Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1890-01-28
NUMBER 4.
A nohnuRAs RAILROAD.

II
| ,luras about three hundred mile. from the
cosst. and almost the entire distance had
to be made on horse or mule hack. The
only exception to thl. tiresom" Journey
where according "a the maps, there Nas
q railroad running between two towns'
forty mile. apart, the only railroad ln
th. country.
ON landing IN Honduras. the gentleman
took nj. family to the little hotel-kept
by a muIstto women In Central American
.tyle. with friiolcs anil toriilas for the
pflncipal foOd and canvas stretched over
frames for bs~i.-snd then started out to
ini the ~. railroad, hoping a. catch tho
morning train. AMER long ssafch
through the town, hs came upon single
track Ia the out .kirts. which ende'i tn
dilapli,t.d woolen shs,i, hat nobody was
in slght and there vas NO .lgn ~ atrain.
lie made inquire. and learned where the
rallway superintendent lived. The ofiic"r
~ the lIondura. trunk line came oui ~
III. house when summoned, AMI was lfn.
medhiely askSi when the train would
start.
"The tr,iny" h. repeated, In Spanish
II course.
IL fsf NNAA ilH' h''r " - w. -
tlon.r s.ked; ''it Ia. not gone to-day hAs
hg'
"No: don't think u ha. gone to-day
no I'm surr II hasn't gone to-day.
"Will N go thi. morning.
"No, I don't thlnkltvill 20 this morn
ing"
"Oulsn .abef But don't think 40.
No. don't think 80. How can tellf.
"You ought a. know ifanybody does,
the New Yorker replied, "a. you are the
superintendent"
While they were talking the officer was
shading hls eve. with hls hand. AMI look
Ing acro.. q little bay In ~. disiance'
"Can YOU see across the hay d. asked =
''mv eye. are not a. good a. they us"d Ia
b."
The New Yorker looked. aud replied
that h. could zee across thr bay distinct
ly.
"Do you .ec any smoke coming. up
out ~ the trccsr the superintendent
askel.
No. there vas mo- smoke.
Then guess Jim wont IRE up to-
day," b. vent on; II .snt him out IN
the country yesterday to repair an engine
on . sugar estate. aud mo.t likely be
hasn't pot through yet. lIut lm prsity
.ur,. he'll frs up to-moTroW. just come
la on the steamer Nni got a family
With yous Well. you'il hnd " very COM
Portable down at the hotel, ani think
thsrr'll l,. train Out Tomorrow; yr-
think there will.
There va. norhlng fnrit hat to walt,
for the chance ~ drlucting forty miles
from the long mule ride was not to - lo,t'
NeXt morning M. New Yorker was out
bright and early watching for smoke
arros. the htv. Tho smoke Nas th"re
s,I,Ieutlv "Iim" Nas firing up. lie
h,stsned a. thr superintendent With the
new. and askr'i " bat time thTtra.n would
start.
.Nhout O'Clock. u she go"s, the Of
dee answered: "mayh" q little carli"f'
mayie a little later; bat you may a.
Wrll b. on board hy :, % make surr.
shortly after . o'clock th" train Nhs
| ready 10 start. II consisted 81 tn engin"
~ the .tyle - forty YEAR, ~ more ago.
| I. tender containing some Nupi, anh one
| Of IA. earliest passenger ear. made, With
| uo sln.. ln the windows. bench running
/ l.pgthWI Iss on each siir. ani boNrs 20 old
/ irun on and under each bench tn give the
car weight enough to keep u on the track.
There Werr a number ~ pisssngrrs' and
| Vhsn al was ready and the conductor
had shouted "Nll aboard in spanish,
| ind the engine bell had begun to ring,
on. of ths pt..sngrr., q merchant 20 the
town. elappsi his hand 10 hi pocket
and exclaimed that b. had forgotten 20
write some letters. and jumped or ani
went back a. hi Office to write them.
Tho train started With q vast amount of
whl.illng and hell ringing, and bcgan Ia
da.h fuflou.ly acros. the country At the
rate ~ seven or eight mile. an hour. u
/ had not gone Tar hsfore the wuod gave
out. anil the engine stopped and the iir''-
man and another traiuman vent Into the
Wo0,l. "a cut a frrsh supply. These stops
i to cat wo,id Nere made alout once an
hour throughout the Journey. " the
/ fret station. which va. reached at about
| N o'clock. the man Who had stopped Ia
writ. his letter. Came gall"plng up on a
mule. which b. gave la charge 9" fri"ni'
ani resumed hl. seat in the car.
when noon arrived the train Was stop
pei aud the engineer, fireman, conductor
aud two or thrr~ other msn employed
on the road made a little fire near the
track and placidly procreded to cook
aud eat their dinner. Ihi. Occupied
nearly hour. aud everything went
slowly bat well ull ? o'clock. when q
little strram "a. reached, crossed by an
old bfiigr. Here the engine Was stopped
over the mkldle ~ the stream, aud 10"
urrman got of. aud without hesitation
removed hi. clothes. The New Yorker
imagined be Was about Ca take a hath,
bat h. Nas strictly In the performince oi
hl. duty. lie loserrd himself tO the h.d
of the shallow stream. aud With a pail Ia
AL. hand, aud the other trsinmen made a
line to the tank ~ the engine, which they
procecded to fll With water from the
brook. handing up pail after pail aud
pouring II in.
IL va. not iill the middle ~ the after
noon, however, that the most Interesting
part of the Journey was reached. Ihf
train came tO a stop without any appar'
ent cause. aud .tood Till for some time
The New Yorker at length got out Ia .e'
What VA. the matter. IL found that 4
.hort distance ahead a rail was missing
| III ttlf iIalh ilaiA ANhf wv ANAH AAAAN'f -
would have run %, without the rcmOiesi
chance of getting back again, for iher'
/. no machinery Tor such use. In Hon.
duras. The engineer had taken q eros
bar and walkc,i back past the rear end
Of the ear, and WAS feeling about viii
the bar foe a loose rail-. Presently ~
found Que tO .uit aud pried " up, aud b.
and the other man carried u ahead and
.plked Il down In the place ~ the raj
which Va. missing. Then the train weni
ahead, leaving one rail missing Ia th'
track. On making inqulrie. the New
Yorker learned that some years befor'
somebody stole one of the rails, aud that
II had never been replaced because Their
we're no extra ones In the country, q
every time the train reached that poin
the engineer had tO stop and replace tn
missing rail- with one the train had al
ready gone over.
The train reached It. destination AZ
o'clock In the evening. having averages
about three aud a half mile. an hou
Ia the twelve hours consumed In Tia
Journey; aud the New Yorker Who mad
; the trip l. emphatic Ia advising all othe
. American. Who yi.lt spanish iIoDdura
. Ia stick Ia their mule. II time Ia Of an!
! value to them.-New York Times.
AN OLD WAC.