Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1900-11-14
IN MY early days 1 had been rail.
road telegrapher, but my aspira.

III N MY early days had been rail-
road telegrapher, but my aspira-
tons for wider sphere of action
had led me into the city, where spent
ten years in the service of one of the
large commercial telegraph companies.
During this period l managed by some
hard grinding to complete course in
a well known medical college and
qualified myself before the state board
of examiners for the practice Of my
profession. To do this, however, had
undergone severe physical and men,
tai strain, which made rest and
change of scene imperative before be-
ginning the fight for success which
l knew must follow. therefore de-
termined to return for short period
to my old love, the railroad. Accord
ingly, l sat down and wrote to my
old friend Ross, who was division oper-
ator on the great trunk line where
had spent my early years and in the
course of few days found myself
established us night operator at Coal
tower. one of the most obscure tele-
graph offices on the division, where
had little to do except to record and
report the passing trains and exchange
gossip and tobacco with the watch
man as he passed on his nightly tour
of inspection.
The spring freshets were on, and the
rain, which had been falling incessant-
ly for three days and nights, made rail-
reading extremely hazardous. Every
body was on the alert to guard against
treacherous slides and "washouts." AT
midnight on the night in question,
which was the fourth since the rain
had begun to fall, there was lull. BY
3 O'Clock a dense fog had settled down,
and this, together with the dangerous
condition of the roadbed, hampered the
movement of trains considerably. Sit
ting ut my table had been listening
in vague way 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 drcHsily, and the sound
Of my Office call brought me to atten-
tions answered and mechanically
jotted down on the train sheet the
news that came to me over the wire:
EAST, No. 4 at $40. d. j." which
meant that train No. 4, east bound,
had passed the junction, the next tow
nr west, ut $40. Then pulling the
block signal to white" which sig
nified 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 coming of No. A..
heard the rumble Of the heavy train
some moments before the headlight
Of the big engine doomed up out of the
fog almost at my feet. From my high
perch in the tower watched the train
pass slowly by. The rattle of the
sleepers passing over the switches be-
| low came up to me mufiied and indis-
tinct. No lights were visible except
momentary flash from the furnace
door OF the engine when the fireman
opened 1t 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 aroused myself and dropped
the signal to its normal condition of
red" Then turned to my train rec
ord and marked down the time, 3.22.
Opening the key, reported to the
j train dispatcher and to the block office
on either side Of me that No. had
passed Coal tower. This routine duty
performed, | again lny back in the
chair and waited for the tick of the
instrument to tell me that No. 4
had passed lockwood, the next office
east.
Five minutes was ample time for
this, but ten minutes had passed and
the report did not come. Then heard
the dispatcher call up lockwood on
the wire and say, &c. a. No. A."
mot yet" was the reply.
Five. minutes later the dispatcher
called lockwood again and asked the
stereotyped question, "Any sign No
AZ"
mo"
Evidently the dispatcher was get
ting uneasy. The road between Coal
tower and lockwood was particularly
dangerous. For almost the entire dis.
lance it ran between the mountain
and the river, so that it was exposed
on one side to the danger of falling
rocks and earth and on tile other to
the destructiveness of the now swollen
current. AT the end Of 90 minutes
No. had not yet made its appearance
at lockwood. The dispatcher called
me again. and answered.
4. Get the foreman out" said he,
have him get what help he can, take
the handcar, and find out what's
wrong with No. H."
70. En-" I sold.