The attention of our members is particularly directed to the announcement of our special watch offer on advertising page xxii, facing the inside back cover of this issue of the Magazine. In order that we might interest the greatest possible number of our readers in securing subscriptions for the Magazine, arrangements have been made whereby a limited number of the famous B. of L. F. Standard watches can be offered to club-raisers for seventy-five (75) annual subscriptions each. If you want one of these highgrade watches send in your seventy-five subscriptions and $112.50 to pay for same, and the watch will be sent to your address direct from the factory. These watches are known the country over and are worth $50.00 of any man's money. Remember that no cash commissions will be allowed on subscriptions sent in to apply toward securing one of these watches. This offer is open to any one who desires to secure a good watch, whether a member of the Brotherhood or not.

thirty-five from all over the country, first assembled at Hartford, Conn., where they inspected the works of the Johns-Pratt Co., manufacturers of electrical goods, for which the Johns-Manville Co. are sole agents. The meeting in New York was devoted to a regularly outlined program of papers, discussions and investigations with reference to various points pertaining to the products of the company. The object of the meeting was to bring the several members of the working force of the company into closer relationship with each other and at the same time ally them more closely with the interests of the company. The meeting was full of interest for all those attending and no doubt will be productive of great good to all concerned. Our readers will remember this firm as the H. W. Johns Manufacturing Company who until within recent years advertised asbestos packing in the columns of the Magazine.

The readers of this month's issue of the Magazine will not fail to notice the four page colored insert which immediately follows the inside front cover, published by N. W. Henley & Co., of New York City. Modern railway practices require that railway men shall have accurate technical knowledge of every detail relat ing to their work before they can be assigned to the responsible positions of handling locomotives. Rigid examinations are required of them, and in order to be prepared for these examinations they must have knowledge gained from sources other than everyday experience. To meet this demand various valuable technical books have been issued during recent years covering the several subjects on which railway men require special information. A valuable library of such books is set forth in this colored insert by the Henley Company, which is an old and well established firm, and one who has been patronizing the advertising pages of the Locomotive Firemen's Magazine for a number of years.

The H. W. Johns-Manville Company, of New York, extensive manufacturers of asbestos goods, packing, roofing, etc., held a convention of their department managers, branch managers and salesmen in New York on February 15th to 20th. 1904. The delegates to the number of

Since the new plan of offering commissions to persons soliciting subscriptions for the Magazine has been sent out, many of our members are interesting themselves in the matter, and it is to be hoped that the circulation of the Magazine outside of the membership of the Brotherhood will rapidly increase throughout the year. There is nothing that will aid to such a great extent, in maintaining the influ̟ence and prestige of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen, as to get the Locomotive Firemen's Magazine in the hands of readers who otherwise would know nothing about our organization and its workings. A young railroad man who reads our Magazine for a few years before he becomes eligible to membership in the Brotherhood, will require little or no persuasion to join with us as soon as he is entitled to that privilege. Lodges where the Magazine has always had a good outside circulation, have always found little or no difficulty in keeping 100 per cent. of the firemen organized, which condition is largely due to the missionary work silently but certainly performed by the Locomotive Firemen's Magazine. Then, again, the greater the circulation that the Magazine can attain among railway people, the greater will be the revenue derived for the Brotherhood by the Magazine from the sale of its advertising space, for advertisers are always willing to pay well for their space if they can see that the circulation among actual readers is maintained up to a high stand

ard. There are many reasons why the Magazine should have a large circulation. It is composed of matter that is of interest and benefit to any railroad man, whether a fireman or not. The Magazine should have today, a circulation of between seventy-five and a hundred thousand copies, and the principal reason why it has not attained this success is because we have not workers enough. We should have an active hustler in every lodge who

would push the Magazine on its merits, during spare time. There are a few brothers who have taken up this work and have performed valiant services, and their efforts are very highly appreciated. What we need is a man in every lodge to send in subscriptions in large numbers, and the commissions to be earned will amply remunerate him for his efforts. have more workers.

Let us

The Payment of Dues.

The plan of paying dues into a bank is something that I think every member of the Order should think about. Anyone who has traveled any worth speaking of can best appreciate this, as they may be away from their lodge after election and not know who their Collector is, and when they write, maybe in a hurry, for a card and receipt the Collector may be either out or too busy to answer promptly. So it is necessary to wait until he makes another trip, which is a great inconvenience to the traveling brother. If the money was turned into a bank a reply would be sent the same day as received, and the Collector would not be held up, as we know too well to our sorrow, as our Collector was held up not so very long ago and lost about $50.

