The daily intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Territory [i.e. Wash.]) 1876-1881, 1876-10-02
By The Thickness or A Button:

on tots long Iafacs Cflei ot1 Engineer
Zimmerman 10 several sturdy figures.
who. deeply buried in thick fur., that
left only rel noses and cleaning eyes
exposed. eame putting aud stamping.
and covered With snow, into the cngi-
peer's Eoom as Burglitz
II il New year, eve. ard the table in
the engineers room ~ covered with All
excep,,o,.slly nea. white cloth. and on
IL. next the ,tpge. stand. the mighty
'lDvl. at hieh old Zimmerman Is wig
oroasly working; while the cloud. of
steam that arise from il. aud the empty
rfsm -fasks that stand by II, leave no
q 'ubts That IT contents are devoted u
20 into the ihroals Of boiler iron--a
genuine engineer's punch
The devil Uncle Z,tnmsrtnan;
hari old sylvester's day this, eh ;" cried
the new comers. shaking of the snow
and pulling off fur.. caps. jackets and
outer boots
" Via, 10 you sugar babies know Of
hard days in your glass houses, on your
machines that rock YOU with easy
springs as gently n if you were in your
nurse arms You ought 10 have stood
with ns back in 30 and 40 on the little
machines that went so hard and jolting
you felt every jog of the rails from the
soles of your feet up under your caps.
and that wpuldnt bulge a bit if the
SHOW lay hand IS breadth deep on the
rails; aud then we stood all out-of-
doors. day and night, without screen or
shelter. summer and winter, the hottest
days IN July and the coldest nights in
December, without any protection but
our coats and buffalo-skin overcoat, that
had been we'll drubbed. / can tell you,
by the storms. That was something
like hard times. But what do you know
about it For that matter. what's the
worst you have to do To what they We
put our liennig through here to-day.
who has come off A from his cxamina-
tom Aud here he is now"
Halo old fellow. How Was il =
How did il goI Did they make you
sweat Come. sit down Bring on
the punch p were the exclamations
poured on the nav conner from all sides.
Less noise, there !" broke in the
harsh voice of old Zimmerman. "Sit
down. Yes Punch No! Hornig
and Franz arn't here yet. that are com
ing in with the freight. 1t is twenty
minutes behind now. aud must be in in
a minute or two more, Glass aud glass
about for all. that's fair play"
Well. now" began the young CAL
didate, wiping from his forehead the
pcrspiration that broke out afresh at
the recollection, they gave it To me
well, ! can tell you. WAS examined
hy the new rules, you know. There
Sat row of chaps. ! guess rod long,
and nary one of 'em, except our engine
master, did ever see on an engine or
in shop. And our engine master
wasn't tho worst. either. They quest
ioned ma sharp, that's fact. right up
To the handle. But one could under
stand them. and give them some sort
Of reasonable answer But what the
other fellows asked ME l didn't more'n
half understand Twasn't AIy railroad
lingo they used aud what they were
driving at~~wcli, yes. / know-Id
looked it mp in the books supcrin,cnd-
ent Tlerzel lent me, just To be able TO
answer. Never saw anything of it in
service, never had any OCCASION for it.
and don't believe l ever shall if live
10 be hundred"
- And what in ihuudar was u ALL
then - began ore Of the crowd, lighting
his cigar, Just as the door was suddenly
thrown open. A cloud of snow burs,
in. and out of IT emerged the dim forms
of two new arrivals-the expected engi
neers of the two engines that had
brought in the belated freight train
Bravo Glad you've got here WAS
the greeting that met thea. "Now
pass round the punch. and let's have
the solids in from whst's-hs-name's"
Here's bit Of roast for one thing. :"
cried one OF the las, arrived, and raised
To view half -seorshed hare, that he
held by the hind-legs
Where did you get that cresturef
And what are you going 10 do with
him =
This fellow wished 10 do himself
the honor Of making part Of Hennig's $
treat to-night, but probably was in too
much of . hurry, and did himself lit
tie too brown" laughed the possessor Of
the hare. The red lights OF my 'Pu-
Co routed him out Of the hole in the
snow where he sat crouched on thu
hank a. comfortable a. you please, and
he began 10 run = wager with our train.
For two or three minutes, perhaps.
ss~ the little stupid. black rascal skim
ming over the snow IN the second track
alongside the engine. gave q short
| Prlrf Thsl scared him he put ou' on
a spurt, got ahead into the red light of
the signal-lan'ern -- perhaps that
| blinded him--as doubled before the en-
| gine as he would before dog. right
across ths track looked at the other
| sile IL see when he wonld come IN
sight again. but he didn't appear. !
/ thought he was either killed or had run
back under the train, and forgot the
creature. But when we'd got a. sees
tadt, and the CRATE Of my engine wAs
being cleaned oas. the fellow down un-
| derneash there with the poker called out
| from the ash-hole: Hornie. iornig.
you've broushta roast with you. l be
licve the tirc Of the Plato has scorche'.
the fellows brains. Come down snd
sas..' sure enough. - true as ! sit here.
there lay my hare underneath IN my
/ sh>box, dead and half stewed The
ask-box must have caught him on the
Jump. lie MAS in hurry ,o be roast
ei-"
Loud laughter followed tile young
engs nects story.
Now laugh. Ill you, yoa stupid