Mexico weekly ledger., 1877-07-05
Mistcllantous.

SlOR1 OF AN ENGINEER.
Let me put my name down first
| can't stay long :"
1t was 4 red ribbon meeting. and
tlie man was Il locomotive engineer,
hronzed and strong and having eyes
full of deep determination. He signed
his name in a bold, plain hand, tied
Il red ribbon III his button hole, and
as he left the hall he said:
AS the Lord looks down upon me.
I'll never touch liquor again.
" Have you been hard drinkcr?"
qucricd Il man who walked beside the
engineer.
" No. Fact is. never was drunk
in my life. I've swallowed consider
able whisky, but | never went far
enough to get drunk. | shouldn't
miss it again Or be the worse of for
ali hour if all the Intoxicating drink
III the world WAS drained into the
ocean"
But You seemed eager to sign the
pledge"
so | was, and I'll keep it through
thick and thin, and talk temperance
to every man on the road"
"You must have strong reasons 2"
" Well, if you'll walk down to the
depot I'll tell you a story on the way.
1t hasn't hecr in the papers, and only
few Of us know the facts. You know
! run the night express on the b
Road. We always have at least two
sleeprrs and Il coach, and sometimes
we have as many rs two hundred pas
senGcrs. It's good road, level rs a
floor and pretty straight, though there
is Il bad spot or two. The night eX-
press had the right o way. and We
make fast time. It's no rare thing
for us to skim along at the rate of
fifty miles an hour for thirty or forty
miles, and we rarely go below thirty.
One night ! pulled out of Detroit
with two slcepers, two coaches, and
the baggage and mail cars. Nearly
all the berths in both slcepcrs were
full, and most Of the seats in the
coaches were occupied. 1t was Il
dark night, threatening all the time to
rain. and 4 lonesome wind whistled
around the cab as We left the city be-
hind. We were seventeen minutes
late. and that meant fast time all the
way through"
Wcll," he continued after n mo-
mcnt, ''everything ran along smooth
ly up to midnight. The main track
was kept clear for us; the engine was
in good spirits, and we ran into the
town of D-as smooth as YOU
please. The express coming east
should meet us fifteen miles west of
D, but the operator at the station
had failed to receive his usual report
from below, That was strange, and
yet it was not, and after little con-
sultation the conductor sent me
ahead. We were to keep the main
track, while the other train would
run in on the side-track. Night after
nightour time had been so close that
we did not keep them waiting over two
minutes, and were generally in sight
when they switched in.'
s'When we left D. we went
ahead at Il rattling speed, fully be-
lieving that the other train would be
on time. Nine miles trom-D is
the village Of Patro. There is tele-
graph station there, but the operator
has no night work. He closed his of
fee and went home about 8 O'Clock,
and any messages on the wires for
him were held above or below I'M
til next morning. When l sighted
this station | saw a red lantern swing
ing between the rails. Greatly as
tonished, l pulled up the heavy train
and got q bit of news that almost lift
ed me out ofmy boots. 1t wasGod's
mercy as plain as this big depot. 1t
was the operator who was swinging the
lantern. He had been reused from
sleep by the whistles of locomotive,
when there wasn't one within ten
| miles of him. He heard the toot
toot! tootl while he was dressing,
and all the way as he ran to the sta
ton, thinking he had been signaled.
Loi there was no train there. Every
thing was quiet as the grave. The
man heard his instrument clicking
away, and leaning his ear against th'
window he caught these words as they
went through to d.:
| II al,