Mexico weekly ledger., 1881-01-27
A HEA DLIGHT IN VIEW.
The Conductors story of a Night Train
on the Union Pacific.


seen a good deal of railroad life that's
interesting and exciting in the twen-
ty years that I've been twisting
brakes and slamming doors for a
living.
I've seen all kinds of sorrow and
all kinds of joy-seen the happy hri-
dal couple starting out on their we'd;
ding tour with the bright and hope
full future before them, and the black
rebed mourner on her way to new
made grave wherein she must bury
the idol Of her lonely heart.
Wealth an d rinehingpoverty ride
on the same train and the merry
laugh of the joyous. healthy child is
mingled with the despairing cry of
The aged. The great an:ipoles of
OF life are familiar to the conductor
for every day the extremes of the
world are meeting beneath his eye.
I've mutt ated the ticket of many
a hlack-leg and handled the passes
of all our most eminent dead-heads.
| don't know what walk of life is
more crowded with thrilling Incl
den than mine.''
Ever have any smash-ups?'
"Slnash-ups? Oh, yes, several OF
them. None, however, that couldn't
have been good deal worse.
There is one incident of my rail
road lift," continued the conductor,
running his tongue c .refulIy over a
broken place in the wrapper of his
cigar, THAT l never spoke of before
10 any one 1t has caused me more
misery and wretchedness then any
one thing that ever happened to me
in my official career.
Sometimes even now, after the
lapse of many years. l awake in the
night with the cold drops Of agony
standing on my face and the horri-
BILE nightmare upon me with its ter
rihle surroundings. as plain as on
the memorable night it occurred.
| was running extra on the Union
Pacific for q conductor who was an
old friend of mine, and who had gone
SoH h on vacation for his health.
AT about 7:2O, as near as can re.
member, we were sailing along al
comfortable one evening with :
straight stretch of track ahead fol
ten or fifteen miles, running on time
and everybody feeling tip-top, a:
overland travellers do who get &C
quainted with each other and fee
congenial All at once the train sud
denly slowed down, ran in an ole
siding and stopped.
OF course, got out and ran aheat
to the engine to see what the tnatre
was. Old Antitat, the engineer, hat
got down and was on the main tract
looking ahead to where, twinklins
along about SIX or seven miles dow
the road, apparently, was the head
light of an approaching train. l
! was evidently wild for nothing wa
due that we knew of at that hour.
However, we had been almost mir
| aculously saved from frightfu
wreck by the engineers watchtul
ness, and everybody went forwar'
and shook old Anlifat by the han'
and cried and thanked him till it wa
the most affecting scene for Will
that I ever witnessed. 1t was a
though we had stopped upon th
very verge of a yawning, bottomles
chasm, and every body was laughin
and crying at once, till it was = XII"
of cross between q revival and
| picnic.
| After we had waited about half a
hour. l should say, for the blaste
train to come up and pass us, an
apparently she was no nearer, cold
clammy suspicion began to bore il
self into the adaman,ine shell of m
intellect. The more | thought of il
the more unhappy | felt. l almos
| wished that | was dead. Col
streaks ran up my back followed b
hot ones. l wanted to go home.
wanted to be where the hungry, pr,
ing eyes of the great, throbbing wort
day world could not see me.
I called An;ifat one side and sal
something to him He swore sottl
to himself and kicked the groune
and looked at the headlight still gliu
mering in the distance. Then he g
on his engine and l yelled "A
aboard In few moments we wei
moving again, and the general III
preston was that the train ahead ";
slde-tracked and waiting for us, a
though there wasn't a side track
twenty miles, except the one we hs
just left.
1t wa never exacly clear to tt
passengers where we passed that wi
rain, but l didn't explain it to thet
was 100 much engrossed with II
sursing thoughts.
1 never felt my own inferiotity :
much as did that night. L never
fully realized what mere speck ms
is upon the bosom of the universe.
When | surveyed the starry vau
of Heaven and considered its iilimit
Bile space, where, beyond and slretchir
on and on forever, countless SUI
are placed as centers, around whi'
solar systems are revolving forev
in their regular orbits, each lit
world peopled perhaps with Its teet
ing millions of struggling humanit
and then other and mghtier systef
of worlds revolving about these sy
tems till the mild is dazed and gid,
with the mighty thought; and tn
when l compared all this univers
magnificence, this brilliant aggreg
ton of worlds and systems Of world
with one poor, groveIl'ng worm
the dust, only little insignifica
atom, only a poor, weak, erin
worthless, fallible, blind, gropi
railroad conductor, with my trs
peacefully side-tracked in the ga'
ering gloom and patiently waiting
, the planet of Venus to pass on t
main track, there was somethi
r about the whole somber picture tt
has oyershadowed my whole life a
made me unhappy and wretche
while others were gay.
Som, times Anti.at and mys
meet at some liquid restaurant a
silently take something in memory