The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1899-10-06
TIE PERVERS|7Y Of 11O4,

LIT ftKvth9l|I Ut IIU4.
Eleven hundred and four was IL freight
locomotive, Il little bigger, but no bet
ter, than other engines Of her class. Mos
ley, who managed her, Was like her. lie
was just fair, average engineer, and
that was all. Aud yet, when another
man went ont on the Levcn- Four she
would lay down on him eight times out
of ten.
And SO it fell out that, while she did
her work willingly ami we'll with Mos
ley aboard, she gained Il bad name. The
conductor, coming out with the orders.
always glanced up into the cab, and if
Mosley were there he would smile-oth-
crwiSe h.s would frOwn. And if MoSley
came out with another engine the CON
ductor would be just as unhappy. Mos
ley and the 'Leven- Four went together,
or they didn't so.
One night an extra man went out, or
rather. started out, with the Leven-
-Four. At the very last ditch leaving
the yards she broke the switch bride,
climbed the rail. turned over on her back,
damned her whistle into the sand and
sohhed her life away.
Twentyfour hours later, when sh.
stood upon her feet again, they pushed
her into the back, shops to be over.
Mosley got another ten days, waiting
for her
Locomotive englnemen are VIGOROUSLY
superstitious. TO be sure, there are ex-
captions. | was one of them.
The fireman Of a pusher notices that
when the head engines slip the pusher
viii almost Invariably fly up. The
found a sharp curve, but that would
not cause the pusher, lying back on a
tangent, to slip. But she will slip, and
you will see the driver open the sand
valves the moment he hears the heal
engi inc going, or sees the fire shooting
up in a solid stream, or feel the weight
of the train suddenly up against his
pilotbar.
Many good and plausible reasons for
this responsive. or answering slip might
be put forward, but to the mind of the
average engineer it is sympathy
strike pure and simple-one engine feel
ing for another. Why, l have known
men who would argue that locomo-
tive would not only sympathize with a
for a dead. engineer. Hearing and see
ing these things for years, the newly
promoted enginedriver carries with
him, consciously or unconsciously, a GER
tain amount of superstition.
One day when l was hostler the
master mechanic sent for me. l went
into the office and came out an en-
gineer. To be sure, had expected pro-
motion some day, but not that day,
though l knew that some body would h.,
promoted to take Mosley's place, for
Mosley was dead. The master mechanic
had run me around others, but no one
complained.
h,l :.1 ~
Four when Mosley was alive. Who
would want her now? She was counted
"unlucky" then-she would be extra
hazardous now.
OF course it did not follow necessarily
that she would fall to me, but she did,
and the first night out I seemed to feel
the arm rest still warm where late the
luckless engineer had leaned watching
the gllstening rail beneath his pilot.
Noah. the old fireman, had refused at
first to go out with me, but there was
no one to take his place, and he was
forced to 80. TO this day see that fire.
man sad, bony face: r-~-"'' s~"~~-~='~
He seemed at first to resent my pres
ence on the right-hand side, and I be-
brakeman asked him, in the language
of the caboose, what was eatin' him"
Noah said nothing, and sighed again.
AS | went about oiling the engine l
heard the fireman telling the brakeman
how she had behaved when Mosley laid
off and an extra man had gone out on
the Leven-Four.
If she'd do that then, what'll she do
to ON now; whatn she do to this chip
by runner?" The brakeman shook his
head.
At last, after much firing, the fireman
suce eeded in getting the engine land the
Cngineer) hot, and away we went-three
engines and fifteen loads for the foot
hills.
In the valley the 'Leven- Four did
fairly fairly well, but the en- moment M we hit the
began to cut up. The pointer on the
steam-gauge began to go back and back.
l shut off the injector to allow her to
pick up and when the water was as
low as | could afford to let it go tried
to put on the pump again, but it refused
to work.
We tried the left-hand lift. 1t would
start off all right, singing like locust,
and then break and shoot the water into
the ditch. In the meantime 1 got the
right-hand injectors going again, but
when l tried the water the blue steam
Kissed from the gauge-cocks hot and dry
as a croupy cough. began to ease up
to save her crownsheet, and the old run
ners, who We're helping me up the hill,
began to whistle ME ahead. All, that is
gall to a young runner.
At last we had her hot once more, and
now. she began to do my share of the
work. I hammered her numerically,
but the harder l hit her the hotter she
grew. Noah would shoot reproa chful
glance at me every time she lost her feet,
though he knew that she was doing it
that she was only resenting the abuse
that l was heaping upon her.
-s<,<v
had forgotten my engine cap, and was
which is awkward and out of place on
an engine.
While dogding in and out of the cab,
wrestling with the sand lever and the
injector, l struck the point of my derby
against the cab window and it shot down
the mountain, leaving me bareheaded. l
signed to Noah; he shook his head-he
h n; no extra cap. | went into the
brown cap that had seen Mosley wear,
and that nobody but Mosley would think
of wearing. AS l put it on Noah raised
his hand with look of horror.
Presently the Leven-F -Four began to
die on US. Noah worked franticaIly, but
to no purpose. He would cock his gates,
miss the furnace door, and scatter coal
all over his deck
Finally | signaled him up into the
cab to work the sandlever and went
at the fire myself. But it was of no
use. The coal lay black and dead in
the hrebox, not spark came from the
stack, and McIvor declared afterward
that he could not hear her exhaust, and
he was coupled to my pilotbar.
MOsley had been dudish driver, and
just over the furace door he had a beyei-
edged mirror fastened.
Suddenly l Strengthened up. glanced
into the mirror and saw Mosley as
plain as | had ever seen him, wearing
the little brown cap that he had worn
ON his last trip.
Wen, it gave me a start, though l am
not at all superstitious. In moment
remembered that | was wearing the
flIf had hann h1 ho