ters pertaining to the interest of railway men in this state..

A great fight is being made here now to stampede the railway men into the movement for government ownership of railways, and as this would be practically destructive of the railway brotherhoods, it is probable that at the right time the Grand Officers will put the weight of their influence against it. A mass meeting has been called here for November 26th, at the Briggs Hotel, by Division 96, B. L. E., to hear expressions on rate regulation by the different members.

Editor Railway Conductor:

BRADLEY.

Although miles away from our Division, old 301, and deprived of the pleasure of meeting with them, we are the occasional recipient of a wireless telegram, and the latest tells of our annual election of officers, which took place on the 12th, and just like all of our state and county elections, the grafters have been routed and an entire change almost has been effected. Corruption is bound to reign and bad policy prevail where parties of either or any political views are long in power, and a change in due time necessitates itself and makes the fact apparent to the slumbering public; but not generally until after they are well trimmed financially. Seriously speaking, we are starting out with an elegant set of young officers who are full of life and bid fair to keep up the interest which has always been shown in the Division room.

While we have'nt the old time scrappers "a la John Long" and others of our departed Brothers with us, yet we have the usual animation present always and we most all feel better after a little brush up against the sarcastic natures of some of our Indians.

The paper has it that our Secretary has been south as far as Birmingham, ostensibly to let the balmy breeze of the southland play with his lilacs; yet we fear he has a case away down across the border, for despite his age he is still winsome, and some good lass that wants a father to raise her would do well to-let him alone, for everything he touches turns to money, and woman is destined for higher consideration.

In a brief note recently he advised a little sendoff in THE CONDUCTOR for our new people in office. The above is his, and we drop the matter now in consideration of graver ones, for death has again invaded our ranks taking away from family and numerous friends and Brothers, Brother Geo. J. Dunkle. He was one of our oldest passenger men and well known to all of the traveling public for the last twelve years. Glancing over the already long list, we find him as the twenty-ninth of ours who have given up after long years of servitude, since January 9, 1892, and we again say, "Who will be the next?" We regret very much that our cold-blooded laws will not permit us to speak at length of Brother Dunkle, yet the omission will be supplied as best can be done through the press along our line of road. Although they are out for the money yet they have always cheerfully given us all of the space requested and longed to do

more.

Our members of Indiana met and organized a state legislative board at Indianapolis on September 10th, electing officers, doing no other particular business of any importance except to lick our lips, spit upon our hands, bow our backs, and depart with a "we are ready for them in the fall" look upon our beautiful faces. By the way, we had two or three excellent speeches by Pennsylvania talent and others by Indianapolis talent, but we suppress names of the orators until later on when the real work shall begin. We only hope that all states may follow suit, for there is a crying need of legislation that we are all deeply interested in.

Brother Johnson, with whose affliction many are familiar, is gradually growing weaker, with no possible hope of recovery. H. S. M. Cincinnati, Ohio.

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Editor Railway Conductor:

Kindly indulge an ex-correspondent in a few remarks on current events. I am fond of the Fraternal columns of THE CONDUCTOR and of the editorials, including publications that are of vital importance to the conductors who run the trains of the country.

On pages 862 and 863 of the November edition, we see, if we have been observing, what our worthy editor intends to be of interest to us. This is one of the uses of THE CONDUCTOR and one of the reasons why it should be sought for and eagerly read, and carefully and thoughtfully put in our every-day life. I look to it as a guide upon current events of our every-day life. The Fraternal columns should embody much more than our last edition contains-four letters, I believe, is all that we have from our Brothers. What is the matter, Brothers, that you don't get busy? My attention was directed to this particular feature, upon finding an accumulation of copies on the receiving shelves in the despatcher's office, of various railroad magazines. A great number piled up there on shelves led me to investigate as far as I could why these periodicals were not reaching their intended purpose. As a result of that investigation,

