St. Paul daily globe., 1893-05-22

A Reminiscence OF the Early
DaYs Of the Union Paciiic.

A Reminiscence OF the Early
Days OF the Union Pacific.
La Grande CAriz) Cor ST. Louis Republic
Many are the "reminiscences related OF
life on the rail in the early days of the
Union Pacific. Away back in the '7O's,
shortly after the completion of the road
to Ogden. Utah, the officials Of the West
ern portion of the Overland often found
themselves hard pressed for the requisite
force of skilled men necessary TO man
their trains TO meet the demands Of the
constantly increasing freight traffic. 1t
was during the prevalence of the mining
fever throughout Colorado ana neigh
boring territories. The disease quickly
spread to the train service. and the earn
ings of many of the boys were regularly
invested in mining SpeculatlJuS, mostly
through grub stakes. Dame Fortune
shoWered gold with a lavish hand on
those whom she wished to favor, and, at
the time of which | write, il was OBJ
served the old girl did not disguise her
preference for the knights Of the rail.
Fortunes were acquired in a day, and
instances are cited of brakeman who
one day was polishing wheels for $3.50
per daV and 10 overtime, next month
might be seen induStrlOuSly acquiring
callouSeS in scissOring coupons. Ere
uuent occurrences Of the above nature
naturally left their impressions OH the
resources of the officials, who were
often forced to press into service men
who twisted brake for the first time
on the day Of their employment But
the officials had no other recourse. A
nabob will not brake on a freight train,
at least while he is nabObug. On one
occasion "a cowboy was employed to fill
the position of first mate OH a freight
train.
His conductor instructed leather
breeches to fetch the engine and place
her on the train, while the former pro-
ceeded to the dispatcher's Office, where
he registered his tram and also a kick
OF two. This done ne engaged the dis
patcher in conversation, IN which for a
quarter of an hour he entertained the
latter with an instructive discourse on
the subject of handling trains by tele-
graph. After kindly thanking the con-
duetOr for his advice the guardian of
the train meekly intimated that the
bound freight, which his train had
orders to meet at Howell, was there
awaiting his arrival. Rushing TO the
register, where his pencil neryOusly
recorded his departure, he yelled out as
a parting adieu, "l'm gone at ll:O9,"
and stepped out III the night. Upon
reaching the train he found her en-
gineless.
He was also short one cowboy. His
search for the "brakey" was quickly re-
warded. The yard engine mad just
paused to couple OH to string OF cars.
This was our newly found Drakeman'S
opportunity, and he was not slow in
taxing advantage of it. When dIscOv-
cred by the conductor, Mr.. Cowboy was
in the act of throwing his lassO; the
next moment the graceful folds straight
ened out, the loop fell snugly over the
smokestack, and the switching engine
was a captive. The conductor was
about to say "By gum!" when he was
interrupted by the voice OF the brake
man, who. observing his chief approach.
cried out in joyful ecstacY: Its all
right now, boss. Pve ketched her at
last, and will have her on the train in q
jiffy. You see, this deal is kinder new
to me, but on our next drive I'll have
her down pat"