IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)

1.0

1.1

11.25

|iO ^^" ■■■

■tt iii |22
^ Lfi |2jO

Fhotografiiic

Sdences

Corpomlion

23 WIST MAIN STREET

WEBSTER, N.Y. U5S0

(716)872-4S03

CIHM/ICMH

Microfiche

Series.

CiHIVi/ICIVIH
Collection de
microfiches.

Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian da microraproductions historiquas

Tachnical and Bibliographi>c Notaa/Notas tachniquaa at bibliographiquaa

Tha Instituta has attamptad to obtain tha bast
original copy availabia for filming. Faaturas of this
copy which may ba bibiiographieally uniqua,
which may altar any of tha imagas in tha
raproduction. or which may significantly changa
tha uaual mathod of filming, ara ehackad balow.

□ Colourad covars/
Couvartura da coulaur

r~~| dovars damagad/

Couvartura andommagia

□ Covars rastorad and/or laminatad/
Couvartura raataurte at/ou pallieulte

r~^ Covar titia missing/

La titra da couvartura manqua

Colourad maps/

Cartas gAogrsphiquaa 9n coulaur

□ Colourad ink (i.a. othar than blua or black)/
Encra da coulaur (i.a. autra qua blaua ou noiral

□ Colourad platas and/or illustrations/
Planchaa at/ou illustrations ^n coulaur

Bound with ottiar matarial/
Rali* avac d'autras documants

Tight binding may causa shadows or distortion
along intarior margin/

La r« liura sarria paut causar da I'ombra ou da la
distorsion la long do la marga intiriaura

Blank laavas addad during rastoration may
appaar within tha taxt. Whanavar possibla. thasa
hava baan omittad from filming/
II sa paut qua cartainas pagas blanchas ajoutias
lors d'una rastauration apparaissant dana la taxta.
mais, lorsqua cala *tait possibla. cas pagas n'ont
pas *t« filmias.

Additional commants:/
Commantairas supplimantairas;

L'Institut a microfilm* la maillaur axamplaira
qu'il lui a Ati possibla da sa procurar. Las details
da cat axamplaira qui sont paut-4tra uniquas du
point da vua bibliographiqua. qui pauvant modifier
una imaga raproduita. ou qui pauvant axigar una
modification dans la m^thoda normala da filmaga
sont indiquis ci-daasous.

r~| Colourad pagas/

Pagas da coulaur

Pagaa damagad/
Pagaa andommagias

Pagas rastorad and/oi

Pagas rastaur^as at/ou palliculAas

Psgas discoloured, stained or foxai
Pagas dicolortes. tacheties ou piquAes

Pagas detached/
Pagas ditachias

Showthrough/
Transparence

Quality of prir

Qualiti inigala de I'impression

Includes supplementary matarii
Comprend du metiriel supplimentaire

Only edition available/
Seule Mition disponible

nn Pagaa damaged/

p~| Pages restored and/or laminated/

r~7 Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/

r~| Pages detached/

r~7| Showthrough/

|~n Quality of print varies/

r~1 Includes supplementary material/

[~n Only edition available/

Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata
slips, tissues, etc., hava been ref limed to
ensure the best possible image/
Lea pagas totalement ou partiellement
obscurcies par un fauillet d'arrata, une peiure,
etc., ont iti filmtes A nouvaau de facon i
obtenir la meilleure image possible.

This item is filmed at tha reduction ratio checked below/

Ce document est fiimA au taux de rMuction indiqui ci-dessous.

10X

14X

18X

22X

26X

30X

1
1

12X

18X

aox

28X

32X

Th« eopy fllm«d h«r9 has b««n raproduead thanks
to tha ganaroaity of:

Library of ParliamMit and tha
National Library of Canada.

L'axamplaira filni4 f ut raproduit grica * la
gdn4roaiti da:

La BibliothAqiN du Pariamant at la
Bibliothkiua nationala du Canada.

Tha imagaa appaarinq hara ara tha
poaaibia conaMaring tha condition
of tha original eopy and in Icaaping
filming eontraet apaeifieatlona.

quality
lagibillty
tha

Laa imagaa auhfantaa ont 4tA raprodultaa avae la
plua grand aoin. eempta tanu da la eondltlon at
da la nattatd da i'aaamplaira filmA, at it
eonformiti avae laa eondMona du eontrat da
fllmaga.

Ori^fwl eoplaa in printed paper eovera are filmed
beginning with tlta front eover and ending on
the laat page with a printed or illuetrated impraa-
sion, or the beeii eover wlien eppropriaia. All
other originei eopiee are filmed begimting on the
firav^ page with a printed or illuetrated impree-
aion, and ending on tfie leat page with e printed
or illuetrated impreealon.

Lae aKemplairae originaux dent la eouverture en
papier eat imprimde aont flimda en commenoant
par ie premier plat at an terminant aoit par la
d a m itr e page qui comporte une amprainte
dimpreeeion ou dlHuatration, aoit par la second
plat, salon la eaa. Toua laa autraa aiiampiairaa -
originaux aont filmda en commenoant par la
prem i ere page qui comports une empreinte
dimpreeeion ou dlNuatration et 9n terminant par
la dam Hre page qui comporte une teUe
empreinte.

The laat recorded frame on each mieroflche
shaH contain tha symbol — ^ (meening "CON-
TINUEO"). or the symbol ▼ (meening "END"),
whic h ever appllae.

Un dee aymbelee auivanta apparaltra sur la
dam H re imege do cheque microfiche, selon Ie
cae: Ie symbole — »• slgnlfie "A SUIVRE". Ie
symbole ▼ slgnifie "FIN".

piatee, ciiarti. ate., may be filmed et
d i f fe ren t reduction ratioa. Thoae too lerge to be
entirely included In one eapoeure ara filmed
beginning in the upper left hand comer, left to
right and top to bottom, aa many fr ama e ee
required. The following dlegrame Hiuatrate the
method:

pla n chee. tablaeux. etc.. peuvent Atre
fHmde i dee taux do rMuetion diffirenta.
Loraque la document eet trop grend pour itre
reproiduit en un aeul dlchd. ii eat fHmd i partir
da i'angle aupdriaur gauche, do geuche k droite.
at da iMut en bee. en prerMim Ie nombre
dlmagae ndceeaaire. Laa diagrammae auivanta
IMuatrentle m4thode.

