TH - Canada Southern Railway

•8
BISON HEADS ADORN THE
Encircling the fifteenth story of the New York
Central's new office building in New York is a herd
of seventy-eight heads of the bison (popularly known
as the American buffalo) in a design which presents
a distinctively new note in American architectural
decoration. Below each bison head, which is shown
in detail in the inset, are three varieties of subsidiary
decoration, depicting the winged helmet of Mercury,
god of Commerce; the mallet and fasces, denoting
Development and Power; a pendulum supporting the
wheels of Progress; the winged wheel of Advancement;
the scroll of Wisdom, and other symbols of
Research, Discovery and Engineering Progress. The
bison heads, which are done in terra cotta, staring
Beauty of New Office Building in
New York is Appreciated by
Observer
/^TO"ERE is one who finds New
York beautiful," says a headline
in the New York Times. And
beneath this head is quoted a letter
to the editor, in which the New York
Central's mammoth new office building,
spanning Park Avenue just north
of Grand Central Terminal, is cited
as one of the city's newest and most
spectacular objects, of beauty.
Signed by Harold Butcher of New
York, the letter reads:
"This afternoon I crossed Park
Avenue at Fiftieth Street and, looking
down toward the colossal building
now going up at the Grand Central,
I was suddenly arrested by the realization
that its effect has been to turn
Park Avenue into the nave of a
mighty cathedral. Even the shadows
playing about the tower of the new
building contributed to the beautiful
and fantastic effect.
"Here, then, is another of the many
instances of sudden beauty in this
amazing city. One would hardly expect
to have one's thoughts stimulated
in the direction of the Cologne Cathedral
while crossing Park Avenue.
But such was my experience.
"New York grows and grows: and
she grows in startling and unexpected
beauty."
Railways Reduce Freight Robberies
91 Per Gent
kOES the remarkable reduction
which has occurred in losses of
freight due to robbery throw some
light on the comparative efficiency of
our railways and our governments?"
says the Railway Age. "Nobody
claims, we believe, that our govern­
New York Central Lines Magazine for May, 1928
NEW BUILDING IN NEW YORK
down upon the hurrying crowds of the Terminal
zone, have aroused the curiosity of thousands. The
monumental building which they adorn now stands
its full thirty-five stories high astride Park Avenue
between Forty-fifth and Forty-sixth Streets. The
last piece of steel was riveted into the structure
April 5. When it is completed in January, 1929, it
will house the executive offices of the New York
Central and many firms of national reputation.. North
and southbound traffic along Park Avenue will pass
through the building and around two sides of Grand
Central Terminal on ramps and viaducts. The.new
office building which, "at the gateway to a continent,"
is destined to become one of New York's
landmarks, was designed by Warren & Wetmore.
ments have _ recently reduced the
amount of crime in the country, although
the prevention of crime is one
of their main functions; but the railways
can point with pride to what
railway police forces have accomplished
in reducing losses of freight
in transit resulting from robberies.
"Under government operation of the
railways, loss and damage to freight
from all causes, including robberies,
increased greatly and reached their
maximum in 1920, in which year losses
due to robberies from freight cars and
other railroad property amounted to
$12,726,947. Losses due to robberies
have since been reduced until the corresponding
figure for 1927 was only
$1,151,136. In other words, in 1927
they were less than 9 per cent of what
they were in 1920."
Safety that lasts is more important
than Safety First. Form the habit.
—H. C. Osborne, P. & L. E.
New York Central Lines Magazine for May, 1928 39
168 Years of New York Central
Service in Family as John
Anderson Retires
TTOHN ANDERSON, Work Train
Foreman on the Pennsylvania Division
at Mahaffey, was retired February
29, on pension, at the age of
Mr. and Mrs. John Anderson
sixty-five and after an unbroken
period of forty-six years' faithful
service.
He first entered the service May
10, 1882, as a laborer on the Fall
Brook District, where he worked only
a short time until he was transferred
to the Beech Creek District. He was
there promoted to foreman January
25, 1884. He assisted in the construction
of the Beech Creek Railroad, West
Branch Valley Line, Curwensville &
Bower Line and the Cherry Tree
Branch. With the exception of a
short period when he returned to the
Fall Brook District to help in constructing
the Corning Yards, he continued
in service as foreman at various
locations on the Beech Creek
District until his retirement.
An idea of his pride in his life
work and the New York Central can
be found from the fact that he brought
up his five sons with New York Central
service so instilled into them that
every one of the five are employes
of the New York Central: one a supervisor
of track in the Electric Zone,
New York; one an assistant supervisor
of track; one a section foreman
and one a section laborer on the
Pennsylvania Division; and the other
in the Transportation Department on
the Adirondack Division. The combined
service- of these five sons, together
with the forty-six years of the
father, totals 125 years' service to the
New York Central. In addition, two
sons-in-law and one grandson add
forty-three years more to this total.
