tors and Representatives in having them assist in passing it. The good to be accomplished by the passage of the bill will appeal to railroad men at a glance.

Section two seeks to rectify conditions which have become too common and wherein the employing companies escape liability for personal injuries to their employes, by pleading fellow servant liability, or contributory negligence. It has mattered not how slight the contributory negligence of the employe was in comparison to that of the employing company, the employe has had to stand the entire loss.

As, for instance, an operator sends an order to a train many miles away, and through some error in it, and during its execution, the fireman of the train is injured. The company pleads that the operator is a fellow servant of the fireman and gets a verdict in its favor, no account being taken of the fact that the occupation of the operator and fireman are as distinct as two occupations could well be and that in the performance of their duties neither comes in contact with the other; nor do orders pass directly from one of them to the other. Instances of this character are not rare, and the manifest injustice of them calls for remedial legislation.

Section three of the bill seeks to remedy evils which have grown up in the operation of insurance or relief benefit schemes in vogue on some of the roads, membership in which acts as a bar to recovery of damages for personal injuries.

If membership in these relief departments carried with it nothing more than the requirement that certain reasonable sums be paid periodically as a condition of being entitled to certain specified sick, disability or death benefits, there would be no reasonable objection to them. If the relief department simply undertook to require men, through mutual or coöperative means, to provide some financial assistance for themselves and their families in the hour of sickness, injury or death, and did not attach conditions to the acceptance of the benefit, for which the employe has, in fact, paid practically

full value, which conditions operate wholly in the interest of the employing company and against the injured employe, there would not be such general distrust of nor opposition to these undertakings. Neither would there be such broad and justifiable ground for criticism, and opposition to the relief department as now presents itself, and which this bill will rectify if passed.

The applicant for membership in a relief department is required to execute a contract that, in event of his being injured in the performance of his duties, and of accepting the benefits provided in the department for such cases, he thereby releases the employing corporation from all liability under the statutory or common law. This means that if a member of such department is injured through neglect of the company or its agents, and, believing that no permanent disability will ensue, he accepts the first month's benefits provided by the relief department and tendered by the company, and later finds that he is disabled for life, or his death ensues, all efforts to recover damages from the company are frustrated by the company pleading the contract which the employe signed when becoming a member of the relief department.

Instances of this kind have not been rare, and a sufficient number of them, accompanied by distressing conditions and surrounded by facts which clearly demonstrated the injustices involved, occurred in the state of Iowa to lead the legislature to place upon the statute books of that state a law which specifically provides that such contract is and shall be null and void.

The fact that the company insists upon such a contract is sufficient evidence that the relief from legal liability thus afforded to it is one of the strongest reasons for its interest in the relief department. The fact that the department is thus made a shield against liability which would otherwise attach to the company, leads one's thoughts away from the idea that the company's interest is purely philanthropic.

It will not do to plead in extenuation

They do me wrong who say I come no more When once I knock and fail to find you in, For every day I stand outside your door, And bid you wake and rise to fight and win.

Wail not for precious chances passed away,
Weep not for golden ages on the wane!
Each night I burn the records of the day;
At sunrise every soul is born again.

Laugh like a boy at splendors that have sped,
To vanished joys be blind and deaf and dumb;
My judgments seal the dead past with its dead,
But never bind a moment yet to come.

Though deep in mire, wring not your hands and

weep;

I lend my arm to all who say "I can!" No shamefaced outcast ever sank so deep But yet might rise and be again a man! Dost thou behold thy lost youth all aghast, Dost reel from righteous retribution's blow? Then turn from blotted archives of the past And find the future's pages white as snow. Art thou a mourner? Rouse thee from thy spell; Art thou a sinner? Sins may be forgiven; Each morning gives thee wings to flee from hell, Each night a star to guide thy feet to heaven!

I am always, ever with you,
Always will be, so I pray;

I would never welcome give you,
And farewell would never say.