I think this is a move in the right direction, and would like to hear from some one else. MEMBER LODGE 295.

the most important meeting of the association yet held, we hope that all members will lend their assistance in making the meeting a grand success.

Our worthy Grand Master, Bro. Hannahan, will address the meeting and explain to the members the aims and objects of the association, and we trust that the meeting will be a grand success.

THOMAS BURKE, Chairman. ALBERT PHILLIPS, Secretary.

Punctuality vs. Concentration.

In this day when so many things are clamoring for attention the first laws of success may be said to be punctuality and concentration.

Amongst the things which conduce to success these elements are of rare value, which by some strange oversight is classed by many of little account. We refer to these traits as virtues.

To be punctual in all our appointments is a duty resting upon us, no less obliga

tion.

The next annual meeting of the General Chairmen's Association will be held at McCoy's Hotel, in Chicago, Ill., Monday, May 2, 1904. All members of the association, as well as the Chairmen of all Joint Protective Boards, are earnestly requested to be present, as matters of importance will be considered at the meeting.

Applications for transportation should be made in ample time, in order that all members may be present at the opening session at 10 o'clock a. m. Hotel accommodations at reasonable rates will be arranged for, and as this promises to be

He

An appointment is a contract, and if we do not keep it we are dishonestly using other people's time and, consequently, their money. "Punctuality," says Louis XIV, "is the politeness of kings." need not have confined his remarks to blood royal; it is politeness in everybody, and we know that whenever we fail to meet an engagement promptly, which by exertion we might have done, we are guilty of a gross breach of etiquette. Lord Nelson attributed all his success in life to his habit of strict punctuality. Many of our most successful undertakings can be traced to it, coupled with concentration. Lack of punctuality is not only a serious vice within itself, but it is also

the parent of a large progeny of other vices. Hence, he who becomes its victim is the more and more involved in toils from which it is almost impossible to escape. He who needlessly breaks his appointments shows that he is as reckless of the worth of other people's time as of his own. His acquaintances readily conclude that the man who is not conscientious about his appointments will be equally careless about his other engagements, and will refuse to trust him with matters of importance. While it is impossible to be successful with every branch, as renowned in every department of a profession, yet we must learn to bend our energies to one point and go strictly to that point, looking neither to the right nor to the left. The days of universal scholarships are past. "Life is short and art is long."

The range of American wisdom has increased so unanimously that no human brain can grapple with it, and the man who knows one thing well must be ignorant of a thousand other things, however attractive or interesting. As with knowledge so with work, and to be successful we must single out our specialty and into it pour our whole stream of activity-all the energies of our hands, eyes, tongues, hearts and brains. Broad culture, manysidedness, are beautiful things to contemplate. But it is the narrow-edged menthe men of one single and intense purpose, who steel the soul against all things else that accomplish the hard work of the world.

Our strength as an Order is like gunpowder to be effective we need concentration and aim. The marksman who aims at the whole target seldom hits the center. As beginners in life we are perpetually complaining at the disadvantage under which we labor. It is an indisputable fact that many more persons fail from a multiplicity of pursuits and pretension than from a poverty of resources. "The one prudence in life," says a shrewd American essayist, "is concentration." Fortune, success, fame, position are never gained but by punctuality, concentration and energy. Have energy to carry any thing through, no matter if it does cost you the pleasure of society, the thousand purely gratifications of life. Believe you were made for the matter and that no one else can do it better.

Let's put forth our whole energies. Be awake; electrify ourselves, go forth to the task, learn to carry it through, and we will be heroes. We will think better

of ourselves. The world in its very heart admires the stern, determined doer. It sees in him its best sights, its brightest objects, its richest treasures. We should proceed with energy in our undertakings; consider ourselves sufficient for the deed, and we will succeed. He who never grapples with the energies of life knows not what power lies in the soul to repel the shocks of time and destiny, nor is he conscious how much he is "blest with a kindly faculty to blunt the edge of adverse circumstances." CHAS, J. ADAMS.

The Lodge Seal.

