The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1881-02-04

match on his leg. I've soon D good
deal Of RI lroad iifo that's interesting
and exciting in the twenty wears that
I've been twisting brakes and slammine
doors for living.
->rve seen all kinds Of sorrow and
an kinds Of joy-seen the happy bridal
couple starting out on the wedding
tour with the bright and hopeful future
before them. and the black-robcd
munrner ON her way 10 ncW-mado
= ave asefcln she must bury the idol Of
her lonely Oh heart.
wealth and pinching poverty ride
on the same train. and the merry laugh
Of the Joyous, healthy child Is mingled
with the despairing sigh Of the aged
The great antipodes Of life are familiar
% The conductor, for every day the ex-
tremes ofthe world are meeting beneath
his eve.
live mutilated the ticket OF many q
black leg and handled the passes OF all
our most eminent dcad-hcads. don't
know what walk Of life il moro
crowded with thrilling incidents than
mine"
Ever have any smash-ups?"
.sSmash-ups2 Oh. YES. several OF
them None. however. that couldn't
have been good deal worse.
There is one incident Of my rail-
read life" continued the conductor.
running his tongue carefully over
broSen place in the wrapper OF his
cigar, "that never spoke Of before TO
any one. II has caused me more mis-
cry and wretchedness than anv one
thing that ever happened TO me in my
Official career.
Sometimes even now. after the
lapse Of many years. awake in the
night with the cold drops OF agony
standing on my face and the horrible
nightmare upon me with its terrible
surroundings. as plain rs on the mem
orable night Il occurred
~ was running extra on the Union
Pacific for conductor who was an old
friend OF mine, and who had gone South
a. v '..;v2 .or his health.
NJ. e'5)n. 1880. as near as I can re-
member we were sailing along all COM
Portable one evening with straight /
stretch Of track ahead for ten or fifteen (
miles. running on time aud everybody |
feeling tip-top, as overland travellers do \
who get acquainted with each other
and feel congenial All at once the train (
suddenly slowed down. ran on an old
siding and stopped.
"Of course. got out and ran ahead h
70 the engine TO see what the matter
was. Old Antifat, the engineer. had
got down and was on the main track
looking ahead TO where, twinkling
along about six or seven miles down
the road. apparently. was the headlight
Of an approaching train. II was evil
IDENTIFY wild for nothing was due that
We knew o. >. that hour
\. However. we had been almost
saved from q frightful
wreck by the engineers watchfulness.
aud everybody went forward and shook
Did Antifat by the hand and cried and
thanked him till Il was the most affect
ng scene for while that / ever wit
lessed. Il was as though We had
stopped upon the very verge Of 4 bot
omiess chasm. and everybody was
aughing and CRYING at once, till ii was
! kind Of q cross between . revival and
J picnic.
After we had waited about half an
lour. should say. for the blasted train
Q come up and pass as. and apparent
Y she was no nearer, cold. clammy
uspicion began TO bore itself into the
shell Of my intellect. The
more thought Of II. the more unhappy
felt almost wished that ! was
lead. Cold streaks ran up my back fol-
owed by hot ones. i wanted 10 20 ,
Iome. wanted 10 be where the hun
TN. prying eyes Of the great. throbbing
rork-tiay world could not see me.
called Antifat one side and said !
omcth ng 10 him. lie swore softly TO
imsef and kicked the ground. and ,
poked - the headlight still glimmer-
AZ ia the distance. Then he cot On ,
M engine and yelled sAll aboard. In
few moments we were moving again.
nil the general impression was that the Z
rain ahead was side-trached and wait I
" for ,is. although there wasn'ta side !
rack within twenty miles, except the !,
ne We had just left.
"it was never exactly clear 10 the
assengcrs where we passed that wild
rain. bit didn't explain II 70 them.
was too much engrossed with my
urging thoughts. b
never ielt my own inferiority SO Il
luch ~ / did that night. never 30 v
ally realized what mere spcck man q
! upon the bosom Of the universe.
When surveyed the starry vault Of 3
Ieaven and considered its illimitablc u
pace. where, beyond and stretching o
2 and On forever, countless suns are Ii
laced As centers, around which solar a
ystems AFRO revolving in their regular d
rbits. each little world pcoplcd perhaps v
18th ~ tceminD millions II struggling n
and then other and myhticr Il
rstems Of worlds revolving about these b
Gslems till the mind Is tIazc and giddv ],
ith the mighty thought; and then Il
hen ! compared all this universal mag /,
this brilliant aggregation or d