The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-02-04
A GOOD STORY.
W Rev. j. Hyatt Smith Chased n LOcOmo-
tive.
The following story is told by Rev. ]. Hyatt


The following story is told by Rev. ]. Hyatt
mith:--
We stopped at Syracuse, N. Y, for din
ner You remember the railroad depot, CEN
trally situated, with its eastern and western
entrances exactly alike-as much so as the
two edds of car. After we had dined the
4 depot master informed me that we had seven
teen minutes to spare before the departure of
the Eastern train. This, thought 1, will give
me an opportunity to see the city and glo-
rSious chance for q smoke, provided q clergy
man could be tempted into such piece of
wasteful and worldly amusement: l saun-
tered forth, and after an absence of ex-
] actly thirteen minutes, having enjoyed
delightful and soothing stroll, I was leisurely
returning, watch in hand when, to my sud
J den astonishment, beheld the train slowly
gliding out at the other end of the depot, and
L Increasing it's speed at every puff of its
gigantic locomotive.
!. Here, indeed, was ''call' that admitted Of
neither correspondence nor delay; there was
no time for ''taking it into consideration.
\ So. without conferring with flesh and blood,
1 put off like sky-rocket with double fuse.
For moment thought had it all my own
way; 1 thought l was gaining ground,
although / knew was losing wind. was
r encouraged in the race by sundry helpful
fellows who kept crying out as passed, go
Z it; CATERS" !" "PluckY boy!" "Hei amt
left, o mol" and other well-meaning
and benignant exhortations. Though
they intended, perhaps, helping me over the
course 1 found that the more they shouted
the less inclined was to run, and the more
decidedly did the locomotive make terrible
headway against me. To give up the chase;
10 submit to the chagrin of being left; TO lose
4 my party and my passage; to meet with dis
A appointment and not to meet with friends,
ali this was bad enough; but the thought of
a ALL khn xuoxy haN fn ha
ahat line of interested individuals who with
their cheering ordinations had so feelingly
encouraged me on my outward journey, this
was the bitterest pill in this unexpected dose.
But it must be done; 80 tapering off gra-
dually gave up the contest and turned back
to meet my fate, and-f could find him
the depot master whose laundering state
ments were the cause of all my trouble.
Without search that individual advanced to
greet me with the bland recognition of fact
that no one could well deny. "Well, you got
left did your" 1 replied only with the re-
sentiment of ''silencing eye." If looked as
/ tried to look, my photograph taken at that
instant would hardly be chosen to grace an
album gallery of eminent divines." Seve-
raj by-standers seeking information,
asked, with show of conf
Dental interest in my case, on what wise
the thing had happened? and others, wishing
S'to point moral" advisedme to be on hand
q little earlier next time. With returning
breath, relief and words came together, and
squarely charged the railroad official with all
the blame spoke of his incompetency in
b no measured TERMS recalling how, that after
I had placed my party in the car he had as
! sured me that there were full seventeen
minutes to spare before the train went out
|swhile here,'' said L, with triumphant exhi
bition of my watch, 'the seventeen minutes
are even now barely up, and yet the train is
gone and out of sight.
After no little hot shot cast back and forth,
with the usual variations and final perorations
/ of ''you did and you didn't, you're an
other" etc., 1 asked him whether 1 woold be
risking another chance of being left if
depended upon him to give me the exact
: hour Of the departure of the next Eastern
train. Eastern !" exclaimed he. "Yes, East
ern," replied, with decidedly upward ant
sarcastic infection. ''Why," quoth he, ''tht
train you've just been chasing with sucf
good luck wasn't an Eastern train, but thu
Western express!" With much and interest
ing confusion and excitement, l STAN
mered out Then where in Joppa is tn
Eastern train?" "Why, there it is, replied he
E'iust getting under way at the other end o
the depot; leg it, or you'll lose that. If eve
made Dexter time, madeit then. Ipasse
right through the depot like the wind fel
as if was all legs. One glance, however, q
it came near being too much for me. dis
covered the group of my lost friends, who's
forms and faces seemed bursting with poorl
suppressed and ill-timed mirth.
AS reached safely the platform, the fir
that opened upon me could only be equalle et
for its merciless effect by. the fire in the rear
from which I had providentially fed.
\ heard jibes, and jokes and jeers. I hear
the hoarse laughter of full-chested men, tn
hysterical efforts of mirth-exhausted womeI
They had all witnessed my chase after tn
\ wrong train; now fearful lest, indeed,
should overtake it, and then rejoiced
my evident lack of what jockeys ca
-'bottom" as my speed began to slacke
and my chances with the locomotive bega
to grow ''small by degrees and beautiful
less" They had witnessed the blowing ul
administered to the depot master, the stranG
procrastination in starting for the right trail
until at length it had actually started and
had entered upon second ''stern chase
Then they feared / was left again. as the
looked with breathless interest at the u
equal contest of legs versus locomotiv
They had witnessed my final triumph, b
how gracefully was welcomed, and Wi
what feelings / received their peculiar co
gratulations, leave my hearers to imagin
Lefi-hand Gloves.