1 2 3

EAILWjl! SEPONS

REV. D. VAN NORMAN LUCAS, M.A.

Tkis little book is respect/idly dedicated to the GENERAL Manager of
THE Grand Trunk Railway of Canada,

JOSEPH HICKSON, ESQ.,

who has kindly expressed to the author his hope that it may
have a large circulation.

Ittontrtal.

** witness " PRINTING HOUSE, BONAVENTURE STREET.

1882.

"FAITHFUL UNTO DEATH."

BeT.II~10

A SERMON PREACHED TO LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEERS, BT

REV. D. V. LUCAS, M.A., ON THE OCCASION OP THE

DEATH OF JOHN HOWARTH, BY ACCIDENT, AT

PRESCOTT. — AUGUST, 1 88 1.

Mr. Lucas took his text from a small copy of the New Testament,
the only book found on the person of Mr. Howarth when his body was
taken from the wreck. He also alluded to the foct that the book gave
abundant evidence of having been much used, and some portions were
especially marked.

There are two senses in which I view this word " faith-
ful " — a higher and a lower sense. When the wicked
and hypocritical Pharisees came to Jesus, hoping to catch
him between the horns of a perplexing dilemma, they
asked him, ** Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar or
not ?" They thought, if he says it is, he will turn the
Jews against him ; if he says it is not, he will turn the
Romans against him. So they submitted the question
for the purpose of leading him, if possible, into difficulty.
He said, " Show me a penny. Whose is this image and
superscription?" They said, "Caesar's." He replied,
*• Render, therefore, unto Caesar the things which are
Caesar's, and unto God the things which are God*s.*'
With these words from the Master'

lips,

any

doubt the importance in his estimation, of faithfulness in
this lower sense. I understand him to say, " Do your
duty as a good citizen. Honor your king by obedience
to law, and your country over which he rules by an in-
dustrious, honest life."

I do not say this is all, for his words show that some-
thing more is expected ; but this surely is an important
part of that which gives us daily favor in the sight of God.
Viewing the matter, for the present moment, from this
lower standpoint, I beg to ask you if John Howarth was
not a faithful man ? Faithful to himself. In an honor-
able and industrious manner, by a most faithful attention
to his calling, he endeavored to fill up the measure of
his days. How glad we should be if we could persuade
all men to be faithful even in this !

He was faithful, even unto death, for his family. He
lived not for himself alone. A loving wife and child
hoped soon again to welcome him, as they had often done
before. These he loved, and for these, e;ven more than
for himself, he applied himself with untiring industry to
the dangerous duties of his calling. That he might gra-
tify the wishes of his little family, with whom he had
failed to spend the previous Sabbath, having been de-
tained by his train at a distance, he exchanged places
with a brother engineer. As he passed Summerstown,
where his family was, he called to the agent, " Tell my
family I will be back to-morrow night to remain with

them over Sunday." Poor man ! He was back at the
the appointed time, but to remain in the family burying-
ground till trains shall run no more.

He was faithful to the Company who gave him employ-
ment. I have it from the lips of one of the officials of
the railway — a gentleman who has known him intimately
as an engine-driver for nearly twenty years— that there was
not a truer man to be found, a man who could be trusted to
do his best anywhere and everywhere ; a man who was at
all times actuated by conscientious motives, and who was
sacredly careful, therefore, of what was entrusted to his
oversight and custody as if it had been his own. His
time, from the moment he signed the "appearance sheet"
at the office, until he brought back his train to the station
from whence he started, he counted not his own, but his
employers', and because of his conscientious faithfulness
was always able to give such an account as to establish
himself more and more fully in the estimation and confi-
dence of those having charge of his department.

He was faithful to the public at large. Who can tell
the thousands of lives which have been in his hands
during these twenty years past I To those, in common
with his brother engineers, he has been a faithful servant.
I am afraid, gentlemen of John Howarth*s calling, that
you have to a large extent served an ungrateful public,
who have been far more ready to censure you for una-
voidable accidents than to praise you, when, through a

kind over- ruling Providence and your unflagging vigilance,
you have been more highly favored. In your charity, for-
give. I wot that through ignorance it has been done.
Some day, your work, with all its accompanying diffi-
culiies and dangers, will be better known, and then your
services will be more highly appreciated and more fre-
quently acknowledged.

Few people are aware of the dangers to which the
engine-driver is exposed, and the general difficulties of
his occupation. He is responsible for all lost time, and
must for every moment of delay render a strict and satis-
factory account on his return, and his explanations, how-
ever correct and truthful they may be, are not always
accepted as satisfactory, and he is accordingly in some
degree punished.

Usually on well equipped roads he finds

HIS ENGINE

in that condition which he describes as " feeling well,"
and he has no difficulty in getting her to do the work re-
quired ; but this is not always the case. She is sometimes
in that condition which may be termed *' sluggish."
Theories and facts do not at all times agree. Theories
belong to the workshop ; facts belong to the road. The
theory of the builder or of the repairer who may have
made some changes in her running gear is, that she will
run at any required rate of speed with as many cars as

can be conveniently attached ; the fact is that she fails to
do what is expected of her. The constructor rejoices
over his theory ; the engine driver has to mourn over the
fact. Observe, I am speaking of exceptional cases, but
these exceptional cases, small as they may be, still help
to enlarge the number of difficulties with which the driver
has to contend. If a conflict arises between the con-
structor and the driver of an engine, in the majority of
cases the superintendent is inclined to blame the latter.

