The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-07-04
DOLAN'S FIRST CALI"
IT WAS WHEN THE DIN "a WEN1
THROUGH THE ELKHoRN BRIDGE.

Council BLUFFS. juno 2s.-West Of Tenth
street not one man in 500 In all Omaha
remembers that there ever WINS q Pacific
House, but down In tho yards half tho men you
meet will tell you stories OF tho days whom 10
was headquarters for the railroad mon. 10
stood but n little north Of tho big rcd brick UP.
headquarters building, and from Its broad FROM
porch. that faced tho sluggish river, down under
the little bluff, one could watch tho enginea
swinging through tho yards making up. ortho
trains crawling across tho big bridge, down
the long embnnkmcnt on tho other side, ana
over tho low flats into tho sheds. whore the
brakemcn stuck their heads into tho carp
and shouted, Council Bluffs, Union De-
poti All change" There one could meet JACK
Dolan, pnst master Of tho reverse lever and the
throttle valve. who told tales and tales OF times
when men had faced death on the cleaning rails
In all the shapes that the cnrclcssnoss OF the
white skins or the cunning dcviltry OF the rods
could devise. There, too, ono could meet Bar
ncy Knvanagh, the daredevil, who had dened
the Indians at their work and lived to tell the
story. and Billy Hayes, who knew every spike
in the rond clear to Ogden, and Billy Goodsell,
and his brother Tom, and all the rest. sitting
there ono night after supper. when the lights
winkcd in the yard below, and the smoke or the
smcltcr, heavy with the odor OF burning arsenic
drifted dismallv across the town, Dolan an
nounccd that he had made his last run. -.
Don't joke. Jack" some ono said; tine
nights too thick"
ITS no joke" he replied soberly: "rve had
my second call"
"Your second T. said the other. surprised. II
didn't know you'd had the first"
"Yes," ho said, "Ihave. Didn't you see about
tho wreck Just beyond Elkhorn day before yes.
terdayi That was my second. The first was .
long time ago, but it was right near there, and
I'm through" d.
There's a saying in tho roundhouscs that any
engineer or fireman may live through two close
calls, but never through the third. Many men
believe this, and will tell you stories a-plenty In
proof of 1t. When they have had tho second
call they quit their runs and go into the yards OF
roundhouses or even get out OF tho business al
together. There is a man running the station
AIRY engine in a grain elevator down in the Re-
publican Valley whose second call was a ghost
that danced on the track ahead OF him one night
near where he had had his first, and when he
stopped st was only the shadow OF a miller
caught inside the headlight glass. But he never
went on another run. That wasn't Jack Dolan,
though. There was something substantial in his
calls. The wreck near Elkhorn was a bad one.
A steer had been caught on the track and
knocked down by the pilot. When 1t tried to
get up the forward truck of the tender caught
1t. and the old 1853 went into the ditch, with
freight cars piling on top OF her. Jack shot
through his cab window and lit in a puddle of
| water IN the CllCn. Ie hinD OutS hoik
drowned and wholly frightened, and now he was
de claring that It was the end. And Jack Dolan
was one of the nerviest men on the Union Pacific.
But what was the first call. Jack = asked one
OF the others. You've never told US that"
"Do you remember Jim Wood :" asked Jack.
:" 1t was when / was firing for him in tho old
"A. along in 1869, just after the road was opened
up clear through to the coast. That was where
jim got his crooked neck. don't you
He climbed down after that and went to con-
Quoting. Ee thinks he's got more change
punching tickets than he had up ahead. Maybe
he has don't know. Probably III be at IT. too.
1.-THE old74 was the craziest. brute that ever
twisted, and you couldn't scare her into run:
Jim Wood take her out when she was leaking so
she wouldn't s"taa hold B Plug sro hats f. and nd !; Ia IL. sweat eat
very we'll to-day, does she. Jack T. Then he'd
enough, before we got to Willard she'd be going
Sl 6 p peseen 1s0 and I'D easy q vase as evf so yoa snw; sS sss
so sweet enough to make Jim think he'd be
drawR to pull the pay car; sure; against tn ne Ss
wouldn't have it; So jim never got the chance:
miles and as much more as you can make with
safety, That's grease wagon orders. ,Wouldn't
s sS 1fi t do, ol % siii i out %a sn ssi t !ass t. to i Eeep TRns fns
niSnF q = e, ftss fime. Spite shs r 81 LII j Iihe de5 1S9Ii dS. anil anil
Nm had more sense about an engine than some
folks have got hay. : and nd that's, :, e, Food deal; A 4 : y
pun the old man on inspection. either; but
, a&sS! b ksRt i iSSsf NEXT " nnd / %R nc G3ia:R WRsn ora "a G rSs
> they finished the new bridge oyer the
) old "a; Say, pheighbor, / didn't s;nIn choose il; NO
and was pretty strong, but she used 70 creak
0 4ad boiler so when We zane along that aStnealy:
:, tinSso We ' s crossed Pu the e K Il seTaG rcndS to jump
. clear when we hit the water. My hair got SO
J t "si lay ID do ovSap sinse up There Then ." |as 81 : H = man on the
. 9 road that wasn't afraid of thai bridge, But the
> to finish it / never could see. ~
. You know the east bank OF the river there
: > where they cross. how straight mp and down it Il
where the river has cut into il. swinging round
( passed a shovelful Of coal in my life If they didnt
. build the east end of that bridge slap up against
+ but clay to hold it. TEfen they put up a kind Of
IL pie: over on the other side and strung n span
8 "!FWGli. they finished her Just before the june
@ Tho iirst Of tho raise had been singing along
there tho last two or three days they were at
70 Q We coupled on to some "ie mats OF rails to weight
her with, and out we went, l was for pushing the
10 10 We got to tho Top OF tho hill just beyond Elk;
!" whore it is now-l saw the old Elkhorn bank tull
it,. too. and said: Jack. can you
swimf and then he hit lher up. Say
We went down that kill rs II wo were goine
=. through to Cheyenne that trip. Jim must have
" thought he had grease wagon orders. .Olt
"a was doing her yellow %pre,ticSt, and Jim sing
out. Who sRys she can't turn EN- Look at EN-
spinr Sho was turning EN- for fair, l neyel
o. saw wheels go around much faster till L got the
lis flyer, and that's no Joke. That's the wayw'
de were coming when we hit that bridge. Yo'
NC ought to have heard her hollcr! Say, you'v'
n heard a train OF hogs that's been out two days
ty dry, going by q water tank; we'll, that amt I
H.. patch to that bridge. She just lot out n BIZ
Ns screoch like I've read about catamounts AM
panthers doing. and then she began to go.
to WAS looking out for Jack Dolnn the best
M knew how. and | made up my mind ! WASH
u" going TO quit till We struck; the. water, tn
ic- river was boiling under MS like IL does in th
he fumes in the mines, and 1t looked like molte
fit lead. thought for n minute We we're going
M get over in spite OF everything. but inc mex
by Thing / knew ! heard Jim sing out: Look out