The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, June 17, 1900, Page 7

THE SUNDAY CALL. Men Who Hold Lives of Thousands by a Press of the Einger pateher, but o w ous h 3 o s rding 3 o = I , m r > FLAT 1f you were way up In the B s sky In a bajloon, where you . w v 1 could get a birdseye vi all very . ! 4 the coast railroads betwe ! r 1 rancisco d inta & b n a perfect network of them; yo s ex Walters, o : could see tratns ru \ 3 ¥ g% rections, hundreds of . 1 v g | ning and screechi . r s | patiently on side tracks s ing and bre: S w For | trains meet: rr S m > bt i % tearing over r er w -~ ‘ d n T - | v A T £ his | o trair 2 t > { & from opposite ¢ b r m . 2 x in- { 1 send them straig 1 s n £ r. exe l r burdens of huma t s his hand y ahead to death and s g bt v That would be r p r w . 1. I But what If y 1 n g . lur .,: self responsible = = ’ those trains, anc s T N | ments; that not er shouta | allowed tc move or t ¢ R : A ; by your order, and that all 5 | be kept moving, each toward its proper at st 5 2 " | destination: t ye ! T s 1 % o i which would be unquest i m we r ¢ i orders for the meeting, I 8 re I - J and the stopping of each of them b t T the whole network so figured out 3 A allow no possibility of a coll i : accident—and when the orders were given system sebes s ooage - to have the whole situation ely changed by all of the tr to move under your directlon, each mo- ment bringing about a new com by reason of the changing positions each of your h would you do ion or ¢ n to marvel. “The mental strain the slon,” satd I That would be your Such a power and | with as little delay 1 s { ing against all o o the watch the movements « 1 the | trains that control their d nd E.A STEININGER ‘ ‘ : CHIEF A ISPATCHER ¢ g N 3 » wait and t and t the tabl, have a system bility of such m checked over f the operator at kind of a t 1 or hilly could see, v as it was things looked black. then the clicked. The two curve, but had st of each other. seen the reflect 1s that of the traln dispatcher—only his clouds before he coulé balloon is a high stool and his birdseye view is a chart in front of him upon the table. The buttons that he touches are the little knobs of telegraph Instruments, and they carry messages to the conduc- tors of each of the three hundred tralns he handles every day. Mr. Steininger, chief dispatcher of the coast division, conducted me through the raflroad offices 3 and Townsend itreets. His four ¢ 1t the dispatching table, wk struments were clicking nolsi the dispatchers was tapping aw one hand, glving out his orders the other he was eating lunc basket beside him. “We are very busy just now,” sald M Steininger. “You see, it keeps Jump- ing sometimes, and to get anything to eat at gll one has to manage in this way. Decoration day we had so many specials out that none of us got any lunch, except °° R P g Jeft here, who brought a sandwich In his ¢ . freight to get there first and take pocket."” e back - Mr. Jefferey, who was thus referred to, e the collision were at work and with from a per. Hapi book I dis d fre derstood e the next time to wait an n ling about ten mi i smiled with the satisfaction of one who was due and I called him over and showed apout th . et 1L .FRAZIER, MESSRS. C.F. JEFFEREY anoW.T. MASSEAGILL had seen to it that there was ofl in his the order book. He looked at his pas the mana when pro- = lamp. He is one of the company's oldest Watch and made a dash for the table. fanity begins to condense in the a other pas: abus W o COAST DIVISION ? DISPATCHER! ‘reports from both sta- pp, S dispatchers, having been at the tables for (700 121" FOT 5, SUROTE O UOVA S\ phere and every sSome twenty-five years. Mr. Walters, 7 gasped the poor fellow, and went that I am sature of very little who Is also a dispatcher of many years' gown in a heap. I had only meant to portance indeed and remember that standing, explained to me the workings of scare him a little, but It pretty nearly dispatcher up there at his little table Is the chart, which was simply a large tabu- finished him. He had been a good dis- doing his very best. NAN BYXBEE.