Pages 1-80 - Springfield-Greene County Library

Page 20
ON ACCIDENT PREVENTION
Five accident preventlan meetings
were held, Febraary 1 to 10, inclusive,
at various points on the system, with
a total .attendance of 426 employes
and visitors. A total of 159 employes
attended the five meetings held January
20 to 31.
The largest meeting held in February
was at Snyder, Okla., on February
1, when 106 employes and 250 visitors
were in attendance. The meeting was
arranged and advertfsed by Mr. R. C.
Canady, assistant superintendent, and
Mr. F. H. Broadstreet, agent at Snyder.
Mrs. 8. L. Vogel of Snyder arran~ed
for a very excellent musical
program and Mr. Jimmie Douglas of
the Oklahoma City traffic department,
presented some monologues which
were well received. Mr. C. C. Mills
of the accident prevention department
at Springfield, helped to conduct the
meeting.
Through Mr. Canady, Mr. Mills was
issued an invitation and talked on
accident prevention in the various
schools on the western division. During
the last of January and the flrst
three days of February he addressed
9.100 school chlldren at twelve different
schools.
Other meeting8 during the month of
February were held at Springfield, of-
Ace of master mechanic on February
10, with ten In attendance; north
shops, Springfield, February 7, ten in
attendance; west shop, Springfleld,
February 6, twenty-flve in attendance
and Bessle, Okla., February 2, with
twenty-five fn attendance.
During the last ten days of January,
meetings were held at Vernon, Texas;
Enid, Okla.; Hayti, Mo.; Salem, Mo.;
and Amory, Miss.
PAYMASTER IN SERVICE
46 YEARS
(CorrlEnued from Page 4)
Sixth and Olive, and now in the Fds-
co Building, Ninth and Olive, with one
year spent in the Railway Exchange
Building.
"During the money panic of 1907
currency was very scarce. Mr. Ham-
ilton, treasurer, issued so-called 'John
Smlth's' or 'bearer' drafts for small
amounts in order to pay wages, and
successfully weathered the storm!'
When Mr. Young was aaked what
hls hobby was he replied that he did
not know that he liked to do any one
thing better than another. 'When I
was twelve years old I used to ride
one of those high wheels. They were
quite the thing then. I've flshed in
the Gasconade river, and hunted. I've
played billiards and pool and bowled
a little. Perhaps I am more Interested
in my garden and my car now than
anything else. 1 live In Vinita Park,
Graduates of the Frisco Key Punch School Make
Speed Records in Freight Accounting Work
T
0 quote President Coolidge,
"Education does not end when
we close the school door". All
through life there is, in thls day and
age, an extra chance for the man or
woman who takes advantage of train-
ing. It is. Indeed, the age of the
trained worker.
For several years the freight ac-
counting department of the Frfsco
Lines, located in St. Louis. found dif*
flculty in securing competent opera-
tors on the key punch machines, a de-
vice for punching holes in cards for
the accounting of freight revenue and
the preparing of statistical data. The
need was met, however, when Mr. C.
B. Rex, assistant auditor, received per.
mission to start a key punch school,
one of the few on a railroad in the
country.
In February, 1926, the school was
%tarted. The students were chosen
from the ranks of the waybill fllers,
who already were familiar with the
handling of waybills and who desired
to increase their pay. The class met
two nights a week and men in charge
of the department usually served as
instructors with the assistance of vet.
eran key punch operators. The girls
who attended the school finished their
regular day's work at 5:00 p. m., se-
cured a bite of dinner, returned to
their office and received instruction
from 5:30 P. M. until 8:00 P. M.
"We saw in this school a chance
for the girt to advance herself, and
of courae her work was more efPicient
and she meant more to our road". Mr.
Rex said. "These students have all
made god.
"Our method of instruction is that
the girl should learn the 'touch sys-
tem' just as typists learn that system
in the operation of typewriters. This,
as is well known, increases the speed.
"We use in this accounting system
about sixteen varieties of cards, and
St. Louis, County, and I can have a
garden!'
His association with Mr. Hamilton,
who recently celebrated his fortieth
year of service, has welded a friend-
ship between the two, and at a recent
Frisco St. Louis Men'a Club meeting,
Mr. Hamllton introduced him to the
members as one of his most able as-
sistants, and as his senior in years of
service.
"I do not know any buslness other
than railroading and that with the
good old Frisco. To my notion, there
isn't any other road and I hope to fin-
ish my service wlth It. Every year
of the forty-six has endeared it to mo
some of them demand as many as
thlrty or forty punches in the proper
columns, In August, 1927, eleven op-
erators, (eight of them from the Fris-
co school), punched 542,101 cards, or
an average of 301 cards an hour per
operator. This record would have
been impossible had the nperators not
used the 'touch system'."
There are, of course, those employes
who make exceptional records, and
according to Mr. Rex the honor for
having punched the greatest number
of cards rightfully belongs to Mfss
Leona Eisel who holds an unchalleng-
ed record of havlng punched 500 cards
In an hour for nine consecutive hours.
She is one of the veteran operators
and instead of just attending the
school when it was first inaugurated,
she was one of the first instructors.
A total of 32 girls have gone through
the school since it was started. The
Rrst student operator was assigned to
a regular position in June, 1926, after
having started her course in February.
There are flve students nOw in the
school. Seven graduates have been
asslgned to positions with Frlsco Lines
In the oirice of the auditor of height
accounts, seven are now in the of-
fices of the various zone auditors,
eight have resigned and accepted ser-
vices with other companies and five
dropped the key punch work and en-
gaged in other branches of the ser-
vice.
This educational program under-
taken by the Frisco Lines is not only
unique but is a splendid innovation in
railroad work. Many times waybill
filers were unable to complete their
education, but the key punch school
gave those who were ambitious, a
chance to learn and earn, and to con-
tribute thelr part to the efficient op-
eration of tbe company which em-
vloys them.
and f have many more years yet to
look forward to, associating with Fris-
co folk and with the company," the
paymaster concluded.
Mr. Young's service is continuous,
and outside of a vacation which he
and Mrs. Young take each year, and
his kccaslonal trips on the line, he
may be found, greetlng his staU and
his ceworkers at his offlce in the
Frisca Building at St. Louis every
working day in the year.
"Papa, what makea s man always
give a woman a diamond engagement
ring?"
"The woman."