I believe if these magazines were sent to the place of residence instead of the place of business of our Brothers, that they would be received and read, not only by the conductors, but by the trainmen and others, whereas they are now accumulating in piles upon shelves until a certain time when the shelves are cleaned, and then out goes the entire accumulation, many CONDUCTORS among them, without ever having the wrapper taken off. This should not be, and as I have said before in our CONDUCTOR, if our Division correspondents would only watch these little things that are along his line of observation and be frank in bringing them to the attention of his Division as well as to the columns of our CONDUCTOR, and say without fear or favor, that if he finds as I have found, that these uncalled for journals belong to Brothers in all the different organizations who are largely in arrears with their local dues, and many of them require instruction before they can enter a regular stated meeting of their organization. I would like to just mention the names of those whom I

find are grossly careless of their own interest in this direction and claim to be one of us in O. R. C. I would like to say just a word in behalf of some of the many things I came in contact with last May. I never realized just what the O. R.C. was until I became one of the many that constituted the party that met in Portland, Oregon. The courtesies extended to us by the various orders and bodies of business men, and especially the Order of Elks, Pocatello, Idaho, and the Elks in general everywhere, along our route, were most ethical indeed.

I trust that we will all meet in Memphis, Tenn., in 1907.

A number of our Brothers are going to visit Mexico soon and I would be glad to have them meet our new Grand Officer, Brother Rolfe. If you see 10 or 15 Brothers of Division 114 down in Mexico the first of next month, you will find them a congenial lot, and I know that they will be glad to see you. Division 114 hopes to hear a great deal of this trip, as the correspondent is one of the party and I know that he will keep tab on all the particulars.

I will close by asking Brothers to take better care of the Fraternal column. D. F. LANE.

eat, music, etc. Wish it were possible for every Brother and his family and every Sister and her family to be present and enjoy it with us. The greatest pleasure to me is the pleasure of others in which I am able to assist.

Brothers, we are one year nearer the end of our run for life than we were a year ago. Many changes have taken place, many of our Brothers who were with us then have made their last run and are in the great eternity. Since my last, two Brothers have been called away. Who will be the next and what will be the warning? A solemn question indeed, but I dare say even at this very moment some dear Brother is passing the last milepost in this life.

Brothers, who of you did me the honor to read my last letter and obeyed my request? If not, why not? Who of you honored Brother H. J. Gardner by reading his precious letter, one of the most beautiful I have ever read in the RAILWAY CONDUCTOR? If not, why not?

As we bid farewell to the year 1905, let us covenant together to do more for ourselves than we have ever done along moral and religious lines in the past. ED. B. WILLIS.

Denton, Texas.

Eidtor Railway Conductor:

Division 110 met in regular session Sunday, November 12, 1905. This meeting was the most enthusiastic and largest in point of attendance of any meeting held during the year, and to make it still more interesting we had the pleasure of initiating five candidates.

Brother Hamilton perpetrated an agreeable surprise on the members present in the shape of a neat lunch of sandwiches, coffee, ice cream and cake, and finishing with good cigars. His thoughtfulness was surely appreciated.

The officers and members of Division 110 have good reason to feel proud over the record they have made and good and charitable deeds performed during the year now drawing to a close. All meetings have been well attended, members taking an active and earnest interest in all business pertaining to the Order, and a feeling of contentment and brotherly love exhibited that appears to grow stronger with every meeting. have 105 members and a number of applications expected in the near future. The prospects are bright and encouraging, the Division being in a prosperous and flourishing condition, and we expect to have a membership of one hundred and fifty or more prior to December 31st, 1906. Logansport, Ind. F. C. MURPHEY.

We now

Since my last, I am delighted to say that my name appears first on the register of Division 57, October 17th and Nov. 21st, the latter date was the occasion of annual election of officers to serve during 1906, which passed off without the least thing to mar the very best feeling among the Brothers. There will be a joint installation with the Sisters of Tygard Division 106, L. A. to O. R. C. This means a jolly good time, with something to

Editor Railway Conductor:

Once more Division 386 is enjoying a pleasant and prosperous season. We had election of officers Nov. 5, with a large attendance, every one looking to the interest of the Division. They picked the best men for our officers.

