er, and one that does not come
within the scope of the calculations of accountants, expert or
otherwise. It has been said repeatedly that a man is safer in a railroad
train than on the streets. In other words, the percentage of death and
serious injury is said by statisticians to be lower among men habitually
traveling than among people who are classed as stay-at-homes, and who
seldom take a railroad journey. But while this is doubtless correct, so
far as passengers are concerned, the rule does not apply to railroad
employes, and those who by their never-wavering care and energy protect
the life and limbs of passengers, and make railroad traveling safe as
well as comfortable.

A celebrated divine, when preaching on the subject of faith, once took a
railroad journey for an illustration. As he pointed out, with much
eloquence and force, there could be no more realistic personification of
faith than the man who peacefully lay down to sleep at night in his
berth of a Pullman car, relying implicitly upon the railroad men to
avert the thousands of dangers which had to be encountered during the
still hours of the night.

Whenever there is a strike, a great deal is written about the men
employed in various capacities by railroads, and every misdeed is
exaggerated, and every indiscretion magnified into a crime. But very
little is said on the other side of the question. The men to whom
railroad travelers, and especially those who ride at night, commend
their safety, are worked to the full extent of their powers, and are
paid very small wages, when the nature of their duties and the hours
they have to make are taken into consideration.

The commendation of these men takes the form of deeds, rather than
words, and while so few have ever stopped to consider the loyalty and
devotion of the poorly paid and hard-worked railroad man, every traveler
who enters a railroad car pays silent tribute to their reliability. The
passenger, as he lounges comfortably in a luxurious seat, or sleeps
peacefully in his state-room, thinks nothing of the anxiety and
annoyances of the men in charge of the train, or of those who are
responsible for the track being kept clear, and proper orders being
given to the engineer.

This official is a man of many hardships and dangers. To him is
entrusted daily the lives of hundreds of human beings. He knows not how
many, but he knows that the slightest error on his part will hurl
perhaps ten, perhaps twenty, a