Railways a National Industry 445 



the service in the light of a future career rather than in that 

 of a temporary employment. 



That the railway service is a popular one is shown by two 

 facts : (i) the invariably large surplus of candidates over 

 available vacancies ; and (2) the long-service records of many 

 of the railway workers. 



In regard to the former of these points, it will suffice to 

 say that the chairman of one of the leading English railway 

 companies has stated that in 1906 the number of applicants 

 for appointments on the staff of his company alone in excess 

 of the number for whom places could be found was over 

 19,000. 



As regards long service, instances of from forty to fifty 

 years' work for one and the same railway company are so 

 common that they hardly call even for passing mention. 

 More exceptional was the case of the worker on the Great 

 Western whose father had served the company for forty-one 

 years, and who himself retired at the end of forty-two years, 

 leaving a son who had then been with the company twenty- 

 three years a total of 106 years for one family, during three 

 generations. 



In another instance four generations employed successively 

 on the Great Western showed a total of 147 years ; but even 

 this record is surpassed by that of a Cardiff family. The 

 founder of the dynasty joined the Great Western in 1840. 

 He remained with the company forty-two years, and left 

 with them two sons, of whom one served forty-five years, 

 and the other forty-two years. Each of these two sons had 

 five boys, and all ten followed the example of fathers and 

 grandfather in becoming servants of the same company, 

 keeping their positions for periods ranging from six to thirty 

 years. The fourth generation is represented by four members, 

 one of whom has already been with the company for over 

 ten years. The total service of those members of the family 

 who were still working on the Great Western a year or two 

 ago was 147 years, and the aggregate for the four generations 

 was then over 800 years. Each of the workers concerned has 

 been employed in the locomotive department. 



Notwithstanding the general popularity of the railway 

 service, agitations and strikes have occurred from time to 

 time ; though down to 1907 most of these arose in connection 



