Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1895-12-28
COULD SEE TO THE MOON.


An Engtneer's Witey Reply to Test Of
ais Optical strssgth.
The Milwaukee railway company
some time ago decided to test the
eyes of its engineers, says an ex-
change. An old and efficient engineer
whose eyes were failing little was
ordered in for examination. He
couldn't see very well. but he knew
an engine and had his wits about
him.. In going up the railroad yards
he espied new car painted yellow,
and different from the rest. He took
the number and kept it in his men,
Org, and when he arrived at the
master mechanics Office and that
superior asked him how far he could
see, the engineer replied: II can see
the number on that new car dow
there" AS the car was over q quar-
ter of q mile away the master looked
surprised. and asked him what the
number was. The engineer gave the
number, which the master found to
be correct after investigation aud re.
marked: THAT is better than can
do. Your eyes are 0. K. Say. how
far can you see. any way?" To which
the ready-witted engineer replied,
II can see to the moon on a clear
night"
Donahus's Mistake.
Thomas Donahue, the genial con-
ductor on the Rock Island road, has
encountered experiences of various
nature characteristic of the railroad
mans duties. but none of them has
made him feel so taken back as q lit
tie incident occurring at Iowa City
recently. ..I've punched tickets q
long time" explains Thomas. .but
this made me feel more like a mon
key than anything I ever done. You
see we were standing at Iowa City.
It was a rather cold morning and the
steam from the engine made it kind
of foggy. l was talking to an old
farmer. l gave the signal to pull
down the sidetrack to coal up. and
the engineer suddenly cut 'er loose.
Something struck me that he misun-
derstood the signal and was going by
the coal-up; so the farmer and
hoped on what l supposed was one
of the coaches-the steam kind of
binding us. Instead we landed on
the blind baggage. Down the line
we sailed, the farmer and / catching
all the smoke and cinders. When
we reached the coal-up we were q
sight-both almost blind. and as
dirty as Turks. 1 felt like a jay.
My eyes are not well yet"
Depot Echoes
Charles helms. the Burlington's
car clerk. is visiting his home at
Baders, Ill. William Taylor is sub
shutting for him.
Conductor John c. Aud has re-
sumed his duties with the Peoria af.
ter short vacation spent in visiting
his sick mother at Bennington, Kas.
Hiram Cable, recently elected vice
president of the Rock Island 4 Peoria
railway, has returned to Pixies Peak,
where he has other railroad and
street car interests. after a pleasure
and business trip.
The Rock Island has been tabbing
engineers on the fast passenger runs
and as result a cou ple have been
transferred to freight runs. The
object is to place men at the throttle
who can make the running time tally
with the schedule. and all those who
fail will be transferred to slower
runs.
I. H. Glover. railroad engineer.
residing in Eldon, was robbed of his
pocketbook containing $125 in cold
cash. while asleep in berth in q
Pullman car on the Rock Island road
early yesterday morning. Mr.. Clio
yer was on his way to Chicago. and
is positive he had the money when he
passed through this station. The
robbery must have occurred some
where between here and Sheffield,
where he discovered the loss. No
clue to the robbers has been discov-
cred.