The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1869-08-10

mist cbnrch tnoking one night before the
3, Coneregat' groom CRATE when one man
3alu.
IL have always thought I'd ike to be
Il railroad conductor---ior ii little while |
at least
The old conductor smiled and knocked
the ashes off his cigar.
Well, said he, g believe almost
everybody has had that feeling at one
time or another. There is something fas-
cinating to a sober business man in the
idea of doing business and your living at
80 miles an hour, and the spice Of danger
that you may at any moment be sent to
kingdom come by " lightning express" is
Just vague enough to not frighteR, but at
tract. But to conductor it's prosaic
business enough So it is to engineers
and brakesmen. Don't you remember
that, at the inquest over the Norwich
Bridge accident, it was shown that the
engineer was in the habit of opening
everything, and then reading newspa-
per? He was neglecting his business, Of
course but it shows what habit will do
twill make reading room Of an express
engine.
Railroad men learn the lesson Of
punctuality very thoroughly. 1t won't
do TO be late, or the train won't start on
time, and then an awful row is certain.
One time was in Albany and that after
noon the Hudson River, Boston and Cen
tral trains all started at o'clock. Well,
the conductors of the trains and the engi-
neers, too, went down the river on little
propeller-the Julia, | think she was
called. We turned round in plenty of
time, but about ten miles below Albany
we ran aground. We were in a nice scrape.
There wasn't conductor at the depot to
take any ones place, and the tide was
falling. Williams,a splendid, great big
follow, got desperate, jumped into the
river, put his shoulder under the stern,
where the propeller had caught on II mud
bank, and as the boat was about nine cat
power only, and he was II perfect Hercu-
les he actually lifted her off, and we got
to Albany Just in time-only Williams
had to run to Syracuse with his wet clothes
on.
" ltz queer existence, too, running
day after day through lot of little places
that you don't take any interest in, OF
know anything about, more than that the
stations are called such stations II isn't
such dangerous life either. Accident
insurance companies don't rate passenger
conductors very high but fever you want
to tell how helpless mortal you are il
the hands of the Almighty, just get on NJ
express engine, and get the engineer t'
" open everything" on dark night. ltI
positively awful to sec your head-ligh
boring into darkness, and to think tina
between you and instant death there
only the chance of the two pieces of iro'
you're travelling on being continuous an'
and clear that if fsomebody has just price
up rail since the last train went over, o
anchored something on tho track, you
friends won't know your body when tn
coroner's jury calls thom as witnesses t
your identity. That's the way | though
the first time | tried it, but the enginee
was smoking a pipe, and the fireman wa
whistling Jim-a-long Josy."
"When conductor runs train out c
: town and another in again the same day
it isn't such a queer life as when he run
train out one day and in the mex
Then he lives two lives, One night he
a married man at one place; the mex
night he's bachelor at another place, an
the next night married man again--an
q so on, see saw.
There's kind of feeling Of respons
bility, having three or four hundred liv'
in your keeping. But then, there's Il
rules. IfyOu keep to them, if anythir