Say not welcome when I come,
Nor farewell tell me when I go;
For I come not when I come,
And I go not when I go.

3

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Editor Railway Conductor:

I hold in my hand, as I sit here at the open window, enjoying the glorious Minnesota sunshine, the sweet zephyrs of a balmy May day, a little withered flower, a sweet purple pansy, plucked from the beautiful flower gardens in the natural park in faroff Tacoma. Like Chauncy Alcott, as he held the handful of earth from the land of his birth, it brought sweet memories of that far-off land across the waters and pleasant recollections of home and mother; and so to me this faded flower, although the petals were pressed and withered, the incense remaining made me think of the sweet face, the kindly heart, and the pleasant smile of the donor from the White City, who was my seatmate on that well-remembered trip. Oh, but it was cold and chilly; our blood nearly congealed in our veins; but nevertheless we were made to feel at home by the cordial greeting of Sister Pease, Brother C., Sister Lyon, Sister McCall, and the other warm-hearted citizens of that far-off western town. How we did enjoy every moment of our trip! And even the long, tedious hours in the convention room were to me a labor of love. From the moment we said good-bye to kind friends and relatives at home, we met other dear and kind friends among the strangers coming from New York, Pennsylvania, Maine, Ohio,-yes, and from all points in the far South and East; and how cordial were the handclasps and the sympathy extended in one's hour of sorrow! They shall remain sweet memories never to be forgotten when we grow old and look back to these convention gatherings as things of the past.

I think we as members of the Auxiliary owe a debt of gratitude to the Order of Railway Conductors for the many courtesies shown to us. What privileges were ours! Those handsome vestibuled trains, those splendidly equipped sleepers, the ample accommodations, and the sumptuous service of the diners from the beginning to the end. It showed splendid management by the committee in charge, and we as a body should tender them a rousing vote of thanks.

As I sat in my lonely compartment, with the company of only that sweet child of innocence, and I saw those brave conductors accompanied by their wives and daughters, and in some cases sons and daughters, I thought of that voice that was for

ever silent and whose privilege it would never again be to be a member of this gay assemblage. The thought came to me, grasp the opportunities while they are yet yours. Make all you can of the life set before you and, above all, thoroughly appreci ate the privileges which are yours today, and be careful not to abuse them. No one knows when the clouds may gather and the day of bitter repentance will surely come to us all. The merry "all aboard" may be heard today in blissful happiness, but tomorrow the tongue may be silenced and the last trip made.

What a splendid program we enjoyed that first day in Portland! Each officer seemed at her best, and how select and timely were the words spoken! And indeed brevity was the soul of wit, which made it all the more enjoyable. Let us take the advice of our Grand President to press onward and upward and not rest until we have reached the highest pinnacle of success and placed our beloved Auxiliary second to none in woman's sphere; and remember, as Sister Conlisk said, "a cheerful smile and gentle word linger long in memory, gilding with beauty the darkest hours of life," and remember, they don't cost us a cent; and, too, as Sister Callahan suggested, "glue our hearts together with that cement made in Portland, it matters not to us whether it is an Eastern or a Western product, or whether it had its origin in the balmy southland or amid the snow-bound rocks of the frigid North.

What a privilege too was ours to see the railway conductor, the general manager of one of th greatest railroads in the country, leaders of the foremost commercial bodies of that large city, those who were foremost in religious circles-it mattered not of what denomination, our beloved Mrs. Moore, and our grand leader, E. E. Clark, shake hands upon one common platform. It surely should have been to us as railroad people the happiest moment of our lives. And then our convention. To me it was the most satisfactory-barring the last day-of any I have yet attended. The business was done with such neatness and dispatch. Our Grand President certainly did herself proud. Where could we find one who could rule with such justice and impartiality. We missed the kind face and cheerful greeting of Sister Hodges, who, I understand, was instrumental largely in formulating that beautiful ritual; and the vacant chair in the