The morning call., 1892-04-15
THE LAST CURTAIN CALL.

great comm 0nNealln-'O n HAND" 1n0np-
ON. 1t came to him quite naturally His
mother caleb him John away back in the
musty boyhood days. but when he began
starring on the stage in a play called 'On
Hand" and used big six-sheet stands of
bills for his country billing the center sheet
having a big red hand aud Thompson"
emblazoned thereon, they gave him his sub
eQuent title.
His play was marvel of astounding
dramatic strength and with red fire extend
ing from the wings like moisture from we'll
pressed clay. The towns afflicted by "On
Hand" were mostly located in Central Hi
nois, even as far down as Egypt. Thomp-
son had a charming wife and a pretty
golden-haired little girl that he frequently,
when her mother consented, farmed out TO
Uncle Toms Cabin" troupes to play Little
Eva.
These two formed his family gods, and
likewise his family goods, for be had no
other property. With this little literary
overture allow me to introduce the saddest
episode in the Thompson family.
Have You ever been down in Central
Illinois? Wen, for black mud. big corn
fields, horse-trading, poor railways and
general eussedness, the small town and
country contributing thereto in Stark.
Plarid, TaZewel and similar counties have
long ranked high. And it was down there
some fifteen or sixteen years back that old
ION Hand" received his last curtain call.
The Rock Island and Peoria Railway is a
ShOrtfeeder TO the Great Rock Island
Route. and in the days | speak of was an
independent trunk line Of 90 miles length,
tapping q pretty rich coal country, but so
generally hard ny" that receivers were as
common as rotten ties, and every mile of
the road was stanchiy supported by able
bodied mortgages. Remember, I'm speak
ing of those days"
We'll, one lovely spring day it was dis
covered by the On Hand Dramatic Company
that they were short of billing matter, and
John Thompson left bis Thesplans shell
tered in the shadow Of country hotel and
started for Peoria TO replenish his printing.
He kissed his pretty little wife goodbye.
and under the somewhat unusual cares5
managed TO borrow s. the poor little woman
had saved up and kept concealed from her
husband. Then John started. He spent
tie day in Peoria meeting very conviviaf
fellows, singing old songs, praeticing at the
bar until it was too late to take the evening
passenger train, so be started out ito make
anight of it,
1t was with trembling limbs, sick stomach,
but fat bottle of whisky that 'On Hand
Thompson got on to freight caboose early
Tie next morning away up at the yards"
near the roundhOusP. He was en- route for
the town where Mollie aud the baby waited
for him.
The road winds about the hills and bluffs
back of Peoria. thereby giving a continuous
grade for nearly six miles. The actor and
his load lay sluggiShlV along a bench in the
caboOse, and after the railroad wit Of the
brakeman had ratified carelessly over his
form, he was left in peace to sleep and
dream.
Ii was against the rules, but they did it
Just the same. The conductor had his break
fast III pail and sat on the fireman's seat
in the engine cab, and the head brakeman
was ldly swinging around on the wheel of
the second-caT- back brake Then the hind
brakeman, whose place while the train is in
motion Is supposed to always be in the
cupola Of the caboose, clambered out and
started across The tops CT the freightcars for
conlab with his chumbs forward. That
was bad man for ION Hand Thompson
Suddenly the engineer, conductor and
crew telt the part of the train they were on
make a sudden leap like an unleashed grew
hound, and with q startled look the ex-
perienced engineer leaned away out Of his
cab and said:
Good gracious, Pete, we've broke in
The conductor was only vaguely alarmed.
There bad on other occasions been similar
accidents, but nothing serious had hap
pened.
'Nosey's on the caboose He'll set her
slidn' en- then We'll go back en- catch the
old sash AN blind factory" said the ''con,"
taking bite from his plug of tobacco and
beginning to climb down from his comfort
able seat.
The forward part of the train had shot
around curve and the conductor now
noticed that the engine was pulling but
five box and two flatcars. Then he mentally
ran over the full train complement and de-
composed the cutoff"
BY the time they had set several brakes
and reversed the engine, the conductor
learned that the forward part Of the train
held has two brakemen. You idiots, he cried,
that train will start backward and no
power herea6outs can stop its career until
1t turns bottom side up somewh here In the
yards.
On the run started the conductor and his
crew around the curve between two high
bluffs, and when 10 minutes later they stood
at the top OF straight stretch of down-grade
track, they turned very pale and looked one
at the other, pretty much In the way fancy
Two telegraph operators might look after
signaling train wrong and knowing that
there would soon be disaster.
This was what they looked upon: Scoot-
ing down the track, laundering over cul-
Yerts, high trestle bridges, and at times
seeming to lift clear Of the iron rails, was
the hind section OF the train on its unbidden
way to Peoria.
The break of link occurred about five
miles out and at the rate the cars were
going 1t would only be a few minutes before
the rallway-yards, the shops, the round
reached by the runaway.
Good heavens, there were scores of switch
engines. any number of passenger trains
being switched about the yards, and all un.
conscious OF the 0n-coming train. | was an
attacne OF the rode at the time. and was up
at the shops on business when the shrilI
shrek OF little shifting engine standing in
front OF the roundhouse called every one
outside.
IL was thrilling sight The red caboose
ieaoing ana rocking until II seemed imp0ssi-
Die for II TO stick to the rails On the root
u the second car back Of the caboose was a
man, his white face and terrified expression
chiiiing the blood and causing more than
one hardened railroader to turn away sick
and weak with fear.
There wasn't any earthly power eouId add
many minutes to the span OF "Oa Hand"
Thompson's life here below.
Then the rushing, flying cars, like specters
swept past the shops and down Waller
street toward the depot. The lucky little
"grasshopper," as the smaller switch
engines were called In those days. had had
Time TO get in On side track and then
throw the switch back for the main line
but 1t was pretty white looking engineer
that sat motlonless in his cab watching tha
runaway sweep On.
Farther down In the yards near the big
brewery. was large shifting engine with a
crew sitting On the cow-catcher, laZily puff
mig along Happening to look up the head
s"ltchman saw the on-c0ming cars, heard
the shrlll blasts OF warning from the en-
elnes up at the Rock Island road shops, and
WIN yell, curse and a scramble he was
on MS way down the little declivty toward
called. -
Luckily the engineer and the fireman of
me shifting engine heard the yell, and they
!en fatner than sprang from the cab. rolling
TO the foot of the embankment and then
tearing along out of dangers way.
Ihere isn't much more to tell. Old rail-
way men said 1t was little bit the worst
vice. lnsy mad ever seen. The caboose
struck the shifting engine. there was 70.