The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1882-11-23
THE HEADLIGHT.
Thrilling Episode In tho Career Of |
Union Pacific Conductor.
Laramie boomerang

A Thrilling Episode in tho Career Of :
Union Pacific Conductor.
Laramie Doomerang.l
Eyes" said the conductor, biting of
the tip Of his cigar, and slowly scratch
ing match along his leg, 1--WE seen a
good deal Of railroad life that's inter
csting and exciting in the twenty years
that I've been twisting brakes and
slamming doors for living"
"I'here is one incident in my railroad
life," continued the conductor, running
his tongue carefully over a broken
place in the wrapper Of his cigar, "that
| never spoke Of before to any one. It
has caused me more misery than any
one thing that ever happened to me in
my official career"
Sometimes even now, after lapse
Of many years, / wake in the night with
the cold drops Of agony standing on
my face and the nightmare upon me
with its terrible surroundings, rs plain
as on the memorable night it occurred
Il was running extra on the Union
Pacific for conductor who was an old
friend Of mine, and who had gone South
on vacation.
AT about 80, as near as / 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, and everybody
feeling tip-top, as overland travellers do
who are acquainted with each other and
feel congenial. All at once the train
suddenly slowed down, ran in an old
siding, and stopped.
Of the engine to see what was the mat
ter. Old Antifat, the engineer, had
gone 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 APP
preaching train, It was evidently wild,
for nothing was due that We knew of at
that hour.
However, we had been almost mir
aculously saved from frightful wreck
by the engineers watchfulncss, and
everybody went forward and shook old
Antifat by the hand and cried and
thanked him until it was the most
affecting scene for awhile that I ever
witnessed. 1t was as though we had
stopped at the very verge Of a bottom
less chasm, and everybody was crying
at once, till it was kind Of cross be-
tween revival and picnic.
after we had waited about half an
hour, should say, for the blasted train
to come up and pass us, and, apparent
she was no nearer, a cold, clammy sus.
picion began to bore itself into the
adamantine shell of my intellect. The
more thought of it the more unhappy
felt. almost wished that l was
dead. Cold streaks ran up my back
followed by hot ones. wanted to go
home. wanted to be where the hungry
prying eyes of the great, throbbing
work-day world could not see me.
Il called Antifat to one side and said
something to him. He swore softly to
himself and kicked the ground, and
looked ut the headlight still glimmer-
ing in the distance. Then he got OH
his engine and yelled All aboard In
few moments we were moving again.
and the general impression was that the
train ahead was side-tracked and waited
for us, although there wasn't side
track within twenty miles, except the
one We had just left.
1T was never exactly clear to the
passengers where We passed that wild
train, but didn't explain it to them. /
was too much engrossed with my surg
ing thoughts.
II never felt my own inferioritv SO
much as did that night. never 50
fully realized what mere speck man
is upon the bosom of the universe
when | surveyed the starry vault of
heaven and considered the illimitable
space, where, beyond and stretching on
and on forever, countless suns are
placed as centers, around which solar
systems are revolving in their regular
orbits, each little world peopled. per-
haps, with its teeming millions of strug-
Cling humanity, and then the other and
mighticr systems OF worlds revolving
around these systems till the mind is
dazed and giddy with the mighty
thought; and then when I compared
all this universal magnificence, this
brilliant aggregation of worlds and
systems Of worlds, with one poor
groveling worm Of the dust. only lit
tie insignificant atom, only poor,
weak, erring, worthless, falliblc, blind,
cropping railroad conductor, with my
train peacefully side-tracked in the
gathering gloom and patiently waiting
for the planet Venus to pass on the
main track, there was something about
the sombrc picture, that has overshad-
owed my whole life and made me un-
happy and wretched while others were
gay.
Sometimes Antifat and myself meet
ct some liquid restaurant and silently
take something in memory of our great
sorrow, but never mention it. We never
tear open the old ranking wound or
laugh over the night we politely gave
the main track to Venus, while we
stood nafiantlv on the siding