El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-12-10
SWitchman Assistant II,
n n1U Hero. and life Who By
IA DV0 From Headquarters
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all the more credit because he has t,
make nose and paws take the place o
| human hands.
This soon became regular trick ant
caused little comment at the station
where it was expected that Mig would
be the first to hear and answer the sig
mails. Several weeks ago. however. he
adopted a new idea. One day track.
men were at work just below the
switch. and when the engines came
along the agent went out and waved
flag to stop them. Mig eyed this
very closelyand apparently solved the
problem according to dog metho Dis. fol
the next day when the signals were
heard he made no effort to throw the
switch, but gra bbed a, flag in his
teeth ana ran up the track with the
waving signal in his mouth. Just as
the locomotive came around the curve
Mig stood up in the middle of the
track and refused to move until the
engine was stopped. Then he waged
his tail and trotted back to the station.
That trick was repeated until the
track work was completed and then
Mig went back to the old routine.
Last week there was a hitch. There
had been light fall of snow during
the night, and as the sun shines on the
town" of Forks Creek only two hours
out of the twenty-four the snow was
packed hard between the rails when
the first engine came along. Mig heard
the whistle and tried to respond. He
pushed the handle of the switch
stand out of its socket. but could not
throw the rails. They were frozen
solidly to the ground. Mig barked
two or three times in a sort of canine
disgust. but still could not throw the
he cr1dIan1y oar,,h
ed the flag. and with a bound he had it
in his teeth. and up the track he went.
This time he made a mistake in one
thing. Instead of a freight engine it
was Superintendent Smith making a
hurried trip over the road and his
little train was bowling along at a
lively rate.
AS soon as the agent saw Mig running
up the track with thef1as in his mouth
ne decided something was wrong.So he
went out and tried to throw the switch.
but the ice held too firmly even for
him. Down the track ccame the rum
BILE of the train. and he tugged and
pulled at the handle with all his
might. but it would not move. He
gave up in dispair, and then turned
to help the dog signal the train. but
that intelligent animal had already
done the right thing. Engineer George
Brown saw the dog just as he came
around the curve. and shut off steam.
after giving two short toots of the
whistle. The superintendent jumped
down to investigate. and was told
that his train had been saved from
wreck by dog. He promised to put
in standing order at the lunch coun
ter to have Mig fed once a day on the
juiciest steak that could be had, but
the sagacious dog did not have time
to listen to this delightful reward.
After the train had stopped the dog
went back to the switch and began
digging out the snow from between
between the rails as fast as he could
with his paws and sharp nails. Hun
CRY Ike" the section man, soon re-
lileved the dog of this portion of his
duties. and within a few minutes the
special was allowed to proceed.
Mig showed his earnest and business
like nature when photographer called
on him the other day. He alb
solutely refused to pose. 1t was con-
trary to his principles to pretend to
be performing his solemn duties.
The photographer therefore had to
wait until train came along. He i'm
mediately opened the switch. At
terward he was induced by various
strange whistlingS and tootingS to go
out and raise the flag.
Mig has a host of other things to
attend to besides working the switch
and tagging the train. He chases
away all stray dogs, cats, rats, mice
and other animals having no bus
mess about the station. He also drives
away any tramps that may come
along. His observant eye can tell the
difference between a respectable and
disreputable person at a glimpse.
He is not a very terrible fighter, but
he makes such a terrible noise that no
wrong doer cares to linger in his vi
cinity. He watches his masters house
and carries his dinenr to him. He car
ries a lantern to signal trains on
stormy nights and has saved a little
girls life by pulling her off the line
Nauy yorlY Tonrpol