Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1890-06-20
ENGINEER C0NNOR'S SON.

sue Inc deeper aDySSes OF tragedy.
Some there are who live their threescor,
and drop out of existence. and the memory
Of them, for good or i'll, ceases with the toll
ing Of the bell that tells their going. AnC
there are some, short little lives, to be sure
but so brim full Of sweetness that the very
sunshine Of them fingers in the hearts Of
those who knew them long after the little
lives are ended.
When Jack Conner was promoted to Oh,
position Of engineer on the N. and @. road
which cuts the state Of Tennessee from north
to south, he moved his family into the pretty
little cottage standing side by side with Grip
pied Derry Cranes, ON the hill just above the
railroad track, in the little village of An
tioch For the engineer was from home mosj
of the time, and Jerry, being cripple, Jacl
knew would insure his own wife considerable
company and protection in Jerry's wife.
The houses stood side by side, and both
doors opened towards the railroad. The vii
lage, indeed, was built so, straight down the
railroad, for the train was about the biggest
thing about Antioch.
Jack Connors cottage stood on a hill &C
near to the track that he could speak to his
wife from his engine when she stood in the
door, as she usually did, to see No. go by.
The train men were pretty well acquainted
with the Antioch people in general, but there
was not one among them, from conductor
down, who did not know Jack Connor's son.
Little jack" they called him, and the
train never whistled for Antioch but they
would look out for the little fellow hoisted
on the woodpile to see his fathers engine
go by.
He seldom went further than the wood
pile, that was his mothers order, though
the brakeman and the train butcher would
sometimes try to coax him down to the plat.
form with apples aud sticks of striped candy.
But he would shake his yellow curls and
throw them kiss as the long train pulled
out
Sometimes his mother would take him
down to speak to his father, and the little
fellow would go almost wild over the big en-
gine, and the glowing furnace, the great bell
changing a hasty good-by, and the shrill
whistle, which he more than once had been
permitted to "pull"
"Just naturally takes to the engine,n the
fireman would often say; 'gets that from his
pappy."
Aud Jack did seem to have a natural love
for a locomotive.
Jerry Crane used to say Of him;
II can allus tell when the cyars are com
ing-there's shapbang of neighbor Connor's
door, a click Of the gate, and in minute a
little yellow head top of a big pile of wood,
and when. see it l always say to my wife;
Mary, the cyars are coming And she looks
out, not at the railroad track, but at the
woodpile, and says she; Yes, they are com.
ing, jerry
Sometimes a neighbor would pass and speak
to him.
"Any news today, Jackp
Fathers abroad today, sir, he would an
swer, or else, There's bridge dam between
here and Chattanooga, sir" or mo. q will be
fifteen minutes late today, sir"
He always had something to tell and 1t was
mostly of the trains or the track engines or
wrecks. Anything that concerned the rail-
road was interesting to Jack, for, aside from
mis- admiration for the locomotive, little
Jacks father went up, then down, that long
steel track just once each way every day.
He had his fathers head, the trainmen said,
but the neighbors declared he had his moth
er's sunny, hopeful, helpful nature.
But one day trouble came to her door.
Engineer Conner was brought home In a
caboose, both legs mashed and an arm gone,
while his engine lay in ruined heap under a
broken bridge just beyond the Tennessee
river.
Every man had jumped but he-fireman,
brakeman, all but Jack.
Jump, Connor, for your lifel" the fireman
had called to him when the timbers began to
crack.
And the man had laid his hand upon the
throttle and said:
"You forget Pm engineer"
And there he staid until the crash came.
He was not quite dead when the boys found
him, and all the time they were working with
him he was praying Just for life to get
home, they heard him whisper. Just long
enough to get home and die with my wife and
boy"
His prayer was granted; he reached home
and the two he loved best on Gods elrth.
just before he died he reached for his pocket
book under his pillow and handed it to his
wife.
ut is all I've got, Annie" he said. ~ wish
II was more, wife"
Then he laid his hand on the little head
with its crown of yellow curls pressing his
pillow. He seemed to forget the boy was
only baby.
Jack, y he said, ~ leave your mother to
you. Take care of her, my man."
Then his mind seemed TO wander; he was
on the engine one moment, the next with his
family again.
The company will do something for you
by and by, Jack, y he said, land always re-
member-don't forget it, Jack-that any man
in time Of danger may desert, any man but
Al. l., ,Nf oh 1Nta
to his post, Jack"
The hand on the boys head grew heavy;
the little fellow choked back his sobs and laid
one hand tenderly on his fathers brow. The
dying engineer opened his eyes and smiled.
"Stick to the engine and stand by your
mother, Jack, " he whispered. The hand on
the boys head grew cold, and when they
lifted it and laid it back upon the dead mans
breast Jack turned to his mother.
There was no childish outburst OF grief;
only an awakening, as 1t seemed, of the
young manhood in him as he opened his
arms.
"Here am, mother" he said, and she UNI
derstood.
1t was then Jacks life began in earnest.
The pet name Of "Baby Jack" no longer
trembled upon his mothers hips. She called
him instead my son" my boy" or else
twas Mothers man. So is the heart wont
to clothe with strength that which 1t leans
upon.
She trusted him entirely, and his quick
mind recognized it.
The prohibition TO longer confined him to
the wood pile, but every morning when the
whistle sounded the cottage door would open,
the gate click, and pair Of bright stockings
fash for a moment in the sunlight as a pair
of nimble legs went hurrying down to the
platform.
'Piesl pies fresh pies and cakesin He had
turnad r.eddlar Such n tipv industrious