Brothers, if you want your Division to prosper, you must stand by your officers, and assist them in making it so. I speak from experience, as I am at present the C. C. of Division 386, and the Brothers have stood by me, and by so doing they have made Division 386 second to no Division in attendance and harmony.

Division 386 never has been in as harmonious a condition as it is now, and has been for the past eight months, with a good attendance at every meeting. E. S. BLEVINS.

East St. Louis, Ill.

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Editor Railway Conductor:

With this, the December issue of the CONDUCTOR, ends the year's work. The work of the Order, as we find it to-day, calls for calm deliberation on the part of every loyal member as to what we shall make it in the future.

By a united effort, every member can make it more interesting, and accomplish many desired results. We can be more social to our new members, and to visiting Brothers.

Let us, each and all, resolve to try and overcome our selfishness, and do our duty in this respect in future; a good hard handsqueeze and a pleasant smile goes a long ways'

Monday, November 6th, we elected officers.

The Idaho herder, better known as "Duplex," was elected chairman for local adjustments. It would be useless to make many remarks about our past officers. They have been loyal to the Order, and upheld the boys in trouble.

We are still chainganging our caboose washpans and water cup and no cushions to ride on.

The Ladies of L. A., to O. R. C. served dinner after our election, and then witnessed our installation of officers. It was an excellent dinner, in the latest style. We had with us at this meeting Brother G. W. Evans, who is superintendent of the Fidelity and Casualty Insurance Co. for the O. R. C. from Atlanta, Ga. He made us an excellent talk, both for the good of the Order and interest of the insurance company.

Brothers of this Division, let us come together at once and show the Order we can do good for a distressed Brother, or a member of his family, and dispel our selfishness. "RED." Knoxville, Tenn.

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Editor Railway Conductor:

bers.

Having been a member of the O. R. C. for the last three years, and haven't been able to find a word in our journal written by one of our number, I am very desirious of having the outside community see that No. 248 still exists, and is among the living. They stand to-day with about forty memWhile this is a small number to compare with other Divisions, we consider it good for the number of men we have in the railroad service in this section of the country. We held our last regular meeting last Sunday, the most of our time being taken up electing new officers, who, we hope, will strive to do all they possibly can toward the upbuilding of our Order. We had two applications presented before the lodge at this meeting, that we hope to act upon as soon as possible. boys come in slowly, but as a general rule are good when we get them.

Our

We have a few members who have dropped out for some cause which I am unable to mention, but hope to see them reinstated again soon. We also have a few others that I think will come in as soon as age will permit them.

I am very sorry to note the condition of our Brother, Otey Figurex, who had a stroke of paralysis about three years ago, and has not worked any since. While we are very sorry to note the condition of our Brother, we are glad to know our good Order is ready and willing to meet every obligation required of it. G. M. SANDERSON.

Tuscombia, Ala.

L

Editor Railway Conductor:

We've been on a long chase through the Northwest-Colorado, Wyoming, and drove our stake of future hope just off the bank of the big Twin Falls irrigating canal, Cassia county, Idaho. Good prospects there, boys, but you have to work just like they do everywhere. But to turn over attention for a few minutes back home; the Knoxville Division of the Southern Railway is having the heaviest freight traffic ever known in the history of the road, and there's apparently no let-up, as it keeps coming, and now that the coal traffic is starting a winter boom, there's no telling what will become of us. Simply more business than can be handled on a single-track road. Our people are doubletracking congested portions of our line as fast as cost and scarcity of material and labor will permit. Without the colored labor of the South to-day we

could not handle the business which the "golden opportunity" of prosperity has brought to us. Much of our colored labor now demands and gets as high wages as skilled labor formerly commanded.

A few years since Division 139 of our Order had only 100 members; and, at that, all conductors eligible working out of Knoxville were members. But note the difference now. We are to give up enough members from our Division to organize a strong Division at Blue Ridge, Ga., on the L. & N., and then we'll have 150 good, stout members left. Before this is read Division 139 will have elected officers for 1906. How quickly the year rolls around, and yet how correct the writer who said, "We fly-time stays."

