The daily intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Territory [i.e. Wash.]) 1876-1881, 1876-10-03
By The Thickness or A Button
Continued from yest<r,i1sy. I


green; cf the horn and pjrc signal.
|. what with the bowling If the wind stssu
the cars aud car wheels. and it, siugins
in the telegraph wires. and the rumblin,
Of the cars and tbs whistling OF the en-
gInes, one heard only just eaough to h
sure one had n0t Understood tAem. q
the shoets Of men one could make moth
ing tat that they shouted
Then there were couple hundred
ears being shunted .boat ia all drec.
tions at the same time. on al! sides they
came looming lake great shadows out q!
the d+fknvss and thick SNOW, and
straight vssti-b' Il Into IL sgaia Ths
poDr swItcl, tenders. wet 10 tlss skin. al
to Their knee. IA SHOW, sprang this wy
ana that bctwcei' the rolling cars You
know how a distribution station look.
OF a winter night. God only know
how "a. were not all made miucemea.
ia the course Of II; aud I've all NY life
long been surprised when next morn
ing / haven't heard that this one or that
one was killed on the spot And II any
thing does happen, then the strict gem
/ tiemen a. the green table III their warm
I office al there, out with the rules out
Of their pockets. To be sure its the
onl y way. Bot if they would only Just
ior'onct ln their lives take the trouble
10 look Oh themselves outside
/ hat night, then. it Was right bad,
and the Sylvester punch, too. may have
touched the men heads q little before
hand for the ranging went at n rate as
II Satan himself was giving the orders.
The cars flew 50 tins way and that, and
the lights went by like flashes, aud
everywhere one could hear the groan.
ing and clinking OF the buffers crashing
together, and the men crept about. un-
der and between the cars A. If the
wheels were gingerbread and the buf
fers downy pillows. But there was
wretchcd little assistant station. master
Il could not bear the man, because he
once came very much In my way in
certain mattcr-but | could not help
looking IN amazemcnt "a ! saw his sig
nal lantern everywhere, swinging in an
inch, swinging horizontally. swinging
crosswise. up, down, behind, before, aud
heard his shrill voice through ali the
storm. And see, Ia Just called to the
man, as ! saw hun slip through between
two buffers. that he ought not 10 be so
devllish reckless, III a storm where one
could neither see nor hear thing, aud
might slip down into the bargain. But
he had laughed at me. and called out
You attend Ia your own work, Zim-
niermann, and never mind me We must
be through before midnight-iorward, .
fny a nd 4
had called after him with a good will /
To the devil with you then and that
shall not forget my life long, but shall
bed Here tho old engineer made "a
pause. wiped his forehead, took a
draught from his glass of punch, and I
went on
II heard him still giving the order
Forward yopder among my comrades /
aud heard the car chains clink. and then /
sound-what like was it +: have You
ever heard butcher hack through a I
thick bone with his axe and then n /
a dali cry, and then, again, only the
cling and clang OF the buffers clashihg
together. 4 cold shudder ran over me
then got the signal 10 go ahoad-there
was no stopping Forward, forward
In IA moment was far away At the
other end ot the yard. where no one
could know what had happened.
But | did my duty stiii, only a. II
was dreaming. aud when. u halt hour
later. We had got through and lrntcred
the engine house again, the boss SAID to
me. have YOU heard, Zimmerman, As
sistant station master porger has hcen
killed on the spot. crushed Ia death bc-
tween the buffers "
Il didn't ask many questions my
very heart shuddered, and | dom know
how | took care of my engine and
got on my way home. A passed by
the stairs, ] saw group with lanterns
standing there. ana something covered
with q cloak living in the snow. did
no, stop; l shiyertd all over, and | can
tell you, boys, I'd have given Heaven
knows what II hadn't wished him To
the devil half All hour before. l tried
hard to get that on, Of my head. l
meant nothing particular by it; twas
way If talking common enough with us.
Among you young chaps its worse yet,
aud il would cure you If you once had
the crawling inside of you that l have.
/ Well, at last made ont 10 get think
( ing of the warm room AZ home there
with the felt slippers all ready, and
/ Louise aud the youngster, and the flask
+ of arrack and the sngar aud lemons on
the table. and the Cat and the teskettie
singing. and by degrees began to ieei
little lighter.
Now, with all this thinking at this
aud that, you'll readily believe hadn I
raii much heed 10 wind and weather,
rad or pathway; and all knew WAS.
il Was whirling aud howling yet IN TIE
air as entered tile cut by the
oil-mill. through which might
have seen the windows of my hou>e,
if one could have seen ANYTHING al All
ten paoes off went ahead on the
right hand track Of the two IN the cut
besause that WAS frcer from snow. ahd
from that side oouli see my house
sooner
And. IN truth, went along care
} lessly, for MAS gong from the yard,
and that was the in-track. So no train
conld come IN me from behind. and Al
that hour none WAS 70 b. expected from
the front. Besides, must have heard
i: coming
Inst as was in the middle OF th'
cat. which lies. yoa know. In The curve
and where that night enc eould not se'
a oar-length I'll. | heard whistle q"
hind use. and right after II TIE cap Ah'