The workingman's advocate. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1864-1877, 1866-08-11

i The following was written BY 'sBrick''
tPomeroy, Editor Lacrosse Democrat, and
one Of the late editorial excursion party.
Read it. II is too good to be lost
4 ssWhile others were riding in the cars, we
i were favored by engineer Lilly with a seat
in our usual place on the engine. the better
TO see the country and photograph on our
mind its appearance and attractions. II is
glorious to sit in front OF the engine--to e.
! cape the dust--to battle with the rushing
and clanking of mschinery--to sway to and
fro with the motion Of the engine as it
| thunders along at the rate Of thirty miles
an hour. The country Is beautiful, now.
The green trees OF the groves, dark and rich
in their vernal beauties the ripening grain T;
the growing corn in such long, straight
rows, as none but Western farmers boast Of
the hundreds ofwhite farm houses--brown
cottages and new buildings going up along
| the route; the men, women and children at
work in the hay felds-the children romp-
ing in childish freedom, as all Of Us once
did, on the green sward, and playing in the
bushes happy and healthy.
! The engineer stands at bis post, his eye
closely running the rails ahead to see that
all are right-his hand holds on the iron
bar which stops, starts and regulates the
monster which is obedient to the lighfest
touch Of genius and skill. In the hollow Of
that mans hand in the glance Of his eve !;
in the brain under the cap pulled so closely
down; in the perfection Of his knowledge
and the careful scrutiny Of his mechanical
eye, are the lives of the men and wome
whose places on earth could not well be
spared. And see how steadily the train
runs 1t makes this mile post, and the
next, and the next on time, to a minute
He looks at the track-at the time table
held in little clamp before him-at the
clock on the engine--at the steam guage atI
his left hand. lie touches the lever, we run
faster or slower as be wills, and stop station
after station to the second. The fireman.
opens the iron door by a chain, swings i'll
back, and into the red hot, roaring, suffocat-
ing, hvid, pent-up edition of H,sdes the fuel
is tossed, and "clank" goes re door as
the heat increases and the steam is
made by whose power we rush ahead And
do you know we love the engineer-theI
"monarch Of the Foot Board 70 His hands
are often hard, his pants soiled, h:s face
moist with sweat, but it is his car which
bears thousands in safety, his skill which
makes US feel as safe on the COW catcher as
in our sactum-and safer than we have felt
often in the past few years God bless and
preserve the Engineer. On all the pages Of
history there are no drawer records than
those made by railroad engineers. We
heard his whistle once at Des Jardin's bridge
when with hand on the screaming whistle
ne sounded the alarm, and whistled himself
down that sixty feet drop into the murky
waters and into Hesven, never deserting his
post in the plunge which was fatal to sixty
three out Of eighty-one souls. He was
found at the bottom of the river, his hand
firmly holding the leyer-his compressed
lips telling the noble story Of his death u
We have heard him time and again-wel
have loved to stand BY Lin on the engine in
the hour of sudden danger, to see how a.
brave man could and Lid act when death
reached out its bony hand as we whirled
past the door of eterni ", so widely opened
that we could almost hear the voices of
those within We have seen the engineer
in score Of dangers, but never yet saw one
desert his post. To the noble ones whoI
have died in their duty and their gl0ry--we
sound the whistle three times for All Hail
NoBLRNEN