The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-08-12
A LUCKY VERsIFIER.
The Au thor of sweet Marie" Was
Once a Locomotive Engineer.
Trr1r, tts T1t.ffo1.frbi, T1re-s

Once Locomotive Engineer.
From the Philadelphia Press.
There is no man now in New York
whose face, as he tramps Broadway or
Fifth avenue with the long. swinging
stride Of the westerncr, wears a more be-
uiguant l-am-at-peaCe- -the-wOrld
expression than Mr. Cy Warman, the
poet. MIR. Warman began life as a rail
road man and for some years held the
throttle lever upon the locomotives of one
of the most famous of the far western
roads. lie was good engineer, too, as
the records Of the company show, and he
might have been running today had he
so chosen. But it was evidently the mis-
sion Of Mr.. Warman 70 write verses. and
when he began to make them he found
that he could 90 that as well as he could
run an engine, at least if success were to
/ be taken as criterion for, and perhaps
greatly to his own surprise, his verses
sold,
1t was not because his verses found a
ready market, however, that he decided
to abandon the locomotive cab. although
that in time might have furnished him
with sufficient motive for such action. 1t
| was a sleep, of a duration of not more
than a-few seconds at longest, shat de-
termined him to leave railroading for
ever to those who liked it.
Il had been -ruuning con tinuOusly for
, nearly thirty-siX hours during busy
| time, " he said the other day, and must
have been exceeding sleepy ] was not
aware, however, of any desire for SUM
Der; in fact, it seemed to me that l was
more wide awake than usual, and / was
/ conCratulating myself .accordin ely The
run WAS nearly over, and the last station
| was almost in sight. was at my usual
| post, on the right-hand side of the
! cab, with my left hand on the lever,
/ gazing intently ahead, so as to get sight
/ as sOOn-as possible of a signal which /
/ knew would come within the range of
my vision as we should presently pass
around curve Directly l seemed to
see the signal IT stood at go ahead l
| took the train into the station, got down
| from the cab, walked to my boarding
| house, performed my additions and began
| to prepare TO go TO bed ] remember very
| distinctly that I thought to myself that
! the bed would feel very good, that I was
very tired, and that L should sleep until
| thoroughly refreshed if it took twenty
| four hours.
! Then | woke up, Just as we were pass
! ing the signal set for danger. had been
| asleep on my engine and had dreamed all
! this out during the time that the train
! was passing over a distance of not more
than ten or fifteen rods. OF course, l was
| able TO bring the train to a standstill
I
in the least from my momentry lapse,
but when ! fully realized what might
have happened had l slept a little longer,
! ] was more frightened than | have ever
been in my whole life either before or
since / decided then and there that [
would not under any circumstances again
remain on duty after had become tired,
lest 1 should some time again fall asleep,
and, sleeping too long, frightful acct
dent should be the result. ] determined
also to leave railroading permanently as
soon as | could, and / embraced the first
opportunity that presented itself in that
direction"
The cause of Mr.. Warman's present
satisfaction with himself and the world
at large lies in the fact that a bit of his
verse has made hit as a song and that
! the income in royalties from its sale is
now in the neigh borhood of 81, 900 a week.
This song is known as Sweet Marie, "
| although half of the 81 900, has TO go to
the composer of the music. Warman feels
that he is fully justified in taking a pro
longed vacation in New York at this
| time.