Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1897-11-18

Little Nick. Designed for the PRIEST
hood. Handles q Mogul.

hood. Handles y Moxul.
From the Detroit yourrai
"Hello." said the old engineer. "Howdy,
Amt seen We in a good while; not since be-
fore L went away. Been away? Oh. yes
wenrdown TO oswego Just TO spend a few
days loafin' around with the old boys, or
what's left OF 'em. there
There amt many of the old uns left,
though. Why, I sat In the roun' house
taikin' to Mike Flaherty. the boss. for a
whole afternoon, an I saw crew after crew
bring in their machines OF take 'em out.
an III be blessed IL knew a dinged one of
em hardly.
But there was one likely looking little
chap came I'm. an somehow his face looked
kinder familiar like - me- SO 1 says TO
Mike. Who is that youngster?
Why. that's Nick Butler he said.
You'll be after rememberin' him an his
old man.
Remember him, Well. I should say /
did. 1t took me quite a bit to believe that
was little Nick. Why. he was the pet OF
the road when l was runnin back there on
the Old line. We all OF US useter carry him
with US In the cab. whenever he wanted to
go, an by the time he was 10 or L. year old
he knew more about a machine than half
of the new men do now
But his father Intended him for priest.
an Id always supposed he'd made one OF
him. An bein' curious TO know why he
wasn't sayfn masses now. / asked Mike.
an this is about what he told me:
You remember old Dan Butler your
self. don't We? thought so. Well you
know he was always gettin' hurt. Got
into one wreck after another. an got
chewed up generally Back all SCARED
where he'd laid against the boiler that time
he went of the Red Creek bridge Only
had one eye: lost the other once when a
water gauge busted and the jet hit h m i'm
the eye fore he could dodge. Left one leg
at Rose when he nlowp1 iptn no
train poor Jim Mccarthy was tryin' To run
on his time. You remember?
We'll. any one who knew anything
about old Dan would have bet HIS shirt he'd
end up in a wreck But he didn't. He was
runnin' shuntin' engine down In the os-
wego yards, an tryfn' all he could to save,
SOS to keep little Nick in school. when he
took pain in his heart one day and
dropped over on the tool box dead.
Well. little Nick about 16 years
old then. an had pretty fair education
for Kid. an he just made up his mind to
quit an go to railroadin'. An that's Just
what he did. Had to help the old mother,
too. though she didn't live long, an his
sister.
1.-The superintendent give him a lob
firin'. for. though Nick knew more about
an engine than any fireman on the road
rules Is rules. an the kid had to work his
way up. They only kept him firin year.
freight run. Had a Mogul. with one Of
those big cabs, an Nick was so little he
wasn't much taller than his reverse bar
'Useter call him the kid engineer for he
was only Is. but Lord, how he could pull a
big train. Always lucky. never had even a
crosshead break with him. much less get
into wreck either on his own fault or any
other fellers. An he always got his train
through on time.
So when they put on the Thousand
Island Club train a couple OF years ago
they put little Nick runnin opposite to
Mike Cronan, who is the best runner on the
road, accordin' to what the offers say, an
the two of EN- have been runnin ever
since.
Little Nick is bigger now. but he's still
a little Teller, an he still lives with his sis
ter. takin' care of her. He's only about -
years old now, an If he keeps on he'll be
after film high berth some day He's a
fine boy. an he's got fine engine, too, an
he'll have a fine future OF my names not
Burns