The Argosy, Vol. XI No. 20 — page 11: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

THE ARGOSY In addition to the uncertainty of his responsibility in the matter hanging over him, Dash felt that he was in a degree guilty of careless- ness in not calling Mr. Clikenger over to read the order instead of ask- ing him verbally if it was all right. Then the error would have been detected, and there would have been no misunderstanding as to the name of the station. As we have already said, the two names were so nearly alike when spoken, it is not remarkable that Mr. Clikenger did not detect that Dash said Bassets instead of Barrets in the midst of the noise about the station at the time. To obtain aclearer understanding of the situation, the reader wil perhaps be interested in knowing that the two names Barrets and Bas- sets are made as follows in the Morse telegraph code : ee ee me ey ee, Hm, —, - - -, Bassets. ,- =, ,- --, - —, ~--, Barrets. It will be readily seen that the only aifference is in the ‘‘r’s” and “S's” of the two names, the ‘'r’s” having a space between the first and last two dots, whilethe ‘‘s's " have not. It is very easv for a care- less transmitting operator, especially on a badly insulated wire, to run his ‘'r's” together so they would be ‘‘s’s ’, thus making Bassets out of Barrets, and Dash and the dispatcher hoped that such had been the case. To further make the matter clear, we give the following : A KU Ardley Bassets Barrets Boyer No. 6 No. 7 As has been shown, the dispatcher sent what is called a double order to the operators at Ardley and Boyer, for trains 6 and 7 at those points to meet and pass at Barrets, The operator at Ardley had correctly re- peated the order back, so it will be seen that if the man at Koyer had received and delivered the order reading Bassets instead of Barrets, as he had apparently repeated it back, train No. 7 would proceed on to Rassets instead of stopping at ‘Barrets, and would meet train No. 6 somewhere on the main track between the two stations. Of course there was a chance that the engineers would see each other in time to stop before coming together, but as there were many Curves on the road between Barrets and Bassets, this seemed a forlorn hope. The minutes that intervened till they heard from the two trains seemed to go by as somany hours, Therefore, when Bassets was finally heard calling the dispatcher’s office, it was a relief, though they ex- pected to hear the announcement of a fatal collision, ‘*Nos. 6 and 7 are here; No. 6 backed up from five miles west of here, where they met No. 7,” reported the operator at Bassets. A look of relief passed over the features of Dash and the dispatcher. Nothing had been said about an accident, but to make sure Mr, Cliken- ger asked : ““ Any damage done ?” ‘No, sir; conductor of No. 7 says he thought it strange you should run him to Bassets to meet No. 6, and told his engineer to keep a sharp lookout and go slow at curves,” ‘* Good [" commented the dispatcher briefly, and he then sent an order for the two trains to meet and pass at Bassets, ‘That nan at Rover can thank his lucky stars that such a man as Freeman was running No. 7,”’ he remarked to Dash, as he gave the ‘* All right” to the order. *¢ Yes: but 1 suppose he will never fully realize how much he owes him,” ‘¢ That's so; it generally takes a serious termination to an error or neglect of duty to teach the guilty one a wholesome lesson.” ‘¢ What will be done with him ?” queried Dash, as this was the first case of the kind that had come up in his short experience. ‘¢ Discharged, of course,” was the prompt reply. ‘'I shall arrange for some one to relieve him at once.” ~ ‘What will be said about the failure to detect the error here 2?” con- tinued Dash, feeling that, though the operator at Boyer had been crinu- nally careless and inefficient, and deserved the summary punishment he would get, the failure of the dispatcher and himself to discover the mistake was a matter for censure. He felt that not only he, but Mr. Clikenger, had been careless in handling the order, but he did not refer to the matter in a way to indicate that he thought the latter was also responsible for the non-detection of the error. ‘‘ Nothing, I hope, but a few sharp words from the old man,” was the reply to Dash's last question, and the speaker’s further words showed that he did not want to shirk his portion of the blame in the affair. ‘+ But if it’s anything more, Dykeman, we're in the same boat,” he continued. ‘‘It’s just as much my fault as yours—I should have looked at the order before you gave the ‘ All right ’.” 315 Dash said nothing further and resumed his work. He appreciated the disposition of the other to do the proper thing, but did not feel that the words demanded any expression of gratitude from him. The dis- patcher could not well take any other position, for a full investigation would certainly be made and his true responsibility determined. Dash felt, too, that it would be decided that Mr. Clikenger had been more careless than he, though he, tov, had no desire toshun his part of the blame. . On his arrival at the relay station, Freeman, the conductor of No. 7, explained why he had told his engineer to proceed with caution after leaving Boyer with orders to meet No. 6 at Bassets. He had been so much in the habit of petting orders to run to Barrets against No. 6, when he was late, that he could not help thinking it was very odd when the order read Bassets. Being something of an operator, the similarity of the two names as made by the telegraph, and the liability of one being taken for the other, occurred to him. He had asked the operator at Boyer if be was sure the order should read Bassets instead of Bar- rets.) The latter was new in his business, and having no mean opinion of his ability, as seems natural with most young operators, resented the insinuation that he had made an error. He did not know the con- ductor was an operator, or what prompted him to ask the question. He soon found out the latter fact, however, when a young nian stepped off a train that evening and presented a letter from Chief Operator Tickmore relieving him from further duty. It took all the conceit out of the young fellow, and he wished he had listened to conductor Free- man and made sure he was right by asking the dispatcher. He took the first train to the city to plead for his retention in the service, but his discharge was final. In conclusion, it is a noteworthy fact that a circular was immediately issued changing the name of Barrets station to Barsteel. . Several davs passed, and our hero had heard nothing more of the matter: but he could not convince himself he had heard the last of it. No reference had been made to it Sy the ‘* old man,” as Mr. Clikenger expected there would be, and that was what made Dash feel that there was something more to come. He hoped the superintendent would re- member him, as he said he would, and pass lightly over the failure to detect the Boyer man's error. But finally something more did come, and its delay in coming made it none the less keenly felt. Both Mr. Clikenger and Dash were sus- pended, without pay, for sixty days. The dispatcher, who was a high spirited and really efficient and valuabl- man, immediately sent in his resignation, which was accepted. Dash could only accept the situation as calmly as possible, and look forward to two months of idleness and no pay. It was his first experi- elice in being disciplined by a railroad company, and while admitting the justice of the punishment, he resented the apparent ignoring of the sipnal service he had rendered, for which he had been led to expect some consideration. His thoughts were such as would lead him readily to indorse the opinion that © corporations have no souls,” He did not know that if it had not been for the consideration the superintendent gave for his service on the switch engine he would have been discharged. Though he had saved a little money in the last few months, Dash felt he could ill afford to spend two whole months in idleness, What could he do ? CHAPTER X., GOING WEST. “ don't see how Ican stay around here and do nothing for two ] months, Mr. Tickmore. I might just as well have done the same as Mr. Clikenger—resigned,” said Dash, on the first day of his suspension, in a talk with the chief operator. ‘I'm sorry it has turned out so, Dash; but the superintendent's word is law, from which there is no appeal,’ responded Mr. Tickmore, with regret in his tones. ‘* He might as well have discharged me at once,” added Dash in bit- ter tones. ‘Oh, no, Dash, you mustn't look at in that way. A discharge car- ries with it a stigma that is not easily overcome, and you would find some trouble getting another position, He would have discharged you if it hadn't been for one thing.” ‘What was that ?” ‘Your little run on the switch engine.” ‘¢T appreciate his forbearance, I’m sure,” said Dash, still with a shade of bitterness, but glad to know the superintendent had remem- GOR GOO SS} Gol