Telegram-herald., 1890-03-20
TALE OF THE LOST EXTRA.
A SUSPICIOUS YARN Or RAILROAD
"a ~ TrE kCR TF48EST.
Aa opsx.ko< Reserved Oraers ~ Lock Oot
for al ~Exsr.' That Never ArEssed-Az
Ola F4rEsE F-rslske. /. Ciss, bat Is
w.s Never raIiy Ns<ked o.S

tSf a. GAsfs tAAt never AEttsc1 n a
Cls F@r4ss F-ralsks. . cis~, bat Is
Va Never rUHy wS<kea o.s
Yes, that's considerable Il a story, II
"a true but yoa c2n calculate WIKI 3
wonderful degree of accuracy thai any
thing a printer ssys Is considerably
wzrbed Nov / thiak can see you and
70 you few better II the story hne. and
zhat am going Ic teal you Is absolutely
trlIe.
II was q picturesque group Of old timers
The h4~ ksye reporter had stumbled on
ia the course of q news gathering rsnlble
down IN the q" yards They were
seated about an old stove IN the round
house, and had been swapping various
railroad experiences The conversation
had drifted around 10 snow blOekadas in
The west The reporter had Just finished
an elaborate account II his experiences
u q bloceade on the Rockies " hich called
forth the above remarks from one Of the
old engineers whom We will call Higbie,
out u respect 10 his feelings.
The reporter hastily shsrpened fresh
lead pencil and selected fresh spot on
his cuff Higbie knocked the ashes from
his cigar and continued:
THE EXTRA" ANNOUNCED.
III happened this way. / was doing
night duty for Boo Carew at Little jim
vile, fifty miles west AZ Limestone, on
the Northwestern. IL was during the
winter OF 1852, and Of AL the dreary
no -. 4
ter time. Ii had been raining and snow
ing and sieeting all that week. and the
ground was covered with sheet of ice.
Night operating is nothing To passionate
ly long for. | prefer hod carrying. /
sat IN the desolate box Of depot, the
cold winter wind how!ed around the
corners with drearisomeness and rat
tied and slammed the shutters in way
that would give some people fit Of the
blue shivers. But had got used 10 that.
so didn't mind it much. had stirred
up the fire. for it was bitterly cold out
side, with the fro.t an inch thick on the
windows, and sat watching the flames
flash and roar up the chimney. l must
have fallen asleep, for soon began TO
hear the most Internal racket, like death
dancing a double shuttle on the roof, and
] started up with jerk that nearly dis
located my backbone, to find the train
dispatcher calling me. i answered and
received the following order:
Hold No. till extra passes you.'
"Just then l heard the whistle of the
passenger. 1t was 1890 when / side
tracked here. At l0:45 | received a dis
patch from Bunker Hill saying that the
extra had just pulled out. 1t would
probably take her thirty minutes to make
the run from Bunker Hill | waited
ll:30, no extra; 10. no extra. What
could it mean? telegraphed TO Bunker
Hill and received the following:
" Extra left here at 1912 o. X
THE train could be heard from no
where else along the line. l awoke the
section hands and sent them over the
track to Bunker Hill to see if they could
find anything OF the extra. At 2:30 | re
ceived dispatch from them at Bunker
Hill:
Track clear. No trace of extra
Before l could express my astonish-
I ment | was joined by the conductor Of
No. 3, who was swearing fluently.
What does it mean, Higbie? he
asked.
al was nonplussed, hut finally told
him to pull cautiously down to Bunker
Hill, and if he saw nothing to go on as
usual. and make up as much time as
possible. At $40 | received the follow
ing from the conductor at Bunker Hill:
Just arrived. Could find nothing of
extra
Il ordered a track walker to search
| closely between Jimville and Bunker
Hill. He found nothing except what
| looked like traces of the train having
/ Jumped the track But nothing further
The FARMERS STORY.
days passed into weeks. until the
weary months dragged their slow lengths
along, leaving the tantalizing mystery
wrapped in still more impenetrable
/ gloom, until one day an old farmer
drifted into the depot and asked if had
/ been losing any trains lately, For the
old man chuckled, / saw one runnin'
| round loose last winter. Ii ran up to nv
| farm ward and the engineer axed me If
/ he might fiil his biler tank at my well. |
/ said he might and got him bucket
/ After he had filled up he axed me the
/ road TO the nearest town. borried a chaw
| o. ,obacky and lit out. never seed him
sence.' and the honest farmer shuffled
/ away.
well. that was three years ago. /
I have not seen the lost extra, but have
/ heard from it several times. 1t was seen
| bv belated hunter one stormy night,
when il rushed by him like the wind, its
headlight cleaning like the evil eye of
/ some demon. Others have heard it's un-
I earthly shrek mingling with the howl
/ ing storm. Sometimes IL startled the
I lonely farmer in the dead Of night, y hen
/ the engineer viii ask permission 10 take
water. and inquire the direction to the
nearest town. It is seldom seen bv rail-
road men, who caU It the Flying Dutch
man Of she plains. and consider il an
/ evil omen when seen by one of them. Tt
/ is said thst poor Billy Yates saw the
Y specter train coming down the track
T Just before he struck tae broken rail
that hurled him and two others into
eternity"
I Hizbie threw the stub of his cigar into
I the stove ard ceased talking There was
a drearv silence fer few moments, and
+ then a tall. gaunt figure sr0ee out Of the
+ shadow IN the corner and remarked in a
F sepulchral voice:
X believe that's a pre-sriostion. -
I Burlington Hsvseye.