The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1897-08-26
1t Wa a Close Call,

Station II where | worked, he said, i
-, night station on q single track railroad
in New Hsmpsh 70, g. the nearest nigh
telegraph station north Of it, was eighl
miles away, and N, the nssrast one south
was 10. My duty In summer was solely
thsf OF operator. la winter also look cd
after the fires the waiting rooms. After
. O'Clock oil the trains that passed We.
ireights, aud tbese vefe half dozen south
bound ald 81 many mo . moth bound in
the course OF the night. 1t was part Of
my dGty TO note the lime each train psss
ed my station and !spoTt II st oGce to
head qusrteys at the same rule apply
ing TO ell ope.ators on the line, That
was one Of the customs which made il dan
gefous for an Uperal 9r to fall asleep, II
only for five minutes. Another thing
that annoyed him and often made him
swear was the iOll call. This consisted
in the trsiu dispatcher ut A, Office go miles
south OF ~ cslling each Office on the liae
every half hour, teginni0g with the one
nearest his own. The alton which fail
ed 10 answer roll call bad black mark
placed against it at A. with record OF the
time when the call was giyen, At first
tho roll call made ell the boys look sharp
and toe the liae, But they soon found
wayto cheat it.
Several Of the "owls" on the line srrang
ed to take turns answering II. For OK
ample, the operator at q would answer
for me between the hours OF and 3, and
| would attend to bis itom to 5. What
a tracking good way this was baM the
Urain dispatcher, we thought, and the e1
change OF duty between Us wSs kept up
for lorg ,lme-in face almost too long
so far ss my owl case was concerned.
refer to 90 incident thai took place during |
the winter OF 1856, which for few hours
nearly ftc- 9 the marrow in my bones, II
hsppeaed lise this:
Tb'odgh freight No, al north bound,
was due at my station at :35, and was
schedules to meet south boand freight No.
2Si at T. Is miles farther up the road.
24l was scarcely ever behind time. and
the two trains usually met at T Without re
quifing telegrsphic orders The night in
question was vel cold end stormy. Ful
Iy three feet snow had fallen, and II wss
still eoi0'Dg down very fast, while high
wind was piling 1t 10 high drifts across
the track. Ons night like that the inces
ssut humming Of the witer outside the
g. alton ia enough Of itself 10 pat sentinel
to sleep, and that, coupled with the hour
| 10. aud sn olioe iempsrsture OF so de
gree was more than my weary frame
oould resist | iell ssleep knowing OF
,o1rse thst q wo1ld according 10 our or
look after my roll calls. After
Rhst SEE med TO ne about 20 minutes, but )
VII at wss really more than two hours, ] !
was awakened by the sharp clicking Of the q
instrument near my head
Ok IL was being made with great rapid g
ty, The call for my office preceding 1t. r
kaew it WAS the train dispatcher, the sb q
Jrevistion meaning Qaickl We want you
o hold trslnl
answered the call and the commend
,sme back quick aud sharp: 4
Hold No, 24l tor orders. D
o X, said /, aud i'm medistely hung b
be proper signal, red lantern outside q
be door.
Then came to my senses and looked Il
I my watch, D
Twenty-Five mi ntes psst 3 And ] had
es-d 10 train 10 slmost three hours "
lad No. 2il got past wondered. | Il
,uud fhst u had left n at 1910 aud the d
un from N to II usually took about 70 4
liuuts kaew ihe ttorm would proba p
ly delay the train some ahst Bat two
hole bUurs1 It wssa't liksly Then / v
card No 2sl reported from p. aud knew b.
he bad received orders 10 meet No. "a
Dt1e whfr, bet~eea r and II.
Whist il No 24l had got BY me snd wss
,yiug 10 reach r for The doEI ifeigblI|
D tlst ca.e the Two trains were boaBd 10
rssh together 10 the storm. There wss Of
o b,Ip for IL hy sIcitemeut wss ia -
resse8 BY the repeated calls oi .bs train 81
ipsicher 10 ssk II No Z4l was 10 sight. N
Mt yet, I suswered, trem bling lsst my a.
opss we're 10 v.in. ~
Three ihirty-dVs snd 90 trsiu. ! vent
at 90 the platform shd l4stsnsd. hots ID
,nud colld bs beard shave ikst Ci the Is
lad. and 81 eagise's headlight wouldl'l ID
ave been vlsible tsp rods 49, Ter