New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1888-04-11

Yet II anybody else had said this,
which nobody would in Jasper Wards
fpresence-at least nobody who knew
2h1m-Jasper would have been very
much grieved. He was proud of his
calling; proud of his record on the
aoot-board. Thirty years had he stood
there, and in all that time not one &C
@cIdent more serious than the fracture
OF connectingrod piston-bar had
- occurred to him. Not one life intrust-
set cd to his care had been lost, nor even
= Jeopardized. For twenty years Jas
per had run the same train, an accom-
mediation, and all the people up and
down that division of the line knew
Jasper Ward and his locomotive as
well as they did their own dooryards.
His face at the engine window was so
familiar that to miss it for a day or
tWo was to take something out Of the
daily life Of the people who dwelt
near the tracks.
But now Jaspar was unhappy when
ne should have been most content, for
he had finally relented and taken
Jack with him on the locomotive. His
old fireman had been promoted to an
engine, and Jack had thereupon
begged so hard that his father finally
applied to the master mechanic for
permission to take the boy on and
make an engineer Of him. 1t was
happy day for Jack when the master
! mechanics reply was received; but
not so with old Jasper, for the message
, contained these words: "I'll give you a
new engine, too. Take out No. 451 to-
morrow. With your own boy on and
a shining new engine" the official
could not resist the temptation of add
ing, unbusiness like though it was
he wouldn't have added an unneces-
sary word to anybody except old Jas
par-"you will be quite gay again,
and will be having all the young men
& envying you" The master mechanic
meant well, but it was sad blow to
Jasper. ga new engine!" he exclaim-
cd, somewhat bitterly, "What have l
done that should have my old pet
taken away from me? Well, if the old
q engine isn't good enough to run along
yet awhile, why, suppose the old en-
gineer will have to go, too, pretty
soon. This is the beginning of the
end sure, They'll lay the old man off
before the year is out"
His sorrow was greatly increased
when be boarded the new engine and
found that she was equipped with one
of the new electric head-lamps with
which the company was then expert
menting. Nor was that the worst of
it. The whistle of the new machine
was harsh coarse whistle, as unlike
the sweet tones of the old whistle as
anything could be. The first sound of
st nearly drove Jasper wild. ssThey'll
get me off the road now" he exclaim-
ed; 81 can't run an engine with a
headlight like that on it, and such
whistle. They'll lay the old man off,
but they can't say he hasn't made
time. They can't say that" Making
time is sort Of hobby with all good
locomotive engineers. With Jasper it
was a mania can engineer isn't
worth a cent unless he can get in on
schedule nineteen times out of twenty"
he used to say, "and a man can always
make time if he has the nerve. Let a
man get the least bit timid, so that he
pulls up for everything that he doesn't
like tie looks of, for every speck on
the track, or for every down grade, and
he'll never make time. Let her go, let
her CO." he advised Jack; "don't be
afraid of anything. When you start
out on run make up your mind that
you are going to make time or die try
ing. Don't be afraid of the ditch. If
it is your fate to be ditched and
stop there you can't get away from it
by shutting off steam every time she
begins to jump a little or you mag
inc you see something on the track.
You'll imagine you see fifty things
ahea d in one night, and If you go to
shutting off for them you'll never make
time, never in the world. boy.