The whole Division is in deep sympathy with our friend and Brother, R. B. Ragsdale, and his sorrowstricken family, in the loss of their beloved son and brother. Brothers, who next shall partake of the "bitter cup" while we stand by and think lightly of a Brother's misfortune? Oh, for a timely revival, and a more concerted and deeper sympathy for the afflicted and bereaved of our Order! Knoxville, Tenn. "DUPLEX."

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Editor Railway Conductor:

I am a bright and shining member of Division 85, and am glad to see she is always up and coming, and never has any kind of appearance of death, always alive. Our worthy chief, Tom McGinty. can't be headed off on any occasion.

Two years ago I went to Hot Springs, Ark., for a cure of a very severe case of rheumatism. and came away sound and well. While I was there I made my home-and it was surely a homeat the St. Charles Hotel, owned and managed by Brother H. Dougherty and his wife, who make their place here like a home for all comers. Mr. Dougherty is a retired railroad man, and he enjoys having the boys around him.

The great and sudden change in the altitude on the A., T. & S. F. road between Winslow, Ariz., and Needles, Cal., makes it quite hard on the constitution of trainmen. Needles is 241 feet, and Riordan, Arizona, 240 miles east, is 7533 feet above sea level. F. M. CARTER. Winslow, Ariz.

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Editor Railway Conductor:

Division 378 met November 11, 1905, with a good attendance and elected their officers for the ensuing year.

Brothers, would it not be more advantageous to our Order and M. B. D. to reduce the application fee for a period of three months as an inducement for non-members of the O. R. C. to join our ranks? Where is the Order and M. B. D. benefited by accepting applicants when they become between 35 and 45 years of age before joining our ranks and only join for an investment? It takes 62 years to pay in what is taken out. Why should other organizations receive the benefits of non-conductors in their prime and the O. R. C. take care of them when they become aged?

Non-members of the O. R. C. and members of other organizations who join our ranks after a number of years do so for the splendid investment we offer. JESSE GOSNELL.

Washington, D. C.

Editor Railway Conductor:

In looking over THE CONDUCTOR, I see the good spirit of Brother S. C. Benford, of Philipsburg, Pa., in behalf of the age limit of brother conductors. I am in favor of the age limit. I think it is a good thing. But there is another age limit in existence, that is called the "Brown System," it is short and bitter, and no pension at the end of it. Brother readers, have you come in contact with it? If so, give us your views in regard to the aged brother, in long servitude and faithfulness of life to the company he works for. He is broken down, worn out and ready to die; if the good Lord sees fit to call the death warrant on him he must go; the long hard earnings of the Brother must be left behind for some one else to enjoy. Now, if a Brother lives to pass the age limit on the road that he works for, and the company sees fit to pension him for the rest of his life, should not the O. R. C. make a law to protect the Brothers in life?

I would say, from the age of 60 or 65, and let him enjoy some of his insurance laid up in store while in the prime of life. This problem is worthy of attention. W. A. DORAN.

Editor Railway Conductor:

In reading the September CONDUCTOR I was much interested in the letter of Brother Quisenberry of Virginia. It is no doubt true that we are often forgetful not only of the fraternal obligations we have taken on ourselves, but of the golden rule of a Higher Authority. When our work is done we settle down to take our ease without thought for the weary bodies or sad hearts about us to whom we owe a duty, and I hope the words of Brother Q. may stir the Divisions to action.

So.

But I am glad to be able to give a different account of my own experiences under somewhat similar circumstances. For three weeks this fall I was in the hospital at Bradford, Pa. Our Chief Conductor notified the Bradford Division of my being there and there was prompt response. Three of the Brothers called on me and more may have done A fine basket of fruit, cigars and literature came with the compliments of Division 200. If I could not have all the fruit that was the fault of the hospital rules, and I hope the nurses had it and enjoyed it, for they were good to me. I am glad to give this testimony both in justice to Division 200 and to show that there are Brothers whose hearts are not only in the right place but where actions show it.

