The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1898-01-26

ly into the woods The passengers was
shook up some by the emergency stop, and
they climbed out on the platforms to see
what the trouble was. Andy could see that
there was but just one thing to do and
that was to get cross the bridge 1t would
be no use trying to back out If the woods
for there was no telling how far back he
could git. The conductor. who had been
standn' in the door of the baggage car,
watched things. got terribly nervous, and
he didn't know whether he stood or his
head or feet. The passengers were gettin'
excited. too for every moment was maxim
the thing more serious. The chances were
good for stayin' in the woods and burnin'
up with the train, but before any of 'em
knew what was going on Uncle Andy had
told MS fireman to jump out the cab and
cut off the engin'. When he had done that
Andy, being alone in the cab, for the fire
man wouldn't go with him. started across
the bridge. He opened her wide and she
went across. keeping the rails all the way.
The fire was then coming up through the
ties and it was a dangerous thing TO do,
but Andy figured that if the trestle would
stand his locomotive taen she could stand
the train IL few seconds afterwards, he
backed up. the fireman made the couplin'
not Waitln l presume. to connect the air
hose. and Andy started across the burning
trestle with the train. The conductor went
wild. ard was gettin ready to jump out the
baggage car door, but before he could find
a place to light, Andy who had started
his engn' just right, had the cars a rolling
over the blazing seringers at a lively rate
The flames leaped up, and some Of the
boxes on the coaches almost ketched fire,
but not d wheel left the rail, although the
train wasn't muchi more than over before
the bridge was impossible.
When Andy see that everything was
comm be just kept a-Wheelin' EN- ra'ht
along until he was out of the forest ana
~
nected AS soon as he stopped, though the
pc. pie rushed out Of tn, us and up to his
cab and thcy almost pulled him out % :.
They knew what had been goin on, and
were talking about it. They realized that
if he hadn't used his nerve in testin' the
bridge with his engine as he did the train
might have been. burned right there; at
least, the chances were good for staying
there with :: hard fight before there would
be much show of gettin out. Do you
know. that bridge burn ID up, leaving moth
ing but the pilng and twisted rails to show
that there ever had beer a bridge there
ana the fire Quilted the woods and the ties
for miles Were all burned and the track Wa
covered with burning logs and cnders. 1t
was Il terrible forest fire, and if any train
had got caught they would never have
got out.
Andy got the delegates to the convention.
all right. The next week there wasn't
much talked about but the forest fires and
their destruction. Andy was called on the
carpet before the old man, who said the
president wanted to him. He went to
the presidents office very modestly. and
related his experience in the Dwight woods,
but said it was what anybody would have
done, cause there wasn't much else to do
but the president told him that as long as
the company held together, he could have
job. He got quite a purse from the dele
gates. too, but nobody ever knew how much
it was
man tOday.He's gettin' pretty old and the
time is comm when he'll die but | dare
say he'll be missed when he goes more than
any other man the pay roll of this di-
vision ever was"