THE CONQUEST OF TIME AND SPACE 



the striking buffers at the moment of coupling caused 

 it to fall into place and complete the coupling. The 

 link was left hanging in the moving car which was 

 being shunted in to be coupled ; but in this position the 

 projecting end was so low that it would miss the hole 

 in the opposite buffer, and thus fail to make the coup- 

 ling, unless raised and inserted just at the moment be- 

 fore the buffers came together. 



This raising and inserting of the link was the dan- 

 gerous part of making a coupling. It could only be 

 done by the brakeman while standing between the cars. 

 And he must raise the link, insert it, and remove his 

 hand in a fraction of a second if the car was moving at 

 a fair rate of speed, otherwise his fingers or hand would 

 be caught between the buffers and crushed. And a 

 crushed hand or arm meant subsequent amputation, 

 for the force of the collision between the buffers crushed 

 the bones beyond repair. 



There was a way in which the coupling could be 

 made whereby the hand was not endangered. This 

 was by using a stick for raising and guiding the link 

 into the buffer. Some railroads at first furnished sticks 

 for this purpose. But no brakeman would stoop to use 

 them. Had he done so he would have been hooted and 

 jeered off the road by his train mates. And so his 

 pride made him risk his limbs and his Ufe, and fostered 

 the recklessness of the old-time brakeman. 



But in 1879 ^^- Eli Janney, of Pittsburg, patented 

 an automatic car-coupler that was both simple and 

 effective; and in 1887 the Master Car Builders' Asso- 

 ciation accepted this type of coupler. A little later the 



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