dramatic companies, are slated for the series of entertainments on the line.

Publicity is given to each of these affairs by energetic billing in advance. College presidents and professors, scientific men, musicians, readers and specialists of the literary field make these days gala occasions in the division towns. Not long ago, an old employe of the company occupied a place on the program and told strange facts about Arizona where he had lived for twenty years. There was rich material in his talk for historical societies, or periodicals. He touched on early history, Indian tribes, ancient ruins, scenery, cloudbursts, the peculiar winds and other things learned by long observation.

On one occasion a Boston concert company, of considerable reputation, was engaged to make several appearances in Arizona. The prima asked Mr. Busser:

"Shall I have to wear my best costumes at these stops? Won't just an ordinary party dress do ?"

"Madam," replied Busser, "if you wish. to make this tour a success I advise you to give the boys and their families as good as you give the Frisco city peoplenot a whit less."

When the tour was finished the lady had a very high respect for the quality. of manhood among the railroaders and other inhabitants of the frontier. She did her best and the entertainments were enthusiastic successes. She found out that the people knew a good thing from an indifferent one; they showed their appreciation vigorously.

After the entertainment the room was cleared and a dance followed. There is not necessarily any Sunday School air about the conduct of the recreation rooms because human beings are the possessors to enjoy them. A typical dancing party in which I mingled showed as good-looking, graceful and as happy and wellbehaved crowd of people as could be found. A professor of the Chicago University was there. At the conclusion of his talk he was asked several questions by members of the audience. His subject was astronomy. The professor intimated to me he was surprised because his audience followed him so closely.

The professor danced with the wife of an engineer of a freight. The superintendent danced with the eating house man

ager's wife. The boys gallantly sought favors at the hands of the pretty Harvey waitresses. The trainmaster had brought his girl all the way from Needles a hundred miles away. A special car run over the division brought the orchestra nearly two hundred miles from Gallup-a mere trifle of a distance-and uncles, aunts, wives and sisters and other people that served the road or were dependent upon the railroad for their existence were guests. The master mechanic loaned five headlights to help make the place blaze inside and out. In the midst of the festivities, the general manager's special, bound west, rolled into the station and paused to take water and brush off a few stains of a three-thousand-mile flight across to the coast. The general manager looked in-came in-and remained. He sent word to delay the departure of the special, and he was induced to try a few dances. The boss was one of the crowd, and the social event was talked of clear across Arizona for weeks afterward.

There is nothing automatic, or humdrum about the operation of the reading room service. The idea is the president's, Mr. E. P. Ripley, who may be called a practical philanthropist; and the development of details, from the arrangement of quarters to buying books and looking after the janitor service, is in the hands of Mr. Busser. For a system that is scattered over a dozen thousand miles of road there is scarcely perceptible any red tapeism about Mr. Busser. No doubt he could "direct" his operations from a private office in San Francisco, or Chicago, and have an organization of lieutenants and others to execute orders. However, Busser's methods are his own and his tremendous enthusiasm and energy are always in evidence. His office is carried with him. in his grip, and he works all the time while he travels from one point to another. He conducts a voluminous correspondence and keeps touch with the operations, from the construction of new buildings to the installation of a new set of books on the shelves. The best thing worth telling about an interesting work is the fact that there is a man in the scheme who has found his work and loves it. There is no theorizing about Busser and no proxy bossing-he is simply one of the boys, and a mighty important link

between system headquarters and the men two thousand miles on the lines.

His personal acquaintanceship with the men extends into their domestic affairs, their love affairs and their future hopes. He tried sending a woman specialist out on the line to visit the railroaders' homes and help inexperienced wives with problems of what and how to cook newer and better things, how to sew simple pretty things, how to make humble homes more attractive, how to improve sanitary conditions and many other things. This venture was a great success. Other officials jocularly refer to Busser as the "morality agent" of the company and he pleads guilty to this but offers to show why and how, by educational training, manliness supersedes meanness. Mr. Busser's card motto tells his gospel of work:

"Give a man a bath, a book and an entertainment that appeals to his mind. and hopes, by music and knowledge, and you have enlarged, extended and adorned his life; and as he becomes more faithful to himself he is more valuable to the company."

In the sum of little things that make up life, the engineer's temper and stomach may have much to do with our safety. Has he got the business of running the train on his mind? Has he parted from his wife with a kiss, or a quarrel? Has he had eight hours of conscience-free slumber? Or, has his previous month's wages gone over the faro board last night? Is he happy or is he in the dumps when he takes charge of two hundred lives to run a train over a road crowded with traffic, with a dozen orders about meeting

trains and specials and freights and other things to look out for, and keep up a schedule of sixty-five miles per hour?

Busser said: "All things are out of joint to the man who has lost his money or has been bothered with temptations that depress him. His wife may have nagged him to the breaking point. He rises to go to his duties sullen and heavy. He snatches his orders and maybe scarcely looks at them. His mental states is: D--n the whole business, the road, a man who has to work; d-n the master mechanic who cares for the dispatches; d-n orders, anyway-let her slidewhat's the difference about anything?" And he jerks the throttle open and lets her go. On the other hand, consider the man who comes to his engine or puts on the conductor's cap full of the sound satisfaction of life and health? His hours of recreation have not been those of the low resort, drinks, cards and games. He has had a comfortable night's rest and he has not lost his money. Last night he was well entertained at the readingrooms, then he had a free bath and a fresh, soft bed. His is cheery and confident and radiates magnetism from steady nerves and clear brain. His eyes are bright. bright. What does he care how heavy traffic is? One thousand and three is good for the sixty-five and there isn't a man who can beat him getting her through. 'Feeling tip-top,' he glows, to his conductor. Orders all o. k. A special at siding ten, eh? All right. All right. make a record run this morning, boys. She's full of grit and git and 'll take along ten coaches with a kink in her back"."

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