A dinner was given him at Mahaffey
on March 3 by a large number
of his numerous friends at which time
he was presented with a traveling bag
and other useful remembrances.
Mr. Anderson is in good health and
will spend his retirement at his home
in Mahaffey, Pa., with Mrs. Anderson.
Joachim Lachat, Father of Four
Central Men, Retires
TOACHIM LACHAT, Section Laborer
at Frenchville, Pa., was retired
on pension December 31, having
reached the age of seventy years.
Mr. Lachat first entered the service
as a section laborer at Frenchville
August 26, 1912, and was in continuous
service at that point as a
laborer until his retirement. While
his service with the Company has not
been as many years as some, he is
proud of his record and is a great
booster for the New York Central.
He has three sons who are now all
working for the New York Central,
and he had one son who was a train
dispatcher on the Beech Creek District
at the time of his death about two
years ago.
"Mr. Lachat has always been a
faithful employe and a very competent
track walker," said his division
engineer, S. A. Seely.
W. C. Christy, Ticket Agent at
Oberlin, Retires
ITH the best wishes of his superior
officers and patrons, W.
C. Christy, Ticket Agent at Oberlin,
Ohio, retired March 1, after fortyfour
years in railroad service.
Mr. Christy was a messenger boy
at Clyde in 1884, and was promoted
to telegrapher in the following year.
From then until receiving his last
position at Oberlin, Mr. Christy has
worked various stations on the line
between Cleveland and Toledo, at the
former terminal serving in the dispatcher's
office. He was appointed
ticket agent in 1900.
His final day at the ticket window
in Oberlin was marked by visits from
friends who had worked with and
known Mr. Christy for more than a
quarter of a century.
The local ems
s ^ ^ B ployes of Oberlin
^^^^^•JJjH presented Mr.
Christy with a
fountain pen on
W t f ^ ,tH the eve of his re-
H^^L_> JH tirement. Among
BR1 JH the best wishes
H » ^ B H expressed by citi-
HMr'^fl zens of Oberlin,
HikiH Hj was the following
letter from John
G. Olmstead, Secretary
of the
Alumni Associa-
W. C. Christy tion of Oberlin
College:
"I note that you are retiring from
active service with the New York
Central and I cannot let the occasion
go by without expressing a common
citizen's appreciation of the fine personal
and official service you have
rendered here in Oberlin these many
years. In all your service there has
been marked geniality and willingness
to do all possible for the accommodation
of railroad patrons. Please accept
my best wishes for many years
of continued living in our midst."
Mr. Christy is being succeeded at
Oberlin by O. A. Betts of Elyria.
George Glasco, on P. & E.,
Retires
T\/[rARCH 31, when he retired on
pension, marked the termination
of twenty-eight years of active and
faithful service with the Big Four for
George W. Glasco, Blacksmith at the
Moorefield Shops of the Peoria &
Eastern at Indianapolis. He entered
the service of the Big Four at Wabash,
Ind., in 1900, transferring to the
P. & E. in 1921.
His has been a life devoted to railroad
service. He was born in Washington,
D. C, March 31, 1858. When
sixteen years of age he began his career
as blacksmith with the Pennsylvania
at Logansport, Ind. In 1886 he
went to the Wabash at Peru, Ind.,
and continued there after the Wabash
became known as the L. E. & W. until
1900. Since 1900 he has been in
the continuous employ of the Big Four
and P. & E.
Says Mr. Glasco: "My connection
with the Big Four and P. & E. has
been most happy. A better gang of
fellows, and a finer spirit of co-operation
between the Company and employes
is not to be found anywhere."
On his last day of service, he received
the best wishes and hearty congratulations
of his fellow workers.
Michael Fikley, Retired, Goes
to Louisiana
(T\& March 30, Michael Fikley got
down from his train at Syracuse
for the last time as a regular trainman
on the New York Central. Then
he went home, packed his grip and
took another train for Baton Rouge,
La., where his relatives live and where
he is now resting up after fifty-one
years on the road.
When Mr. Fikley started braking in
1877, matters weren't nearly so easy
as nowadays, he comments. "I braked
on the old Black Rock train from Albany
to Syracuse and wore callouses
half an inch thick on my hands, for in
those days all trains were equipped
with hand brakes. The old Black
Rock had ten to twelve freight cars
and a passenger train in the rear. It
stopped at every station. I tell you, a
man was tired after a day's run."
Mr. Fikley was promoted to passenger
brakeman in 1884, on the main
line, and until his retirement worked
between Albany and Syracuse. His
home is at 144 Homecroft Road,
Syracuse.
At Rotterdam Junction the Stair family
is happy together, since "Dad"
Stair (F.A.) is no longer out every day
on the road. He was recently retired
by the New York Central after a long
term of service as an engineman. With
him here are shown Mrs. Stair and
their son Floyd.