Of Time and the Railroader

T NHE FOURTH dimension has been a subject for everything from highly abstract and critical thinking to fantastic imagination. It has served to modify fixed points in an established science and to support timeworn religions. Likewise, calculations in which time is taken as an aspect of all other measurements have imposed new restrictions on human behavior. That the centuries have witnessed a modification in the concept of time, Sorokin' has adequately demonstrated. There is no need for us to raise the question as to whether in the long run the present conception of time may be altered, for, in the moment that we are considering, the use of the Newtonian system of mechanics for the creation of our technology binds us to the use of a mechanical conception of time. We may argue long and bitterly about the nature of time, but we know that if we want to catch a train, see a kick-off, or hear a radio program, our frame of reference forces us to consult an accurate clock. The vast subdivision of labor which characterizes our technology requires coordination in time and space-neither axis alone is adequate. The backbone of industrialism is the railroad. Split-second timing of industrial operations reflects back along the line of transportation and imposes constantly new and closer limits upon those who operate trains. Time is an important factor in any social pattern. Social interaction requires time coordination, and to the degree that occupation determines time distribution, time limits all forms of social participation. As technology controls time for the railroader, it also determines the tempo and the interval of other social relationships and sets a pattern for the personality. After consulting Gulliver on the function of his watch, the Lilliputians came to the conclusion that it was his God. Observing the money spent and the care lavished on his watch, a Martian might conclude the same thing of the railroader. All those who have direct responsibility for the actual operations of trains must carry a fine timepiece which will gain or lose not more than forty seconds in two weeks and which must be cleaned and regulated twice a year by a railroad watch inspector. A delay of thirty seconds in leaving a terminal calls for explanation, five minutes' delay means investigation, and a half hour gives apoplexy to every official from