I hope, if you regard these remarks as in any sense
correct, you will not in your minds, for the present at
least, connect them with any particular road, much less
with the road whose bells we hear incessantly ringing. .
There was a day when witty travellers said that G. T. R.
stood for *' going to ruin," but that day is long since
passed, never more, I think, to return. If we consider
the length of this great railway, and the immense traffic
done annually over its single track, with the amazing regu-
larity of its express trains, we must regard it as second to
none in the world for the excellence of its management.
But this excellence is to be accounted for very largely by
that

RIGID DISCIPLINE

which holds the locomotive engineers so terribly respon-
sible. I am not disposed to abate that discipline one jot
or tittle, but I would like that you and I and the travel-
ling public generally, might find our sympathies enlarged
toward a class of our fellow-citize^iis to whom we are so

much indebted, and from henceforth be found more dis-
posed to applaud than to censure them.

We have complained of them because we have been
occasionally a half-hour or an hour late in reaching our
destination. Sitting in our comfortable seats, far back in
the train, we have had no idea at all of the hinderances
which have arisen to prevent our driver making good
time. We have not known that in several instances in
rounding a curve, perhaps within a mile or two of the
next station, he has sighted the tail end of a long freight
struggling with a heavy up grade, and he has been obliged
to slow up to give that train time to switch off out of his
way, and this may be only one of many forms of hinder-
ances which may arise in some trips at least.

You have complained because these drivers seem to
take a special delight in making their whistles give those
unearthly yells in the middle of the night, disturbing your
slumbers. You may not be aware that in some cases the
overtaxed switchman has left his semaphore up for safety
and has fallen into a little dose, from which only a whistle
like that can arouse him.

You have complained because the driver has sometimes
started the train with such

A TERRIBLE JERK.

as to throw you from your seat almost. You may not be
aware that a very long and heavy train, especially at the

foot of a grade, can be started, in many instances, only in
that way. In the early days of the Grand Trunk Railway,
when the road was new and the equ^'pment in a much less
perfect condition than now, that jerk was the rule. For
some years past in ordinary passenger trains it is a rare
exception.

Some few most unreasonable people, along the line of
the railway especially, have complained of these men that
they seenied to have a relish for running over their cattle,
and some have even gone so far as to say, in real earnest,
that these wicked drivers would just as lief run over
their children as not. Numerous instances are on record
of the noble daring of drivers who have ventured out
upon the cow-catcher with the train running at a high
rate of speed, to save a child whose presence upon the
track had been discovered at so short a distance as to
render it impossible to stop the train. I have gone on
the cow-catcher when the train was standing, just to see
what kind of footing I could get to perform a feat of that
kind. I don't think anything but the hope of saving a
human life could induce me to attempt it, and even then.
I fear I should lose my own without accomplishing the
object of my venture. I have read of one of these brave
men, who was a man of high, nervous temperament, and
not overly strong in body and health, who, by a feat of
this kind, was thrown into a brain fever, from which he
did not recover for several weeks. And yet these are the

men who, in the estimation of some people, would just as
soon run over children as. not !

Let us look for a little at the amount of watchfulness
and responsibility req Ted to run an express train from
Montreal to Toronto, a distance of 333 miles. I am aware
that the labor is divided among three men, but allow me,
for convenience sake, to speak as if it were done by one ;
you can divide it up for yourselves. Between these two
points named, including them, are fifty-six stations, con-
nected with which are not less than 400 semaphores and
switches, every one of which must be seen. If anything
were to happen through his not seeing any one of them
all, his excuse \ ould not be taken. In addition to these
there are not les. than 350 public crossings, for which he
must keep a shar look-out. Add to this, again, the fact
that he must mee and pass in the one trip alone fully 60
or 70 trains of 11 kinds — express,. local, mixed, freight
and ballast trair . Add again to these over 800 objects
which he knows are on the track ahead of him, and which
demand his constant vigilance, the probability that
children or drunken men or cattle may stray upon the
track, as poor John Howarth's widow knows to her cost,
and you see something of the immense strain that is on
these men incessantly. I have only described to you the
responsibilities of one trip.

For cool acts of bravery, I doubt if these locomotive
engineers can be surpassed in the whole world. Oliver

Mann was looking ahead of his engine on a clear beauti-
ful night. Every thing was apparently in first- class con-
dition, engine ** feeling well.*' Express train, hundreds
of passengers, moving on toward Wheeling, Va., at a high
rate of speed, when all at once there was an awful crash,
and he saw that nearly one half of his cab was gone, and
blow after blow was being struck with lightning rapidity
by something like the sword of the Almighty, crushing
everything in its way. What would you or I have done ?
Most likely, jumped for it. But that is not what Oliver
Mann did. Close the throttle (one moment), whistle " down
brakes" (another moment), apply his own air brake
(another moment), pull down the reverse lever (another
moment), and he saved his train. But those four mo-
ments of stem duty cost John Howarth his life. The cool
courage in a moment of great danger was the same, the
happy results, as far as the passengers were concerned;
were the same, the other circumstances differed widely.
In Mann's case the axle of his rear drivers broke, one of
the wheels turned to one side and slid along the rails, the
connecting rod was wrenched loose, and the piston con-
tinuing its action forced the liberated rod to its work of
destruction.

Otis C. Lackey, an engineer on the New York and
New Haven road, was running the through express past
Newington at about forty-five miles an hour. The station
agent showed a white light where he should have shown
a red. In another moment the engineer saw to his horror

that the light was taken away altogether and that the
switch was open. Not waiting to shove in the regulator
and close the throttle, he pulled over the reverse lever as
quick as a flash and applied the air brake. In one mo-
ment more there was an awful crash, but not half so awful
as it would have been if the driver had not retained his
self-possession and courage. The greater part of the
empty train standing on the switch was demolished.
The engine was overturned and Lackey and his fireman
were buried underneath. They were taken out much
injured, though not killed. Out of 300 passengers not
one was injured. Whether any or all of these 300, or the
300 on Oliver Mann's train, or the 300 on John Howarth*s
train, ever came forward to offer one word of thanks to
these brave, self-sacrificing men, or something more
substantial to their weeping widows and helpless orphans,
the reporter has not told us. The thought is in my mind
that the reporter would have been delighted to have told
us of it if they had given him the opportunity.

