| Show memory of a railroad conductor As an illustration of how bow the memory may tle be cultivated in retaining a long list of numbers one has only to ob serve the freight conductors and very often remarkable examples of retentive memories will be found I 1 have been on the road as a freight conductor for fourteen years and in that time my memory has had bad a careful train draining tog in the particular line of retaining numbers on the cars I 1 start out op on a run and know the numbers cui abers of all the cars care with which the train is made up and while some cars will bereft at stations along the road and other caw cars will be taken up yet at the tb end of my run it an officer asks me whether I 1 have a car number dumber so arid so ao I 1 can invariably tell him without referring to my book now when it is remembered that the train may be made up of forty cars and that the numbers run all trae ape way from the hundreds to the twenty five and ancl thirty thousands and that a dozen cars may be taken off and another dozen taken on along the run my statement undoubtedly seems incredible to those wit not familiar with this particular department of railroading but bat it t is act nevertheless and I 1 have b il e a number dumber of keight freight con iwho who wh have demoi memories ies of equal retentiveness noting the numbers on the cars daily tor for years learsa conductor becomes so familiar with ite the work that his memory holds these large numbers with but little difficulty the style and peculiar te culiar finish of the cars from differ ent roads are also learned and a conductor at a olance glance can tell the road to which a car belongs belong sas as far as he beca ca n ses sea it globe Glober Democrat |
