River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1891-07-23

IN q i0N-duWm cyclone Just theh
that tornader took a sharp twist and
headed straight for Us ! remember
fhiuLin' how nice IL would be if ! knew
how 10 pray, and then. when ! had dug
the sand out Of my eyes SOS / could
see. there we was bowlin' along 50 nice
and quiet that ] made up my mind that
had been dreaming al'out the cyclone.
Pretty soon we Palled up at a sta
ton. and I got down To oil round,
when Jerry BlalSa, the conductor.
comes buStl5ng mp with his time card
in one hand and his watch in the other.
Dan SAYS he what town 5 this?'
why. il 5 Oakley, Of course says
!, without looSin' up.
-''Of course. must be- says Jerry.
we are due at Oakley at 3:O6. and it's
Just 3.06 now. There can't be no
doubt about il bcin' Oakley. But I'll
be bowed il ever lSnowed before that
Oakley was 50 much like Ellsworth
Il raised my eyes, and the was
Ellsworth over the waiting-rOOm
door in letters a foot high. / got right
up and pulled out for the next town
without saying a word. The next stop
ought 10 have been at Linwood, but
the town we got To looked enough like
Bruokville 10 Dc its twin brother Jerry
tottered up to the engine SO pale that q
snowdrlft would have looked like a
heap Of charcoal beside him.
'Da1l. SAYS ne, III never touch an
other drop Of whisky 50 longs | live,
50 help me gracious.
" Sh-h- says ], go back to the bag
gage car and don't say nothin'. I'm
with You on that pledge aud of we
goes agin.
I'VE ought to have got to Wallace, but
after a lively spin of twenty minutes
we pulled into Salina. right where we
started from an hour and twenty min
utes before. There couldn't be no sort
of doubt about it, for out comes the
traiuma>ter foaming at the mouth and
wants IL know what in blankety-blank-
blank blank we meant by laying out
the express two hours. You see, he
thought we hadn't started on the run
vet when the fact was we had got over
thirtv-siX miles of road when that
blamed cyclone took up the whole
train. turned it end for end and set il
back ON the rails again. and there we
! had started ON the back track without
ever slippia' turn. And that wasn't
all The baggage, and express, and
postal fcllers had dumped out mail and
I truck as though We were goin' straight
ahead: and the brakes had hustled off
way passengers 81 the same stations
I they got ON at. aud there was no end
Of Investigations, and damage suits,
/ and confusion generally in cOnse-
qucnce.
That reminds me had an expert
encc just like that, OIL l. it was differ
emit remarked Patsy owen. Il was
on way-frcight on the Indian Valley
/ road one winter. / started north one
morning ON No. 5. We got along all
right until we were half way over the
division, when there came up the worst
blizzard ] ever saw. oh. but it was a
/ corlzer, The snow was so thick that
( couldn't see the sandbox. and it blowed
50 hard that in five minutes from the
E time the wind came up there wasn't a
number left on "a single ear on the
{ train. Bowed EN- all off clean. And
/ it kept getting worse every minute.
/ made up my mind the best thing
/ could do was to get to a coal and
water station and stay there before
the road was blocked entirely. So ]
began to open her up We pounded
along for fifteen minutes and
began to look out for the
station. Another five minutes and
grew uneasy for fear we had passed
the town in the thick weather without
seeing il. Five minutes more and !
was real scared. called the fireman
To mind 'er a minute, pretending
wanted To get a drink ! got down in
the gangway and kicked off a lump of
coal and watched it to see il
we left it behind. Gentlemen.
you may not believe me, but we
didn't get away from that lump OF
coal worth a cent. The fact WIS that
headwind was 80 strong that it blew rs
back as fast as we Wen ahead, and al
though we were turning the wheels at
twenty mile-an-ho gait, we were
practically standing still Yes, sir;
and there we stood. too. steamin' away
I for all we were worth and never get
[ ting ahead, hour after hour. until we
I had burned up oar tank of coal, and
F then we had To send the brakcmen
back to the last station we had passed
with wheelbarrows % get fresh sup
ply of fuel"
oh. say, now, Patsy" interrupted
the Corpse. '-how could them brake
men wheel coal in the teeth of wind
that You couldn't make Roadway agin
with a train2''
"Why. YOU don't s'pose blow like
that could last forever, doyou?' snorted
Patsy.
Aud the group straightway dispersed.
Chicago Times.