I say with all the power that is in me that

THE PUBLIC IS MOST TERRIBLY AND SHAMEFULLY REMISS

IN THIS MATTER.

We owe debts to these locomotive engineers which we
have not repaid with even a decent ** Thank you.'* We
have, in our ingratitude, nay, charitably let me say, in our
ignorance, thought them more worthy of our " kicks than
our ha'pence," while they have gone on laying us under

renewed obligations, and patiently submitting to our cen-
sure and sometimes abuse. There is a possibility that
we may, by the course we have pursued in the past, force
them into a spirit of recklessness which will add materially
to the danger of travelling by rail. The extremely rigid dis-
cipline to which they must submit may sometimes have that
tendency, and it is not wise on the part of the public to
back up that rigidity by their censures on every mishap
which may occasionally overtake the engineer, lest perhaps
some day the " galled jade may wince " to their sorrow.
Am I talking at random, think you ? Hear, then, the words
of Sir Henry Tyler, the President of the Grand Trunk Rail-
way. He says, " Engine-drivers are men of like feelings
with the rest of us. They do not desire to run risks or be
smashed any more than the passengers. They may be
trained to be cautious or they may be

FORCED INTO RECKLESSNESS.

No more effectual mode of training them to be reckless can
be adopted than that which has been too frequently fol-
lowed. An engine-driver runs day by day, or night by
night with heavy trains, with barely time to complete his
journey at the highest speed. He is compelled to run
sharply up to the signals or obstructions. He is compelled
to keep his train under command, perhaps without
adequate brake power, and he is obliged to trust to guards
who may not hear the whistle. He is liable to be degraded
if he does not preserve more or less his punctuality. Such
a man is obliged to run risks in daily or hourly working.

He becomes gradually and naturally habituated to them
and often comes to grief in the practice of them."

Yes, and if he is forced into recklessness he may bring
many others into grief too. If we would bring men in
responsible positions up to a high degree of efficiency
and trustworthiness we must, in addition to that firm and
strict discipline to which they are submitted, think of them
kindly, speak of them kindly, and act toward them kindly.
Every man has in his nature however a respect for true
courage. All men despise cowardice, and no man will
contend that recklessness is a commendable or safe thing.
Let me point out the difference. The coward sees the
danger and flees from it, and if he has been put in a posi-
tion of trust the danger is increased, by its being left
wholly uncontrolled. He has betrayed his trust and acted
the part of a dishonest man, because when he contracted
for a position of responsibility it was surely understood
that he assumed those risks which the duties of his posi-
tion entailed upon him.

V V r THE RECKLESS MAN

I think is in a sense akin to the coward. He is conscious
there is danger, but is, as it were, afraid to look it fairly in
the face, so he shuts his eyes that he may not see it, and
rushes madly into it. He increases the danger by his
thoughtlessness or by his foolish daring. If. such men
come through safely it is more by chance than otherwise.
The truly brave and courageous man is a thoughtful man.

He has his eyes wide open to every point behind which
danger may lurk. He wants to see it all. He has a high
regard for that word, duty. He is an honest man. He has
agreed to assume certain responsibilities, and he will
only forsake them when he sees all hope of doing any-
thing more is gone. By standing firmly at his post he is
able largely to reduce the probabilities or the extent of
disaster, and, in the majority of cases, succeeds in obviat-
ing disaster altogether. His habitual thoughtfulness is a
source of strength to him in the moment of imminent
danger, and enables him to do the very best thing that
can be done under the circumstances. Such a man was
John Howarth.

How many scores of those who were sleeping in your
friend's ill-fated train might have gone down with him»
or, perhaps, instead of him, to the shades of death, if he
had not remained at his post, doing all in his power to
the very last moment, to reduce the speed of his train.
He was " faithful unto death."

I pray that you and I may derive a useful lesson from
considering the suddenness of his death. It was a beauti-
ful night. All the difficult parts of his division of the road
were past. One more run of twenty minutes, and his work
for that night would be done. He was just as sure of reach-
ing Brockville that night, and returning home the follow-
ing afternoon, as you and I are of returning to our homes
to-night. Ah ! we are not sure ; but how few of us think
of it. I am glad John Howarth did think of the uncer-

tainties of life, and that he had in his heart a well-
grounded hope of the life to come. If so, sudden death
was to him sudden glory. We mingle our tears with his
mourning family, and with them mourn our loss ; but our
loss is his infinite gain,

Our friend was faithful in the higher sense. In this
well-worn copy of the New Testament which I hold in
my hand — the only book on his person when his mangled
remains were taken from the wreck — I find several places
specially marked. One of these, the 1 2th chapter of
Romans, tells us of those practical doctrines which God
lays upon us here ; and another, the 14th chapter of John,
tells us of the Christian's home hereafter.

The Apostle says : ** I beseech you, therefore, brethren,
by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living
sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reason-
able service ; *' and the Saviour says : *' Let not your
heart be troubled. Ye believe in God, believe also in me.
In my Father's house are many mansions. I go to prepare
a place for you.'* The uncertainties of life and certainty
of death, perhaps of sudden death, ought to impress our
minds very deeply.

*' Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return." We
shall derive small profit by employing all our time ask-
ing, " Why ?" When an engine-driver comes near an
open draw-bridge he does not let his train rush on, fool-
ishly asking, " How comes that draw-bridge open .'* Who
could have done it ? What is it opened for ?" No.

