passengers
of as different dispositions as they are of different countenances.
Now, he meets with a testy, quarrelsome old fellow, who is given
to fault-finding, and who blows him up at every meeting. Now, with
a querulous old maid, who is in continual fear lest the train run
off the track, the boiler burst, or the conductor palm off some bad
money on her. Now, with a gent of an inquisitive turn of mind, who is
continually asking the distance to the next station, and the time the
train stops there, or else pulling out an old turnip of a watch and
comparing his time with the conductor's. Then, a stupid, dunderheaded
man is before him, who does not know where he is going, nor how much
money he has got. Then, somebody has got carried by, and scolds the
conductor for it, or else angrily insists that the train be immediately
backed up for his especial accommodation. The next man, maybe, is an
Irishman, made gloriously happy and piggishly independent, by the
aid of poor whiskey, who will pay his fare how he pleases, and when
he pleases; who is determined to ride where he wants to, and who
will at once jump in for a fight, if any of these rights of his are
invaded; or, mayhap, he will not pay his fare at all, deeming that his
presence (scarcely more endurable than a hog's) is sufficient honor to
remunerate the company for his ride; or perhaps his "brother Tiddy,
or Pathrick, or Michael, or Dinnis works upon the thrack," and "bedad,
he'll jist ride onyway." All these characters are found in any train,
and with them the conductor has to deal every day. How do you know,
when he speaks harshly to you, but that he has just had a confab with
one of these gentry, who has sorely tried his patience, and riled his
temper? How do you think you would fill his place, were you subjected
to such annoyances all the time? Would you be able at all times to
maintain a perfectly correct and polite exterior--a Christian gravity
of demeanor--and never for an instant forget yourself, or lose your
temper, or allow your manner to show to any one the slightest acerbity?
You know you could not; and yet, for being only thus human, you are
loud in your denunciation of conductors and all railroad men, and,
perhaps honestly, but certainly with great injustice, believe them
to have no care for your wants, no interest in your comfort. Treat
railroad men with the same consideration that you evince towards other
business companions. Consider always that they are only human--have
not saintly nor angelic tempers, any of them, and that every day's
experience is one of trial and provocation. By so doing, you will
be only rendering them simple justice, and you will yourself receive
better treatment than if you attempt to make the railroad man your
menial, or the pack-horse for all your ill-feeling.