BIO: Andrew J. Kipple, Tillard Pen Pictures, 1911, Blair County, PA Contributed April 2003 for use in the USGenWeb Archives by Judy Banja Copyright 2003. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/pa/blair/ _________________________________________ Pen Pictures of Friends and Reminiscent Sketches By J. N. Tillard Altoona, PA: William F. Gable & Co., Mirror Press, 1911 ANDREW KIPPLE Time Has Dealt Kindly With Him Notwithstanding a Most Strenuous Life, Andrew Kipple Preserves Much of The Vigor of Pristine Youth "HOW well he looks," remarked a bystander, as Mr. Andrew Kipple drove by the other day, and indeed the remark was in every way justified. Though he has lived well past the allotted time of man, the new acquaintance would, at first guess, probably put his age at sixty. The upright, sturdy form, the bright eye and the ruddy flush of health upon the cheek, still indicates a virility that many a man several decades younger might envy. And his has not been a life of slothful ease at that. Those who have listened to his ringing commands at railroad wreck, or trumpet call at a conflagration, are well qualified to testify that he was always a very Napoleon of decisive action. In the old days before air brakes were in vogue on freight trains, or road bed or rolling stock construction so good as they are now, the hurry call for the "wreck train" was frequent and insistent. At all times of the day, evening or morning, at high noon or at midnight, in storm and tempest, in withering heat and icy winds, when the word was flashed over the wires that the road was blocked by a wreck, there "was mounting in hot haste." If in the day time, the well drilled crew was aboard the well equipped wreck cars and away in a few minutes. If in the night, the callers went swiftly after the picked men, but no matter who was missing, the cheery, clarion tones of Andrew Kipple's voice rang above the roar of mountain storm, hissing steam or shrieks of anguish from imprisoned victims. He was here in his element. With a comprehensive glance, he got the measure of the situation, and the work of rescue, and restoration of order went on swiftly and surely. Under the stress and strain of such conditions, he seldom blundered. His men having faith in his skill and judgment, went about their work with order and precision. Taking his stand on some view point of vantage, he cleared up the tangle with the least possible delay to traffic, and a minimum of loss to the company. His methods however, were developed on large lines, and if in his judgment the torch was more efficacious and profitable than the derrick or jack, the torch was applied. Always with an eye single to the swiftest accomplishment of his difficult task, he never forgot the safety of his men, and probably cleared more and greater wrecks with as few accidents than any other man on the line. He could always guess to a nicety the moment when the locomotive was about to topple, the car to fall or the rope to break, and the men were gotten over the danger line. Only those who have been engaged in such work, know what this means. The man manipulating a jack under a derailed locomotive on the treacherous side of a high hill, or over a rushing stream, has neither time or opportunity to gauge the general situation. He is but a soldier in the ranks, and his work may be just as heroic and the demands upon his courage as high as though he were fronting a battery of guns. He is alone, and the slipping of a fellow workman's jack, the breaking of a straining chain or cable, may crush him under the iron mass. Hence the importance of the guiding eye that surveys the whole operation. Thousands of our citizens who have seen him in command of the railroad fire department at local fires, need to eulogium on his prowess, energy and skill as a fire fighter. Mr. Kipple came here in 1853, to enter the employ of the Pennsylvania Railroad. A few small repair shops had been erected at Twelfth Street, and here he went to work in the freight repair department. He was bound to come to the front, and four years later was made foreman. His department grew with the passing years and about 1870, it moved into the round house at First Street, which was probably the largest shop of its kind in the world. In addition to his strenuous service as a foreman and fireman, he has always taken a most active, though unobtrusive, interest in the city's affairs, having served a term in common council in the early days. He is now in the full enjoyment of a vigorous old age, having plenty to occupy him in looking after his varied private business interests. He has always been a great horse lover and his roadsters have always been of the best. But he has kept up with the times, and now manipulates an automobiles as skillfully as he drives a horse. #