Letters from an Old Railway Official to His Son, a Division Superintendent

Charles DeLano Hine
WITH A POSTSCRIPT BY FRANK H. SPEARMAN
CHICAGO THE RAILWAY AGE 1904
Copyright, 1904, By Charles DeLano Hine
To the railway officials and employes of America:
Their intelligence is an inspiration; their steadfastness, a psalm.
Letters From A Railway Official
March 20, 1904.
My Dear Boy:—The circular announcing your appointment as division superintendent has just been received, and it brings up a flood of thoughts of former years. I felt that you had made a mistake in leaving us to go with the new system, but it has turned out all right. I can appreciate the fact that you would rather work away from me, so as to make people believe that you can go up the official hill without having a pusher behind you.
This should be one of the proudest periods of your life. You are now in a position to do good to your company, to your fellow man, and incidentally to yourself. No matter how highly organized a road may be, the importance of the office of division superintendent is in direct proportion to the ability and earnestness of the incumbent. The position is little or big, restricted or untrammeled, just as you make it. Many a superintendent has had to double the hill of a swelled knob, and run as a last section into the next promotion terminal. You have too much of your mother's good sense ever to cause anybody else to put up signals for you on this account. Therefore do not lose your democratic manner. Keep your heart warm and regard the wider field as an opportunity to get more friends on your staff. Try to call every employe in your territory by name, as Cæsar did his soldiers; for all the traffic of goodwill must run in a direction toward you if you want maximum results, as they call efficiency nowadays. Good old rule 121 of the standard code says: When in doubt take the safe course and run no risks, which, in the case of acquaintance, means if uncertain whether you know a man or not, speak to him and give him the glad hand anyway. You will have to discipline men, but that can be done without parting company with your good manners. Remember that the much-abused word discipline comes from the same root as the word disciple, a pupil, a learner, a follower. It is always easier to lead men than to drive them.