The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1898-11-27

my old love, the railroad; first, because
my fOndneSs for a railroad life had
never died, and second. because while
1 was enjoying a rest from hard work
and study, 1 should at the same time
be earning a nvelihood-an advantage
l could ehot afford to desDise.
Accordingly, sat down and wrote to
my old friend, Ross, who was division
operator on tie great trunk line where
/ had spent my early years. To him L
explained my case, and asked for a po-
sition at some unimportant block Office
where the work was least arduous. By
return mail / received a. letter request
ing me to call and see him. This 1 did
Immediately, and in the course of a few
days found myself established as night
operator at Coal Tower, one Of the most
obscure telegraph offices on the divis-
ion. There were no houses within
radius Of several miles, except that of
the track foreman, which sat back in
the field about a quarter of a mile from
the Office. / boarded with the foreman
and lived quietly, not only from de-
sign, but from necessity. That part of
the day which was not devoted to sleep
passed rambling over the mountain
with q gun and the foreman's dog, var
led by occasional excursions to the
river. where I rowed and fshed and
breathed the delightful air Of the quiet
valley. My nights, OF course, were
spent in the little block office, where 1
had little TO do except to record and
report the passing trains, and exchange
gossip and tobacco with the Waterman
as he passed on his nightly tour of in
spection. Occasionally a freight train
pulled in on the siding and lay over for
a passenger, and then from the train
men I caught glimpses of the doings of
the world which / had left. Notwith-
staining the loneliness of such a life, J
liked it. and its soothing effect on my
oveIwrought nerves was unfnistakable.
At the end of two months my hollow
cheeks had rounded out considerably,
and my befoggled brain had undergone
a great transformation when the event
which / am about to relate occurred
A. The spring freshets We're on, and the
: rain, which had been falling incessant-
" for three days and nights, made
railroading extremely hazardous.
Everybody was on the alert to guard
against the treacherous slides and
''washouts," which generally accom-
panied the rains at this season of the
year At midnight on the night in
question which was the fourth since
the rain had begun to fall, there was
a lun. BY 3 O'clock a dense fog had
settled down over the roadbed, and
this, together with the dangerous con-
QlIIOn OF the IOdQDeO. 0dnlD6feQ the
movement of trains considerably. Sit
ting at my table had been listening
in a vague wax to the monotonous
ticking of the instrument, which kept
the train dispatcher at the end of the
road informed of the movement of the
various trains. and of other events Of
Importance. Suddenly the block wire
began to tick drowsily and the sound
of my office call brought me to atten-
Il ,,,sr. IL
jOtted down on the train sheet the news
that came to me over the wire: East,
No. 4 at BIG. d. j." which meant
that train NO. 4, east-bound. had passed
the junction, the next tower west, at
3:10. Then pulling the block signal to
white which signified a clear track
over the next block east, / leaned back
on my chair, put my feet on the table,
closed my eyes and waited for the COM
ing of No. {.
The six minutes. which was the
schedule time between the junction and
coal tower, had more than passed be-
fore there was any sign of the express.
Then ] heard the rumble of the neavy
train some moments before the head
light of the big engine looBed UP out
of the fog almost at my feet From
my nigh perch in the tower | watched
the train pass slowly by. The rattle of
the sleeDers passing over the switches
below came up to me mu.iled and in
distinct. No lights were visible, except
a momentary flash from the furnace
door of the engine when the fireman
ooened it to shovel in some COAL and
even this penetrated the dense atmos-
phere with difficulty. AS the two tail
lights on the rear coach disappeared in
the fog, I aroused myself, and dropped
the signal to its normal condition of
red" Then turned to my train rec