Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1883-04-27
FUN
The Story Of a Headlight.

The Story of Headlight.
stYes," said the conductor, biting Off
the tip of a cigar and slowly scratching
match on his leg. "I've seen good deal
of railroad life that is interesting and ex-
citing in the twenty years that I've been
twisting brakes and slamming doors for
living.
I've seen all kinds of sorrow and all
kinds of joy-seen the happy bridal couple
starting out on their wedding tour with
the bright and hopeful future before them,
and the black-robed mourner on her way
to new-made grave, wherein she m ust
bury the idol of her lonely old heart.
Wealth and pinching poverty ride on
the same train, and the merry laugh of the
joyous child is mingled with the despair
ing sigh of the aged. The great antipodes
of life are familiar to the conductor, for
every day the extremes of the world are
meeting beneath his eye.
I've mutilated the ticket of many a
blackleg and handled the passes of all our
most eminent deadheads. | DON'T know
what walk in life is crowded with more
thrilling incidents than mine"
Ever have any smash-ups ?''
"Smash-ups ?" Oh, yes. several. None.
however. that might not have been worse.
''There is one incident in my railroad
life," continued the conductor running
his tongue carefully oyer broken place
in the wrapper of his cigar, shat | never
spoke of before to any one. 1t has caused
me more misery and wretchedness than
any one thing that ever happened to me
in my official career.
was running extra On the Union Paci-
fc, for conductor who was an old friend
of mine, ard who had gone South on a
vacation.
At about II, as near as [ can remember,
we were sailing along all comfortable one
evening with a straight stretch of track
ahead for about 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 course got out and ran ahead of the
engine to see what the matter was. 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 tie
headlight of an approaching train. 1t was
lu sru1 5no
that we knew OF at that hour.
However, we had been almost miracu-
lousy saved from frightful wreck by the
engineers watchfulness, and everybody
went forward and shook Old Antifat by
the hand and cried and thanked him till
it was the most affecting scene for awhile
that eyer witnessed. 1t was as though
we had stopped at the very verge of bot
tomless chasm, and everybody was crying
at once, till it was kind of cross between
revival and picnic.
After we waited about half an hour,
should say, for the blasted train to come
up and pass us, and, apparently, she was
no nearer, a cold, clammy suspicion began
to bore itself into the adanlantine shell of
my intellect. The more l thought of it
the more unhappy felt. 1 almost wished
that was dead. Cold streaks ran up my
back followed by hot ones. l wanted to 90
home. I wanted to be where the hungry,
prying, eyes of the er3ats throbbing work.
day world conld not see me.
I called Antifat to one side and said
something to him. He swore softly to
himself and kicked the ground, and looked
at, the headlight still glimmering in the
distance. Then he got on his engine. and
yelled, "All aboard!'' In afew moments
we were moving again, and the general
impression was that the train ahead was
side-tracked and waiting for US, although
there wasn't a side track within twenty |
miles except the one we had just left.
1t was never exactly clear to the passen-
gers where we passed that wild train, but
/ didn't explain it to them. I was too
much engrossed with my surging thoughts. |
81 never felt my own inferiority so
much as did that night. I never so fully
realized what mere speck man is upon
the bosom of the universe.
When I surveyed the starry vault of |
heaven and considered it's illimitable |
space, where, beyond and stretching on
and on forever, countless suns are placed |
as centres, around which solar systems |
are revolving in their regular orbits, each |
little world. peopled, perhaps. with it's |
teeming millions of struggling humanity,
and then other and mightier systems till |
the mind is dazed and giddy with the
mighty thought; and then when I COM
pared all this universal magnifcence, this
brilliant aggregation of worlds, with one
DOOR, grovelling worm of the dust, only a
little Insignificant atom, only a poor, weak
erring, worthless, fallible, blind, cropping
railroad conductor, with my train peace
fully side tracked in the gathering gloom |
and patiently waiting for the planet Ven |
us to pass on the main track, there was |
something about the whole sombre pic |
ture that has OvershadOwed my whole |
life and made me unhappy and wretched |
while other were gay.
Sometimes Antifat and myself meet at
some liquid restaurant and silently take
something in memory of our great sorrow,
but never mention it. We never tear open
The old ranking wOurd or laugh over the
night we politely gave the main track to
Venus while we stood patiently on the
1