■He does a wiser thing than that. He stops. How much
can we profit by finding fault with the decree, " It is ap-
pointed unto man to die ?" Can our foolish objections
alter the fact ? Can our fault-finding change the decree ?
If not, then may there not be a wiser course than that of
offering censorious criticisms on God*s plan ? Would it
not be better to put the brakes hard down on a life of
sin ; stop that train of evil thought ; think on our way,
and curve our course unto the testimonies of God ? We
would soon find that God will, through his Son, give us
more abundant life than earth can know. We would soon
find that the deep and dark chasm which lies between
this life and that, is spanned by a bridge which has stood
the strain of nearly 2,000 years — a bridge built by the
bleeding hands of a carpenter, our elder Brother, the
Lord Jesus Christ.

"Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."
And not one of us knows how soon ; only this we may
know, it will be very soon. The fast-flying shuttle which
weaves the trousseau of the bride, weaves also her shroud,
and the one must be quickly cut away from the loom to
make room for the other. The faster men live, the faster
they die. The more we multiply facilities for annihilating
space, or for developing rapidly the resources of the
earth, or for bringing the elements of nature under our
control, the more we seem to multiply the implements of
death.

-ii

The excitement, and worry, and rigid discipline, and
long hours, and unrelenting strain which the inventions
of this age have entailed upon us, are driving us into our
graves ahead of our allotted time. The collisions and
accidents of various kinds, rendered almost wholly un-
avoidable by the rapidity with which we move in these
days, snatch us with the quickness of the lightning^s
flash, from our hearths and our homes, and God in
heaven alone knows when or how the bolt may strike us
individually. Seeing death in some form is certain for
us all ; and life, so uncertain as to its continuance here,
how necessary the exhortations of the Saviour, "Be ye
also ready ; for in such an hour as ye think not, the Son
of Man cometh,"

If my Master has said, " Be ye also ready," I assume
there is a necessity for it. There are chasms ahead
opening before us, abysses into which we may plunge
headlong down to eternal ruin. His words are words of
warning, and words of warning are significant of danger.
A hell-inspired enemy has rolled rocks and placed rails
cross- wise upon our track.

Depend upon it, Satan will destroy us if he can. My
Master says to you and me, " Keep your hand upon the
lever — stand by the brake. There is danger ahead !
What I say unto you I say unto all, Watch !"

Seeing he has said, "Be ye ready," I assume we may
be, otherwise he never would have said so. He has

made ample provision. He has died to atone for our
sin. He now prays to the Father for us, that through
his intercession we may be forgiven of God, if we repent
and turn to him. And, by the power of his grace, he
can and will put within us a glorious hope of heaven.

My dear friends of John Howarth*s occupation, I am
in your debt and in his. He and you have brought me
many a time, I make no doubt, through the darkness and
through the storm, in safety back to the joys and delights
of my home — to those whom I love more than life itself,
to those whose presence always makes me happy. I am
in your debt. How can I repay you ? The only earthly
thing I can offer you is my hand extended from a heart
that loves you. Come, I pray you, and get aboard my
Master's train. He sends me to ask you. I am only a
runner for him. He has gone through darkness and
storm for you and me — the storm of human ill-will, the
stoim of Satan's rage, the storm of his Father's indigna-
tion against sin. He will guide us through darkness and
storm to our home in heaven, where he has many man-
sions for those who love him, and where, I trust, we all
have some friends who will greet us. My Master is the
Superintendent of this road, and, that you and I may be
safe, he guides the train himself. Come on board his
train, and he will guide you and me to the land of rest
and glory. — Montreal, August y 1881.

j^'^:-^" ""T^'-

RAILWAY CONDUCTORS AND BRAKESMEN.

Matt. XXIV.-4'l-' Be ye also ready."

Whether we look at the duties and responsibilities of
those who have charge of railway trains, or at the dangers
to which their lives are exposed and the possibility of
sudden death to which we are all liable, the text is appro-
priate. " Be ye also ready,'* the Superintendent says to
each subordinate official. *' Be ye also ready," the Super-
intendent of Life's great vrain says to every one. *

My object, this evening, is not to address myself, exclu-
sively, to our friends the conductors and brakesmen now
present. I may have a few words to say to them more
directly before I have done.

I wish, just now, to speak of their occupation and its
difficulties and dangers, and to consider the feasibility of
lessening the number of those dangers.

They have thought that we ministers appear to be very
anxious about the salvation of their souls, while the salva-
tion of their bodies is a matter respecting which we never
once think. What I have to say to you this evening will
fully disprove the latter part of this notion, so far as I am
concerned, at any rate, and I feel quite confident that my
brethren everywhere are just as ready and willing as I
can possibly be, to cast their influence in the direction of
improvement, if our influence can have any weight with

those who have the power to make such improvement §S
will ensure greater security of life and limb to tho#e in
their employment.

I think the dangers of handling railway trains can be
made less than they are, if railway companies would con-
sent to submit to the cost. When the legislature looks
into this matter more fully, as it will yet do, I think the
companies will be forced to submit to the cost, willing
or unwilling.

. Human life is too precious a thing, and human fingers,
hands and arms are too valuable to be thrown away for
the mere sake of making the cost of management less, and
the percentage of dividends to the shareholders more.

A very slight investigation will discover the dangers to
which brakesmen, especially of freight trains, are exposed,
through the want of a more perfect system of coupling
the cars. It seems to me this can be greatly improved
upon, in the direction both of convenience and safety.
There was a time when those large square blocks of wood
at the ends of freight cars, called dead-woods, were much
thicker than now. It was a very common thing then for
men to lose their arms when coupling, by having them
crushed between these, and a change was made in them.
Since then this kind of accident very seldom occurs.

It never seems to have entered into any one's mind until
quite lately, that the frogs of the road could be so improved

as to prevent those terrible accidents such as have recently
happened to brakesmen in coupling, whereby the poor
men were torn into shreds beneath the wheels. If you
examine the draw-bar-heads of a long freight train made
up of cars from different parts of the continent, you will
observe a variety of design i a their construction. Some
are in the form of a pair of open i iws. When the man
guides the connecting link into the sov./'et so as to drop
into it the coupling pin, his hand can o'Me into these
open jaws and is safe from being crushed. E\..^ this form
however does not obviate all danger. The most com-
mon form of draw-bar-head is a constant source of danger
to the man's fingers and hands. Kven suppose he becomes
ever so expert at pulling away his hand the moment the
link enters the socket, in very frosty weather he is liable
to be caught through his woollen mitten or his sweaty
fingers sticking to the link, and it is but the work of a
moment to maim the poor man for life.

