The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1899-10-11
|. The Doctor Of The SWQnD
The Swamp Swallowed the Loco
motive, and the Lake Swa1-
lowed the SWamp.
DY MORLEY ROBERTS.
Copyright.
Observation-Disclosures
Ii was undoubtedly a swamp.

Ii was undoubtedly swamp.
'"There amt no shadder of q doubt
Of it," said the railroad men when they
cut sods from the moss with short
handled shoyels.
North of them stretched the mighty
prairies not yet yielding corn. for half
thousand miles. Beyond the prairie
lay the muskeg, the barren lands Of
northern Canada, haunt Of the red
eyed, matted musk OK, of the moose
and caribou.
South was Lake Superior, n silver
green see, quiet. unruflled and tremcn-
douS. Upon it's shores thousands Of
men were working at the making Of
railroad. part Of Britain's steel girdlc
round the world.
But now it was on the anvil, and the
nature of things was bucking against
the Intention Of man, and every now
and again Fate pipped card played
by the engineers, and this happened
sometimes just as the G. p. T.. man
was reaching out his hand to collar
the stakes.
"a swamp, 1t is true" said the sur
veyor. "but nothing serious. Let the
engineers look to it,
They shifted ahead and measured
the rotund earth and left the swamp
behind them. And a spell Of dry wealth
er took the engineers in. 1t even took
Archer in. who was not truly an en-.
gineer. but q man who. understood
things generally and often was hard
est driving when he was rs invisible
rs steam in the cylinder
Get on, get on,'' said Archer, who
was real chunk Of milestone grit, orig
inally from Yorkshire and American
fzed till he bit like q file into any op-
position.
81 just mean having it DONE" was
Archer's motto, and 1t was forever in
his mouth.
"He meant having it done" should
be his epitaph and perhaps will be by
and by when it gets done finally.
So when the swamp spread out he
jumped on it and declared decisively
that it wasn't swamp Mt all. or, If it
was, it wasn't much Of a one. And If
it was much Of one he didn't care.
'oThe railroad goes over it," said
Archer, for he wanted that section
through, and in his mind was the no
ton or the driving of the last spike,
which represents heavenly attainment
and paradise to railroad men.
And the railroad did go over it, and
then Archer said:
~ told you SO. Hurry up, now; hur-
ry up"
AS everybody had been hurrying up
till the horizon danced the men grunt-
ed n little. And Archer slid east on
train on business and wasn't back for
three days. as he returned it rained
in q gentle, insinuating way. good for
mind, as it was long time from har-
vest. But 1t did not soothe Archer, who
wanted nice, dry, warmish weather, as
he knew men, If they worked ut ALL
never worked rs well in rain, for when
q man is thinking about himself 1t
takes his mind away from his shovel,
and he who would shift Is cubic yards
of "dirt" in ten hours will come down
to shifting only 12 or less.
He got out at Nepijon.
"It's bit damp, Mr.. Archer" said a
man loafing there on the platform.
'eHumph!' said Archer
"And they do say there ain't no rail-
road on that swampy patch" said the
Nepijon man. g
"What?"
"No railroad on that swamp piece,
said," returned Nepijon. splitting.
"Gone throughv'
.aThe deucey' cried Archer, and, go
ing to his Office, he found few tele-
grams, reading:
I. Swamp looks very shaky."
2.r"Swamp too soft. Cam hardly run
the gravel train over it"
8. "Road gone In. Locomotive gone
with It Wire instructions"
Archer went outside and shook his
fist Mt Nature and swore q little very
softly and little not loud and, get
ting on the locomotive with the engi-
neer. went like the wind on visit of
inspection.
II own 1t freely" said the man, with
his hand on the lever as the engine
fled west like q squattering duck. II
own it freely, Mfr. Archer, but / never
had no confidence In that swamp"
Nor me" said the fireman.
The engineer shut his left side sub.
ordinate up with. a frown Of surprise
which was like blow with clinker
rake.
+ .sYou didn't, Ell r. said Archer. s.And
why not?' "a n.
e'NNaal, AIR. Archer, it's this way,
returned the engineer: ''I felt that she
didn't trust 1t. And when MANS en-
gine don't trust the road, but gets on
2 nervous tremulatl ton, like horse on
] q plank bridge that's bendy, mnn
hasn't the proper confidence neither"
Humphl,, growled Archer,
That's SOL said the engineer MS he
! neered ahead through the rnil, which
!. was now coming down "kersplosh,'
Tle lake was lost under black
squail, but here and there 1t showed
"a sthund derous green, Ike live swamp.
\ green and niucky. in hard dried fen.
The zcad's ditches wete fnlis OF water,