The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1895-07-25

have ever felt Will compare with this
sensation
bell" shouts the engineer and 1 nod yes,
and begin to ring.
AS he whistles at every crossing, ring
the bell almost continuously till near
Nakarusa tiud healthy blister on my
pencil finger
DIR. Hollister is plainly much cha
grined that he had not thought to warn
me to keep my glove on, when he SO
carefully rubbed the bell cord with
bunch of waste.
He insists that it is not because l
haven't the knack of ringing the bell,
but later I'm afraid he is training point
of etiquette to make me feel comfort
able.
Meantime he explains that the pointer
on the steam indicator stands at ITO and
that he shovels coal and turns on the
water alternately keeping her hot and
COOL" as the trainmen express it.
l manage to shout an Interrogation or
two at him and he says, "Capacity of the
tank? Oh, 4,30O gallons
THAT little glass tube? 1t shows me
how the water is"
Then he opened the furnace door, and
if before the heated end of the boiler,
the valves, lever, screws, connecting
pipes and gauges, with their means and
throbs, had intimidated me, this scorch-
ing breath and thousand tongues of
white flame only reminded me how much
cooler hot summer day is than some
things.
AS we sped along Mr.. Strunk left the
throttle and stepped across TO me to
shout few words of explanation, but
the engine had grown to be to me
something more than a wonderful
mechanism: it did not seem merely iron
now. but sentient being, and the chug-
chug from its stack was the labored
breath of some noble animal toiling
along, and as We stopped for the first
time the dull heavy thuds of the air
pump seemed the palpitations of its
great heart
AS / tried in part to express this to
Mr.. Strunk he flashed grateful glance
at me, and said:
"Ah, you will understand then how we
! become attached to our engines as you
! do to a good horse; why ON and
think this is the best engine the San ia
| Fe owns"
And no doubt, Mr.. Strunk, other en-
| gineers think the same about theirs?"
Eyes, they do, often, but this really is
! a very easy riding engine, and we are 80
attached to it that if it were laid up for
repairs, we would rather be laid off than
take out any other engine.
This engine is to me like a piano
to good musician, My ear is trained to
| know if the sound is wrong"
Then he climbs back, We are near
ing the place where he has orders to
'slow down" for a little. 1t is here they
| nearly had a washout last week.
This passed in safety, the fireman points
out to me the place where they struck
! a horse as they came in the day before,
and gives that US an excuse for the en-
| gine being dirty, though to me it seems
| sDick and span, so much cleaner is it by
comparison with what had expected.
| With a piece of WASTE for protection
rang the bell at crossings and secretly
wondered when Pm to be promoted, or
was the engineer just joking.
! The fireman holds the door open a
moment as he does so explaining that it
is to keep the steam from wasting, or
popping, as he calls it.
The air is cool aud delightful and Kan
! sas corn fields were on either side in be-
wildering velvety greenness and as | sit
| on my narrow seat and feel the most
alive part of it all, [ realize how the trip
itself has grown to be to me worth any
| pos5ib bic danger.
Mr.. Hollister leans out OF the cab to
see the smoke which shows his expert
enced eye just how the fire is aud Mr..
! Strunk shouts to me "this is Reading
hill we are going down and we are trav-
! cling mile a minute"
! The curves give me a slight nervous
| twinge, but after we have passed two or
three without shooting off onto the prairie
or running into the ground, as some
! times seems imminent, l rather enjoy it,
as we sway 10 the right or left and then
seem to fling our head aloft and fly away,
clinging to the rails like a magnet to
| steel.
Speech is impossible, and as the engi-
neer smiles chow do you like it?" to me,
! give the trainman's sgnal for all right,
and watch the flying landscape with
much satisfaction, though l need to hold
on now or Pll be rocked out of my seat
| Everywhere people that we passed
| turned to take a second "look at the wo-
man on the engine"
At Emporia / got out and walked about
a little, and, joy of joys, when l returned
to the engine, Mr.. Strunk lifted me, not
/ into the tireman's seat, but into his own
+ seat.
Mr.. Marshall had told the passengers
that woman would run the train from
Emporia to Newton, and number of
them had come out to see me-
The clearance and register tickets bore
my name, and governing my excitement
as we'll as I could, opened the throttle
Something seemed wrong, the engines
breaths were too close together, and the
great drive wheels turned round, but did
not progress.
Pull out that bar there and give us
some sanG," shouted Mr.. Strunk.
obeyed, and again we were off.
| If l had been exhilarated before,
was intoxicated now. 1 could not take
my eyes from the long stretch of rail, nor
remove my hand from the throttle,
though had noticed Mr. Strunk did not
keep his there all the time.
Every moment almost he took out his
watch He said: Here we make a run
ming jump of forty-fve miles before
supper. We lost minute getting started
as novice naturally would, and we must
make time.
"Glve her another notch"
did n IL - i