Our freight business has been steady all summer

and the boys have been doing something right along, but as they say, I am a back number and here I fall down. Still, it is safe to say it requires the higher mathematics to figure out their length of trains. But no kicking, boys; I guess you must take your medicine, as it seems to be the same everywhere.

Brother McBride is at present in the city hospital as the result of a break-in-two of train and bad case of buckling. We hope he will be out and again on duty before this is read. C. H. A. Ashtabula, Ohio.

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Editor Railway Conductor:

R. B. Hawkins Division 114 deemed it wise not to elect a correspondent for THE CONDUUCTOR, but let each member write when he desired.

November 5th it was our privilege to be present with about one hundred of our members and about 22 visitors at the election of officers for 1906. The officers-elect are an able lot of boys and they will prove by their management of our affairs, I am sure, that the Division made a wise selection. As usual, Brothers Chislet, Conner, Lane, Niebaum, Miller, Walters, and others too numerous to mention, were there and gave us wise counsel and wholesome advice. I certainly wish all our members could have been at that meeting to hear those Brothers.

It was also our pleasure to be with Division 471 November 26th, when they held their election. It would be hard indeed to find a more able, conservative and wise body of men to govern a Division than those selected by No. 471 to look after their interests for 1906. We look for a very prosperous year under their management.

November 29th, with a party of fifty-seven under the leadership of Brother Chislett (the king), we left Pittsburgh for Mexico to attend the thirtysixth annual convention of the old reliable conductors' insurance association, to be held in the city of Mexico December 7th, 1905. We spent one day in St. Louis and left there at 9:30 p. m. with two hundred on board of special train over the Iron Mouutain. I have never enjoyed the company of a more jolly crowd than were in this party. In fact, under the leadership of W. O. Beckley of St. Louis and Chislett (the king) of Pittsburgh, we are like one large family out for a good time, and we are having it, you bet!

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Editor Railway Conductor:

A MEMBER OF 114.

Our little O. R. C. Division, away up here in Vermont, is composed of 31 members, with the surety of more soon. It meets the third Sunday in each month at Newport, a thriving little town of about 3,000 inhabitants, situated at the head of Lake Memphremagog, a distance of about four miles from the Canadian line. Newport is also the junction of the Boston & Maine and the Canadian Pacific railroads.

We take much pride in our Division and everything is working smoothly. F. A. S. T. Lyndonville, Vt.

VS.

ALLINE A. DIXON, ADMINISTRATRIX,

of the United States for the District of Minnesota.

Master and Servant-Telegraph Operator Fellow Servant of Members of Train Crew.

A local telegraph operator whose duty it is to gather and give information to the train dispatcher relative to the arrival of a train at his station to enable the dispatcher to formulate orders for the movement of other trains, is a fellow servant of the train operatives in giving such information, so that the master is not liable to them for injuries caused by an erroneous order of the dispatcher induced by false information given by the local operator.

Master and Servant-Negligence-Res Ipsa Loquitor (the thing speaks for itself) Inapplicable.

The doctrine, res ipsa loquitor, is inapplicable to negligence cases arising between master and servant, because the possible causes of acidents during service are many, for some of which the master, and for others of which the servant, is responsible, and the happenings of an accident does not indicate to which class its cause belongs.

The burden in such cases is always on him who alleges that the master was guilty of casual negligence to establish that fact. A finding that an accident happened and that the servant injured was not at fault does not sustain this burden, because the accident may have been unavoidable, or may have resulted from the negligence of fellow servants or from other causes for which the master is not liable. Master and Servant-Meeting OrdersRules of Company Construed.

The rules of a railroad company that meeting orders must not be sent for delivery to trains of superior right at the points of execution if this can be avoided and that there should be, if possible, at least one telegraph office between those a which opposing trains meet, do not constitute a peremptory prohibition and command, but except cases in which an ordinarily prudent man would deem it reasonably safe in the light of the knowledge which the dispatcher has to send a meeting order for delivery to a train of superior right at the point of ex