The interior journal. [volume] (Stanford, Ky.) 1872-1881, 1876-01-14

Crossing railroad track where the
Is 20 long freight train engaged in tn
switching business. is a performan,
not very well calculated to qualify
man for the ministry. On the contrar,
there Is hardly room for the shadow ,
a doubt. that one full-sized freipf
train. controlled by s.killful enginee,
can do more towards demoralizing
whole community, and reducing Pre-
family to a science. than any othe
modern agency which the emperor q
the lower regions can employ. Tn
man. whose residence and place o
business are divided by a railroad
with the usual number of switches an,
side-tracks, deserves To have his gar
den sprinkled every day with tears o
sympathy shed by an sppreciativ,
public. For this is about what he ex
periences everv day:
Leaving his home in the morning, he
starts for downtown" or ',up town.
as the case may be. Arriving at the
Hilroad crossing. he. of course. find.
a god long freighi.train stretched oul
upon the track. and near it stands a
switchman, welding sh RI 8 lex T.
which is fastened a red funnel flag.
This he waves to and fro, at regular
intervals, to warn pedestrians and dri-
vers Of teams not ~ run over the cars.
The business man stops-out OF sheer
respect for the freight train-and waits
awhile. thinking the cars will soon
move out of his way. When his pa
tience is nearly exhausted, ard he be-
gins to think about some other route,
the train starts up. and slowly moves
ahead about half its length, and then
stops. Business man waits another
FIVE minutes, and there is no further
Of the obstructipg nuisance.
he starts for the rear of the train, in
to go around it. When he
has measured two-thirds of the dis.
lance. the engineer again opens the
lrottle-valve, aud with thump and a
jerk, that reverberate all along the
spinal column Of the malicious old SER
pent. the train begins to move back
ward, and the baffied business man
pauses. and makes few remarks not
intended for publication. Then, like
4 brave soldier. he starts Tor "the
'front.'" determined to get around the
locomotive, it only to spite the engi-
neer. Before he walks half the dis.
lance, the cars once m,re come to a
dead hault, and ',all is quiet on the
Potomac" Now business man thinks
he has sure thing. aud he puts on a
full head Of steam and develops into
brisk run. When he gets within about
Iour car lengths of the locomotive, the
waves the red signal proud
y in the air. the engineer rings the
,ell. and the whole train moves ahead
more rapidly than it had previously run
backwards. By this time, business
nan positively declines to engage in
prayer, nor has he any inclination to
ing a hymn. There are occasions
when devotional exercises are perfectly
appropriate, but this is not one Of
hem. B. NJ. becomes desperate. The
rain has again stopped. and he is
opposite the middle Of it.
He resolves to climb through between
he two cars, fore another start is
made, even at the risk of furnishing a
ase for the coroner. He seizes the
orner of a car with one hand, places
me foot on the bumper, aud is about
o make one bo'd jump for liberty or
|eath. and then the train is jerked for
ward, and he falls backward into the
mud, a demoralized human being.
the train actually gets out of
he way, and busines man makes a
lash across the track, AMI strikes out
Or the horse cars. three blocks dis
ant. An examination of his watch
hows that he has lost just twenty
hree minutes by that freight train.
resides getting his new suit of clothes
overed with dirt. and his mind
wrought up to a pitch of desperation
ordering on in sanity. The horse car,
whose driver and conductor fail to see
lin till he has climbed aboard, moves
IS il running race with funeral
,rocession. But. at last. the unf1rtu-
late victim Of freight trains reaches
lis place Of b siness, three quarters Of
IN hour behind time. and looking as
iaggard and worn down as though he
,ad lust passed through a spell of