Address given to Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers on August 29, 1908 at the Maryland Theatre in Baltimore

              I regard it as a compliment to have been invited to be present and esteem a great privilege to have been requested to say a few words at this meeting of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers. There is no body of men in this country, in my judgment, who individually occupy more responsible positions than do the members of that assoication. You are the men who control and drive the locomotive engines that pull the trains over the great lines of rail road transportation, which now grid iron the land. These engines draw daily, and nightly, through every day and hour of the year the trains of cars filled either with the products of the land or its many factories which constitute the commerce of the country or with the passengers, men, women, and children, whose lives are dependent upon the skill[,] courage and presence of mind of the locomotive engineer.

I never see a locomotive engine, said a distinguished citizen, without feeling like taking off my hat to it, that wonderful example of man's mechanical skill[,] inventive genius and ingenuity, that untiring iron horse which annihilates both time and distance. If the locomotive can inspire such feeling, how much