The use of the lodge seal is something of vast importance to the members of the Brotherhood, and we wish it were possible to impress upon the minds of some of our Secretaries the necessity of using it on orders for transfer cards and traveling cards, and the Collectors on receipts for the secret work. Within the past nine months we have had to return cards, orders for secret work and requests for transfer cards back to officers for the seal of the lodge. This causes much inconvenience sometimes to brothers who are wait

ing for their card for many days, to find on its arrival that it bears no lodge seal. We are none of us infallible, but let us hope there will be more care in the future in regard to the use of the lodge seal. MEMBER.

The Payment of Dues.

I write this in the interest of all brothers of the B. of L. F. liable to the payment of dues and assessments according to the constitution. I am glad to find in the March number of our Magazine that some other brother has arrived at the same conclusion as myself, and has been sufficiently enthusiastic as to take steps toward having such measures adopted. Since my first quarterly dues were due after my initiation in the Brotherhood (which is more than four years ago) I have advocated the deputizing of the bank with which our funds are deposited, as our Collector, the Master and Secretary being responsible to the duly elected Collector for the accuracy of the roll of membership, the Collector being responsible for the filling out of receipts, having them sealed by the Secretary of the lodge and placing them with the bank for collection prior to the first of the month with which each quarter's dues become due and payable.

It has become a matter of great confusion in our lodge, as there are two roads represented in our membership, both of which work their men over more than one division, making it practically impossible for all members to personally meet the Collector. Consequently the receipt book is left with druggists, merchants and any one whom we may be able to get to accept the responsibility. However, I believe a suggestion on the subject from our vorthy Grand Master and worthy Editor would bear weight and influence of vast mportance, and would tend to further the inal adoption of a system that would insure much convenience and less liability of good faithful members being temporarily expelled, and many happy homes being from time to time left unprotected by the mighty Beneficiary Department of our most powerful and worthy craft.

E. C. GODDARD, Member 405.

A Note of Warning.

W. P. Gollithan was Collector of Silver Point Lodge 100, B. of L. F., located at Nashville, Tenn., and through the Master of the lodge, Bro. Chas. Schulgen, we

have learned that the said W. P. Gollithan collected dues for a quarter and kept them, also that he forged the names of the Master and Secretary to a traveling card, and the Master's name to an order

for secret work.

We have also been informed that he was in the employ of the L. & N. R. R. and the N. C. & St. L. Ry. as a special agent or, in other words, as a "spotter." I am convinced that he was the author of most of our trouble, for immediately after his visit to our lodge room the superintendent of the L. & N. R. R. (K. C. Division) had a complete list of all the officers of our lodge in his possession, which terminated in a wholesale dismissal of B. of L. F. men.

The following description will serve to identify him: Height about 5 feet 9 inches; weight about 148 pounds; complexion dark; hair and eyes dark; wears about a No. 7 shoe; first joint of third finger on right hand is slightly deformed. He was a cigarette fiend, and speaks with a Southern accent and method of pronunciation. We hope that all brothers will keep a sharp lookout for this man. JAMES W. RAIRDEN,

Master of Lodge 646.

Second Vice Grand Master.

Since writing my last letter "In the Field" I have devoted my entire time to our organization in the Southern States included in my territory. This being my second trip through the South I am very much pleased to note the improved conditions and the progress made by our organization during the past year. In some instances it has far exceeded my expectations, and with only one or two exceptions there has been an improvement which is very gratifying to me and which I appreciate very much.

The members of our organization employed on the Southern railroads that employ negro firemen are confronted with conditions that do not exist on roads that employ white firemen exclusively, and there is no one who can realize this fact as can those who have had personal observation of the existing conditions, and in some instances it is almost intolerable.

I have studied every phase of this question. I acquired facts and evidences concerning the qualifications of the negro firemen and, speaking from an impartial and unprejudiced point of view, I must say that they are, in my opinion, an absolute failure as firemen. It is claimed by some of those who are in favor of the negro firemen that the reason for their employment is that the white man can not work in the hot climes and endure the laborious work which the fireman of today is required to do, without aggravating and subjecting himself to conditions which are considered unbearable to the white man. For this reason there is a scarcity of white firemen in this section of the country, especially during the summer months, and those few who are employed are required to fire only a sufficient length of time to acquire the necessary qualifications and to pass an examination for the position of engineer, and were they all white firemen they would be required to