Now do you think it is a matter of no importance to
me whether that poor man loses his hands or not ?

I think I have so much sympathy with those who suffer
physical pain, that I would be glad to rise at midnight
and preach a sermon two hours long if it would prevent
the crushing of a finger, but when I think, not of a finger
merely, but of a right hand and perhaps of a wife and
little children dependent on that right hand for their daily
bread, I must have my say in this matter whoever may
object.

I hope the day is not far distant when the coupling m\\
be done automatically, or by a hand -lever from the side
of the car.

Let any one watch the telegrams of railway accidents
for a few weeks, and he will soon see the necessity for-
action in the direction I have indicated. Brakesmen*s
lives are endangered also from the want of an extended
foot board on the tops of the freight cars. Men who have
been on the road for years tell me that they have exper-
ienced more danger from this source than from any other.
Passing rapidly in the night, as they are often obliged to
do, from one brake to another over the tops of the cars,
the space between is in some cases so long that they are
liable to fall between and in numerous instances men
have fallen and been torn to pieces beneath the cars.

If the foot-board were extended, say from eight to
twelve inches, so as to lessen the space over which the
man has to step, the danger would be to a considerable
extent obviated, if not entirely so. - /^ • - "--':

I know it is said that the lack of uniformity in the height
of cars is the great difficulty in the way of remedying this
defect. You can scarcely see a freight train made up of
cars all of the same height, and it is thought that a man
stepping quickly from a lower to a higher car would only
find increased danger instead of greater safety from the
projecting foot board. I observe that United States cars
are, as a rule, higher than those belonging to Canadian
roads. For the sake of a class of honest hard working

1)
e

r.
a

o
e

men, I think the matter is worthy of (if need be) inter-
national consideration. I merely throw out a hint which
influential philanthropists may think over and act upon.

What looks to me as the most cruel thing of all is to
send these men over the tops of the cars, especially in
the winter, when, as it frequently happenes, every thing
is covered with ice, without any protection whatever from
falling, with the train running perhaps at full speed.
Many lives have been sacrified in this way and others
will be, I suppose, before anything is done to prevent
accidents from this cause.

I think there should be a rail, about two feet or' two
and a half feet high, running either along the centre of
the top of the car, or perhaps better, all around the top of
the car. Some provision of this kind should certainly be
made while the present system of braking is applied to
freight trains. The system will probably be changed by
and bye and air brakes applied, instead of the hand brake>
as in the case of the passenger trains. But, it is said,
** All these things cost a good deal of money." When an
official of one of our railways presented this reason for
leaving these matters as they are, I replied, ** Yes, but
you would save the men ; now, too many are killed or
maimed for the want of these safeguards." He replied,
** The men don't cost the company much, but patent coup-
lers and all these other things do."

I look upon a railway company who would refuse or

1 ^

neglect to furnish reasonable protection for the lives of
employees, as being actuated by a spirit of murder.
Where is the difference in spirit between them and the
highwayman who cares not for human life, so long as he
can gain his end, the acquisition of money. They say
corporations have no souls, but God will call every man
to an account, and to these, individually, he may say,
when the secrets of all hearts shall be disclosed, as he
said to the murderer Cain, " The voice of thy brother's
blood crieth unto me from the ground."

I am afraid that some of these great corporations look
upon the lower orders of the people as just so much
rough ore from which, after a deal of hard breaking and
grinding, they are to extract their gold, or estimate the
individual member of the labouring classes about as they
would give value to a wheel in a mill.

But God is no respecter of persons. In His sight the
bodies and souls of the poor are as precious as are those
of the rich.

If, however, anything I have said looks in the direction
of laying unreasonable burdens on railway companies in
the way of expense, then I would respectfully suggest that
a Dominion or Continental Conference of Railway Mana-
gers be held, and that rates be proportioned to these im*
provements. Better by far that the increased expense be
thrown upon the public than that these hard working
men should be continually exposed to unnecessary dan-
gers. ; .■^. . [.-■,:. : ; . .. -. .

A few years ago it was a very common thing for
capitalists, in England to buy old hulls of ships, trim
them up, put on plenty of paint, get them heavily insured,
and send them fully manned to sea, with far too heavy
cargoes, that by going to the bottom they might bring
large gain to their owners, and so it would have continued
probably to this day, if that kind-hearted philanthropist,
Mr. Plimsoll, had not agitated the matter in the House
of Commons until he got an act passed, which put an
end to this greedy wickedness.

If you go down to the dock and look at any British
ship now discharging or receiving cargo at your port
here, you will see on the side of the ship, about six or
seven feet below the deck, a ring of black paint about
eight or ten inches in diameter, with a bar running across
it, and extending about one inch over each side of the
ring. *' Captain, what is the meaning of that mark on
your ship ? Will you have the kindness to inform me ? *
** Aye, aye, sir ; that's Plimsoll's cross bun, sir, as we
sailors call it. If I were to load my ship until the bun
goes into the water, my men would all leave me, and the
law, as it is now, would give me no power over them.
Mr. PlimsoU's law compels us to keep the bun dry in
smooth water, and then any man aboard knows the ship
is not more heavily laden than the Government Inspec-
tor's certificate allows for.*'

I am glad to see that English legislators have lately
moved in the direction of forcing railway companies and

other large employers to exercise greater care for the
lives of those in their service, and I have no doubt the
matter will be agitated in other legislatures as well until
there will be a very great improvement in this matter.

