The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1885-11-18
FORCE OF HABIT.
How IL Affected n Railrond Conductor Wks
Retired From Railway Service.

After dividing the profits of night pas
senger train with the company for nineteen
or twenty years, Sam Jones concluded re.
Gently that he would take stop-off fol
the remainder of his days, and learn by
actual experience how life would look from
stationary standpoint. But instead of
everything floating along as joyous as the
buoyant beauty of cloud, as he had fondly
hoped and pictured, with streaks of color as
dazzling as drummer's jewelry, the strug-
gle with the tYrant habit which had been
binding him with new thread every day
that he had punched ticket soon com.
menced.
He got up in his sleep and went banging
all over the house in his night-shirt, with
paper box on his head and an old Lantern
under his arm, slamming the doors and yell
ing " Tickets!" Whenever he got into the
hall he would lean out over the stairway,
hanging on by the banister, swing his lam
tern and yell out ALI aboard p in voice
that made the hostler OF the barn wake up
with a start and tremble in his bunk, under
the apprehension that terrible thunder
storm was about to break loose. Every now
and then he would reach up toward the cell.
ing, jerk an arm from q chandelier to STOP
the train, and then go tearing into another
room to see about the passenger who wanted
to get off at a flag station The colored mar
at the barn finally got so uneasy and fidgety
that he went to the house to get the dog for
company, and reached there just as Sam
was firing the hatrack from the front door,
under the false idea that it was tramp
stealing ride on the platform. He was inn
mediately taken for the porter of sleeper
just hooked on, and called ON for the tick
cts from his end of the train, after which
he was sent over to Patsy's after something
to be wrapped up in half-pint bottle, with
instructions to step lively or he might gel
left. Occasionally he would vary the mo-
notony by going into the room of the hired
man, whom he seemed to think was the bag.
gnge-master, jerking him out of bed, and
insisting that he should play pinocle till the
next stop. Sometimes he would tumble
down stairs, lantern and all, and immedi-
ately afterwards go limping all over the
house to learn tho extent of the disaster,
apparently under the impression that the
train had either been trying to climb over a
freight or struck COW and got ditched
This thing went on for couple of weeks
without much change of programme, and,
finally, his poor wife got so impatient al
having her rest disturbed in this scandalous
manner that along toward daylight, after
what seemed to have been an unusually
busy trip, she concluded to pay her fare in
hard cash and see what effect it would have
upon him. So she got up and found her
purse, and the next time he came around
she handed him two half dollars. He i'm.
mediately undertook to comply with the
regular usage by knocking down" the
brightest of the two but in overhauling his
night shirt, in search of secluded pocket
in which it could be placed, look of the
most utter bewilderment that ever took pos
session of human features unrolled itseli
and spread all over his face, and tho mex
instant he gave gasp and woke up in {
tremor, with the cry of An out for Chi
cago."-G Chicago Ledger.