Worcester daily spy., 1858-01-01
Price Two cents
g9c 9aiIp. spg.


idFE oNsTHR Rail- Railway life what
pusy' oasning. daring, dangerous, and
eVeht'ul lie It Is Why, says Brown, don't
soineooqy write book about IL What
iruittul theme 1t would be for a graphic men
IN prose or verse. All the scribblers from,
Homer to Byron-from Caesar to Cantain
Marryatt, have written about the chance and
romance, the pleasures, the pains and The
perlls of the sea. q sfssf b
sFs "a life on the ocean wave a ~ H
home on the roilirg deep,p
Is in everybody's mouth and. naturall,
enough, for it is fine, ringing lyric. ana
Twice as charming as the reality,-but
life on the iron rail,
nome on the rushing par,-
tnere's theme for you, a ute ne nreon.n+ ,s
.ne 9ther, and good deal freshef What
dla homer and Cesar know of steam and
railroadsf Nautical life, with all its chances
an1 pefls' OF which SO much has been said
anu surg is tame, meagre, and uneyentfuL
oonlPareu win lite on the rail- A railway
conductor sees as much peril in a wear az
shlpmaster; at least, fifty times the nnm.
oer OF people; and holds a far mere resnons;.
Die captaincy. Consider, too what rare and
various qualities he must have to f;t him for
ms oiilee, He must be honest, bright enay.
getc, self assured, firm, and cautious. He
must possess at once the shrewdness Of a mo-
ice officer, and the civillty of gentleman.
ne. ,le must conduct himself properly, as well as
ms ms traih' or, by chemistry wen known to
superihtendents, the conductor suddenly be-
comes no"-eonductor; which is much the
same tnlng as being ''broke'" in the army.
Aiter that,there is no telling what may become
y h,ln' ne may be degraded into an alderman.
3l u aegenerate into member of Congress.
nu, \ ne carries himself land his passengers)
with discretion and escapes (tbere's fbe
doubt = being manned or rnortally fninred bv
the frlghtful accident tl.at comes to the best
man among them, at sometime or other. then
ne grows old and honored in his VOCATION
IKE venerable "Uncle John" who, for twen-
yr.Wo years, has conducted human beings.
ana studied human nature over the iroi. that
mes between Lowell and Boston, (He has
suos'ued lately INTO the more quiet life Of de-
pot-master-hke an old sea captain changed
70 a HreenwIch pensioner-let us hoDe. unoh
double the old salary.) Talk of your great
travellers Think what travellers are these old
conductors Of trayel--chaps who run the first
trans over the Oldest railroads in America:
and excepting only Sundays, and a few holi-
GAYS, have been running ever since. Shat
Vuck' corning, and Horsley, on the ssNorth-
ern eleven years, and travelling over halfI-
nnlliioh oil miles apiecel And,sUncle John'a
not less than 100000 miles / What tales
GU %ooIiu 'ne oid veteran tell, if chose, of sslife
= sllu socle'y on his twenty-five miles Of rail
eullhg nearly quarter of century! What
ulvernng stories these old conductors could
nsfraee OF little accidents, and biunders, and
ialse pretences, and queer scenes in the cars
ana What piquant' accounts Of small fiirtations
between ,laltr, fba
sweet oblivion of time and distance, were
carried by the station; and so dem, n
strated that 1t is easy to ssgo too far
snip. IL was not in this way, altogether, that
one q aUncle Johns clever sstricks upon
tfaVeiiersn came to light several years ago -
q laoy VINO had boy with her considerably
auoFe sae non-paying age. attempted the
iasne, alincult exploit lin the anti-crinoline
pe.louJ p,.J q nlding her precious son under her
sAnts. Uncle john" who saw more bulk
.nah ne could account for by any ordinary
theory Of personal enlargement, carefully re-
connoltered the pile; and, guessing the Sc
5cret ot the lady's extraordinary expansion,
1PFoceeded without saying word, to collect
,are IL ior one passenger and half, and gays the
laay her change, which, without looking it
over, she put in her pocket. By-and- bye,
observing that the boy was still kept in ssdur-
ance vile,p "Uncle John humanely whis-
peIed IN her ear, s'you may as well let him
! ouplt-yoa've :ull, PAID for 6oM1 The traditition
y mat there was some fur bn the road when
lnat child was delivered.sT We tssstas
ohattuck Lsometimes CT &ed nHemlock" by
Q Ihe Protane among hisl Nthren, but why /
meyer could guess foN there is nothing
"shaky about him; and, besides, he is
spruce to the ladies, and soak" among
men,) tells good story about d little mater
tnat happened on one occasion when he was
"off the iron." Itis not oftensthat conduc-
tor permits himself to confess that he was ever
ION the itracks' (by his own fault, either in
moral or railway sense--but this case was
remarkably clear, one. Going slapnine
pace, over rather level of road, all Of, a sud-
den the conductor was made aware that the
tram was running on the ties. Before the
cars could be stopped they ran considerable
distance, bump-bumping, which shook
ano Jared everybody half out of their skins,
and heightened most Of the passengers quite
out OF their wits. During this terribly ex-
clFing time, an old lady, not much used to
travelling by rail, was observed eating her
lunch Of bread and cheese from handker-
chief spread on her lap. with as much compo-
sure as If she was sitting in her own kitchen.
When the train came to halt, she looked up
over her spectacles, and remarked to the con-
ductors s-T'' Peers to me suthin' has gin eoutl''
Iheroar Of laughter which followed this PHI
losophical observation, gave the passengers
second shaking about as violent as the FIRST,
butvastly more to their enjoyment. Boston
Post 'i's s 1850 ads'74 a AH
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