The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-07-16

causing him to shut off, lose his way.
! and crawl all the way up the mile and
half grade TO the station.
Joe laughed when he heard that, and
said he guessed the old man was losing
his nerve.
"Losin' my nerve. be I?' Dave roared,
when this was repeated to him. Say.
if l don't make that kid lose his nerve
'fere he's follered me round the division
another thirty days I'll take hog on
extra freight. Losin' my nerve, Well.
blast himi" and he dived under her
with an arnful of wrenches. swearing
TO himself and spluttering tobacco juice
in all directions.
When he left that trip-eishteen min
utes late-he told his fireman he could
pick himself out of a hog when he got
forty on her every minute.
Git EN- there, Davei" the station
master called after him, as he pulled
out.
'-I'll register %. T. at Franklin today
or this mill will go to the shop on a
| fiat car tomorrow" Dave shouted back
When through the tunnel and clear
of the freight yard, he dropped his hat
in the seat box and tied red bandanna
around his head. He was out for bust
ness. Then was seen a bit of slick
running. The old engineer brought
into play all the fine points he had
learned in twenty years at the throt-
! tie. He cut her back, he dropped her
down a notch, as she approached says
and knobs so slight as to be impercep-
tible except to his finely trained sense
of feeling. He fed the cold water to
her with the precision of a physician
guiding a patient through crisis, and
babied and coaxed her like spoiled
child. And nobly she responded; she
seemed to lay her ears back, take the
bit in her teeth and fly.
The fireman-mindful of his chiefs
admonition. and that a modicum of the
credit of success, as well as all the
odium of failure. would be his-toiled
like a galley slave. Between them she
| carried the white feather at her safety
valve mile after mile, and the steam
boat train was wheeled as it never had
been wheeled before.
1t was an ideal day. An early morn
ing shower had laid the dust and
freshened the dark. midsummer green
of trees and grass until they sparkled
gaily in the bright sunshine. Even
Grabbed old Dave felt the soothing in
fluence of the perfect day as he pore
along counting mile posts and noting
time. He congratulated himself on the
squareness with which she chopped it
of. and the lively manner in which she
picked uD her heels. until he remem-
bered that the kid had had the valves
reset; then he resumed the mental
stunt known to engineers as ''figgerin'
ahead.
In places he could make up fractions
of a minute, in others he would be
thankful to hold his own. He must
have enough water in her so he could
shut off his injector and lace the life
out of her going into Newtown. If old
Flanagan should hold the semaphore
on him today ne would feel like muir
dering him. And so the old fellow
unused as he rode along getting better
natured every minute as he saw that
he was "gittin' 'em there"
The approach to Newton was
"pokey." There was mile and half
of stiff grade right up to the station
that was where he would need to have
them going. Half way up this grade
the road was spanned by an overhead
railroad bridge of solid masonry. Fifty
yards this side of the bridge there was
freight yard switch, the track
branching off on Dawes side. The yard
was concealed from approaching trains
by an immense coal shed. which, at
that time of day. threw a dense black
shadow on the switch. When the switch
was open, its round red target blazed
warning to approaching engineers.
When closed. the thin edge of the
sheet iron target was invisible. To
render it absolutely safe il was inter
locked with a semaphore $500 feet
down the line.
The rules required that the semaphore
be pulled down-tO safety-only when
in view of the approaching engineer.
1t could only be pulled down when the
switch was closed. because a hole in