The object of the bill some time since introduced into
the British House of Commons, was, to quote the words
of its promoters, " to extend and regulate the liability of
employers to make compensation for. injuries suffered by
workmen in their service/* It provides that in cases of
injury resulting in death, the employer shall be liable and
the representatives of the injured person shall have the
same right of compensation as if he had not been in the
service of the employer.

The limit of the sum recoverable was at first set at
three years* earnings of a person in the grade of employ-
ment in which the injury was received. This was after-
ward made a little more favorable to the employer. By
the terms of the bill the employer is liable where the
injury is caused (i) by reason of any defect in the way,
works, machinery, plant or stock-in-trade connected with
or used in the business of the employer, (2) or by reason
of the negligence of any person in the service of the
employer, who has superintendence entrusted to him,
while in the exercise of such superintendence ; (3) or by
reason of the negligence of any person in the service of
the employer to whose order or directions the workman
at the time of the injury was bound to conform and did
conform, where such injury resulted from his having so

conformed ; or (4) by reason of the act or omission of
any person in the service of the employer done or made
in obedience to the rules or by-laws of the employer or
in obedience to particular instructions given by any per-
son delegated with the authority of the employer in that
behalf; or (5) by reason of the negligence of any person
in the service of the employer who has charge or control
of any signal, points, locomotive engine or train upon a
railway."

I hope we shall yet see some such legislation as this
throughout the civilized world.

Modern machinery is very much more destructive of
human life than the simple machinery of past ages. As
soon as corporations and individual employers discover
that it costs more to kill men than to save them they will
find it to their advantage to furnish such safeguards and
protection as are necessary to render the probability of
accid' it, fatal or otherwise, much less than it now is.

I do not think, however, that an employer ought to be
held responsible where any person in his service comes to
grief through carelessness on the part of the employee
himself, and I have no doubt many, if not the majority of
accidents, occur in this way. Before touching upon this
point, however, I wish to say that to my mind the amount
of carefulness and watchfulness displayed by persons in
charge of railway tracks and trains is worthy of admiration.
During the past twenty-five years, I have travelled by this

mode of conveyance not much short of fifty thousand
miles, and I have never yet seen an accident whereby any
one was hurt. I never was on a train when it, or any part
of it, left the track. I am not aware that any train on
which I was a passenger was particularly exposed to dan-
ger through the negligence of any official or employee of
the road. I have very seldom been late in reaching my
destination, but have been astonished many a time at the
wonderful regularity of the trains on single tracked roads,
more especially on the Grand Trunk Railway, where I knew
that over a single track, of twelve hundred miles long, an
almost incalculable amount of traffic was being carried on.
If I should confine myself, therefore, wholly to experience
and personal observation, I am prepared to speak highly
of the faithfulness of those who are responsible for the
safe running of railway trains.

There is, however, a percentage of carelessness which
is a constant source of anxiety to managers. There are
men, the natural tendency of whose minds is to revolt
against all law Divine and human, who are disposed to
sneer at those who are better minded. These men,
generally strong willed, do not fail to exercise a hurtful
influence over, at least, some of their companions, and
so, with a few, a kind of recklessness becomes the rule,
and these, small as their number may be, endanger in
some degree the whole road, for you cannot tell just
where the result of their reel? lessness or carelessness may
strike. There may be some degree of carelessness

whereby the dangers of travelling are increased. There
may be defect in the construction of the cars, if we look
directly toward the safety of those employed, but there is
no defect in the code of laws or regulations which are
put into the hands of each official for his instruction.
Nothing can be more perfect than these rules. They
are as complete as it is possible to make them. I am
speaking now of those issued by the Grand Trunk Rail-
way. If these instructions are obeyed to the letter, it is
impossible that either the men employed or the travelling
public could be in danger from collision of trains.

Conductors • are not only fully instructed respecting
their duties, but earnestly exhorted to carefulness respect-
ing all clearance and crossing orders, and to study their
time-table as a check upon these. To quote the language
of the excellent Superintendent of the road : "I again
beg of you to be careful. Never trust your memory. I
again warn you to be on your guard. Past experience
shows that any trifling with rules and orders must sooner
or later result in disaster."

The majority need no additional urging ; I speak to
the few. Four of your companioiis have quite lately met
a terrible death, apparently from no other cause than in-
difference respecting these rules. And must these in-
structions be sealed with blood again before you can
respect them fully ? Will nothing convince you that they
are worth the keeping but the dying screams of your
mangled and scalded [associates ? •

Let me also urge you to keep all the rules, never
deviate from them except on special orders. Think of
your own safety, of the safety of your companions, and of
those who for the moment may have entrusted their lives
to your keeping. Vow right here before God and this
company that as long as you have anything to do with
railways you will observe all these rules to the letter,
whatever others may do.

Let us look for a little at the duties and responsibilities
of a railway conductor. Take the conductor of an ex-
press or passenger train.

Some of the duties specified may practically be shared
with the brakesman, but the conductor is responsible for
their proper discharge. My object in enumerating these
is to show, and, if possible, correct the unreasonableness
of some travellers who seem to think that his sole busi-.
ness should be to look after their individual welfare and
comfort.

He must before starting see that the cars are properly
coupled, and that the brakes are in good condition, and
that the bell cord is in perfect working order ; that sig-
nal lamps are attached, and, if necessary, lighted, and
that his cars are clean. He is held responsible for the
enforcement of the Company's rules on board his train.
He must at each terminal station sign all circulars and
orders which affect the running of trains. He must re-
port at the end of his trip all delays or circumstances of
an unusual character which may have happened, end any

defects discovered in the line. He must observe the
strictest attention and obedience to all signals at crossings
and stations.

He must examine the wheels, brakes and couplings on
his journey, and can have no 'excuse if this is not
atlended to. Says the Book of Instructions : " It is
always presumed that he is inattentive to his duty if this
is neglected."

Then the passengers are under his care, and from this
source comes his chief annovances.

Some passengers expect more room than they are en-
titled to. Some children are much younger on the cars
than the family register represents them to be, and to de-
mand fare for them from the reluctant parent is not
always a pleasure.

