Arizona weekly citizen., 1890-05-17
TALE OF THE LOST EXTRA.
A SUSPICIOUS YARN OF RAILROAD
 ING IN THE NORTHWEST.

An Operator Received Orders to Look Out
 for an Extra That Never Arrived-An
 old Farmer Furnishes a Clew. but It
 Was Never Fully Worked Out.
 "Yes, that's considerable of a story, if it's true; but you can calculate with a wonderful degree of accuracy that any thing a printer says is considerably warped. Now think can see you and go you a few better in the story line. and what l am going to tell you is absolutely true"
 1t was picturesque group of old timers The Hawkeye reporter had stumbled on in the course of a news gathering ramble 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 to snow blockades in the west. The reporter had just finished an elaborate account of his experiences iii bloceade on the Rockies which called forth the above remarks from one of the old engineers whom we will call Higbie, out of respect to his feelings.
 The reporter hastily sharpened fresh lead pencil and selected fresh spot on his cuff. Higbie knocked the ashes from his cigar and continued:
 THE EXTRA" ANNOUNCED.
 "It happened this way. was doing night duty for Bob Carew at Little Jim vile, fifty miles west of Limestone, on the Northwestern. It was during the winter of 1S7S-79, and of all the dreary places Jimville was the dreariest in win ter time. It had been raining and snow- ing and sleeting all that week, and the ground was covered with sheet of ice. Night operating is nothing to passionate ly long for. I prefer bod carrying. l sat in the desolate box of a depot, the cold winter wind howled 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 to that, so didn't mind it much. had stirred up the fire, for it was bitterly cold out side, with the frost an inch thick on the windows, and sat watching the flames flash and roar up the chimney. must have fallen asleep, for soon began to hear the most internal racket, like death dancing double shuttle on the roof, and l started up with jerk that nearly dis located my backbone, to find the train calling me. I answered and received the following order:
 "'Hold No. till extra passes you.'
 "Just then I heard the whistle of the passenger. It was 10:30 when side tracked here. At 10:45 received a dis patch from Bunker Hill saying that the extra had just pulled out. It would probably take her thirty minutes to make the run from Bunker Hill. waited 1:3O, no extra; 12, no extra. What could it mean? I telegraphed to Bunker Hill and received the following:
 "'Extra left here at 10:42 O. K.'
 "The train could be heard from no where else along the line. I 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 could express my astonish- nent was joined by the conductor of No. 8, who was swearing f1uently.
 "'What does it mean, Eligible? he asked.
 ''I was nonplussed, but finally told lim to pull cautiously down to Bunker Hill. and if he saw nothing to go on as lsual, and make up as much time as possible. At $40 I received the follow ng from the conductor at Bunker Hill:
 "'Just arrived. Could find nothing of ,xtra.'
 Il ordered track walker to search loosely between Jimville and Bunker Hill. He found nothing except what ooked like traces of the train having jumped the track. But nothing further. l
 THE FARMERS STORY.
 Days passed into weeks, until the | weary months dragged their slow lengths | long, leaving the tantalizing mystery | wrapped in still more impenetrabIe l doom, until one day an old farmer | lrifted into the depot and asked if I had | 'een losing any trains lately, For the | i'd man chuckled, I saw one runnin' | round loose last winter. It ran up to my | arm yard and the engineer axed me if | le might fill his biler tank at my we'll. l | aid he might and got him a bucket | After he had filled up he axed me the | oad to the nearest town, borried chaw : tobacky and lit out. I never seed him ence,' and the honest farmer shuffled | way.
 "Well, that was three years ago. l ave not seen the lost extra, but have card from it several times. It was seen y belated hunter one stormy night, rhen it rushed by him like the wind, its eadlight gleaming like the evil eye of ome d anon. Others have heard it's un- arthly shriek mingling with the howl lg storm. Sometimes it startled the 0nely farmer in the dead of night, when he engineer will ask permission to take rater. and inquire the direction to the earest town. It is seldom seen by rail- oad men, who call it the Flying Dutch nan of the plains, and consider it an viI omen when seen by one of them. It } said that poor Billy Yates saw the pecter train coming down the track 1st before he struck the broken rail hat hurled him and two others into ternity."
 Higbie threw the stub of his cigar into he stove and ceased talking. There was dreary silence for lew moments, and hen a tall, gaunt figurr arose out of the hadow in the corner and remarked in a epulchral voice:
 Il believe that's a prevarication."- arlington Hawkeye.
 X Michigan postmaster has been so esteIed by young n.,u gossiping with is pretty female Clerks that he has laced over each d-rivery window a