Some persons make the mistake of getting into a first-
class car after purchasing a second-class ticket, and some-
times circumstances make it a very unpleasant task to cor-
rect their little blunder.

Occasionally persons have the impudence to get into
the cars without a ticket, and then refuse to pay fare, and
must be ejected.

Very frequently persons get on the train, in a state of
intoxication, or become so afterward, and have to be con-
trolled or removed. I am told by conductors that this
is the most annoying of all the things they have to do.
I do not wonder at this. There are three sorts of beings
very difficult of management, fools, maniacs and demons.

Strong drinks never fail to turn human beings into one or
the other of these.

You will see by this list that a conductor's calling is
no sinecure. Although the conductor of a freight train
has not the care of the passengers, his work is in some
respects more difficult, partly from the fact that he is
obliged to keep clear of the passenger trains, which
always have the right of way over others.

To our friends the conductors and brakesmen now
present, permit roe to say : There is

SOMETHING VERY GRAND

in the system with which you are identified, and in which
you act an important part. There is sublimity in its
duties and dangers ; in its rigid discipline and its weighty
responsibilities : in its difficulties and its triumphs. You
have to do with a system which is moving the great
Sv'-eam of humanity on with a velocity never dreamed of
by past generations. There is a magnitude about your
work almost immeasurable. Railroading is assuming
proportions, the most gigantic of any enterprise the world
has ever known or probably will ever know.

Look at it as a means for settling with civilized and
refined humanity those portions of our earth which have
through long ages been given over to the war-whoop of the
bloodthirsty savage and the dismal howl of the wild
beast. Isaiah must have had a prophetic vision of rail-

re
ie
d

ways when he said, "The wilderness and the solitary
place shall be glad for them, and the desert shall rejoice
and blossom as the rose. Prepare ye the way of the
Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and
^ill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made
straight and the rough places plain, and the glory of the
Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it.*' The
language is very appropriate if we bear in mind that the
railway presents the Christian Church with glorious
facilities for the rapid spread of the Gospel. Or look at
it as a means for distributing among men more equally
and more readily the fruits and breadstuffs of the earth.
A short time since a terrible famine existed in China.
Millions were slowly yet surely starving to death. Christ-
endom had an abundance and wanted to help the
sufferers, but could not, from lack of facilities to reach
them in time. On the other hand, when an awful con-
flagration overtook one of our large American cities, and
one hundred thousand persons were driven by the devour-
ing flames out upon the prairie, homeless and penniless,
not one perished from want of food and shelter, for ere
they had time to perish, your cars, flying like angels of
blessing, laden with the ready and abundant offerings of
Christian sympathy, were at their side.

There is a wholesomeness and perfection in the disci-
pline which your book of rules and regulations enjoins>

which ought to make you good and useful men. 1 be-
lieve it is generally conceded that

RAILWAY MEN

are more intelligent, in the main, than other classes of
laboring men. If you consider the matter a little you
will see that this book has much to do with it. Whaf
other men (in large numbers, I mean) are subjected to
such rules as these, constantly demanding, as they do,
wakefulness in your working hours, watchfulness, thought-
fulness, sobriety, industry and regularity, and are not all
these qualities necessary in the make up of a perfect
man ? You brakesmen are ** minute men.** There is
something ennobling in the very promptitude with which
you obey your call to duty. Whose soul has not been
been stirred by that short, sharp command of Wellington
at Waterloo, ** Up Guards and at them ?'* and in the face
of a veteran foe and in the face of death they sprang and
victory was theirs. " Up Guards and at them," one
short, sharp whistle seems to say, and you fly to your post
of duty and sometimes to death in its discharge. I would
to God the voice of conscience was always obeyed by men
everywhere as promptly as you obey your

WHISTLE CALL TO DUTY.

I hold that conscience whistles " down brakes '* every
time there is moral danger ahead, but men do not so
readily attend to it and by and by the ear of the soul is
dulled till we no longer hear.

«r

As you are responsible men, who must at the close of
each day render a strict account to the great corporation
which gives you employment, so must we all when life's day
is done render our account to God. You need to be
sober men : of all men who need a cool, clear brain, the
j^ailway man of whatever rank needs most of all. So
much depends upon you. I beseech you to have nothing
to do with that dreadful curse of humanity, intoxicating
liquor. A terrible accident almost too dreadful in its de-
tails to describe has lately taken four of your companions
into eternity. It is rumored that when the matter is
traced down to its very beginning, it will be found that

INTOXICATING LIQUOR WAS AT THE BOTTOM OF IT.

If ever you should be tempted by any one to take a
glass of liquor in your hand, I pray you listen before you
drink it, and it may be you will hear in the glass the
dying screams and moans of po«)r Anderson, Hislop, Nel-
son and Cliff. May God help you to avoid the use of
spirituous liquor. Only a curse is in it.

Well, my brothers, though you exercise all proper care
and though the company furnish all possible safeguards,
still death will come in some form, in your old age if not
in your youth or the strength of your manhood. There
are accidents which are unavoidable, do what we will.
There are diseases which baffle the skill of the wisest phy-
sicians. " It is appointed unto men once to die." A driver
of one of the old California stage coaches lay dying j

every now and then he would raise his right foot and
reach it out in an excited manner, muttering in his delirium :
** I am on the down grade and I can't find the brake." Ah,
my brothers, we will soon come to that. That down grade
which laughs at brakes is just before us. You and I must
soon lie down in the grave, ward it off for the present a^
we may. There is a way to live so that when we reach
that point in our road we will not care for brakes. It is
my privilege and yours to say with Paul : ** I have a desire
to depart and be with Christ." May we not so live that as
death approaches we can sing with the poet and Paul :

** The world recedes, it disappears.
Heaven opens on my eyes, my ears

With sounds seraphic ring.
Lend, lend your wings, I mount, I fly,
O grave, where is thy victory ;

O death, where is thy sting ? "

MontreaU August y 1881.