Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1900-12-06
WHEN Speedily came on duty at
wv midnight, 1 always felt glad, and
BY Charles w. Reamer.

AO0A T.. IL. until IL, N0GH Sptuuy re-
Heved him, was heartily detested by
every MAJ on the line; and this was
not without reason. He was one of
those self-sufficent, egotistical men
who incur the dislike of all with whom
they come in contact; and he was the
man who gave the Upper End" a a
name among the operators. During
the eight hours that Jennings was on
duty the train wire" never was silent.
No matter how light was the run, or
how smoothly trains were moving, this
stirring" was busy; and when an acct
dent occurred, or through express
trains were late, o. any other contin-
gency arose which required the issuing
of an unusual number of orders, the
boys who regularly worked with Jen-
nings made no attempt to report trains,
but waited until he called" Strangers
on the upper End always had this
trick TO learn, and in learning it they
sometimes created considerable fric-
ton.
When Speedily took the chair at mid
night a most p~erceptible change came
over the wire-a change such as comes
over the sea when the storm abates- At
once matters took IN a steadier tone.
Trains were reported promptly; ques-
tions were heard quietly and answered
civilly, and the wire itself seemed to re-
fleet the sigh of relief that every man
on the line uttered. Speedily never was
crushed" And yet no one was ever
heard to say that trains moved over the
upper End less smoothly after mid
night than before.
This was one reason why { always
reioiced when L heard Speedily take hold
of the key at midnight, but it was not
the only one. Between him and me
there were stronger ties than those
that spring merely from cOngenial re-
l~atiOns on the wire. That, however, is
another story. 1t is sufficient to say
that two years before SPEEDILY and L
had CHANGED in the course of our wan
behring's. to strike the Upper End"
together. Being at the time some
what down on our luck, we were glad
to accept night jobs at obscure block
towers in the mountains. Speedily did
not remain in o~bscurity long Not only
was he a brilliant ~telegrapher, but he
had a mind of singular ciearness and
1 hho liz LAGlNSA VIA ~AAOA
gency arose, he was the man for that
minute and that particular emergen-
cy. His peculiar ability % came to
be recognized. After several months
service he vas removed from the lit
tie block office to which he had been
assigned and placed in the Office of the
superintendent of the division. There
his advancement to the "train wire"
followed oon after, and it was whis-
pered that there were in store for
him still higher honors.
AS for myself, being an ordinary
plodder only, and lacking all the char
acteristics that made Speddy's success
assured. / continued to be one of the
boys along the line" though at an
important station. But one day each
month. instead of going to bed, 1
boarded a train and went to the di-
vision. terminus. There Speedily met
me. When evening came / returned
to duty, to fight sleep in dreaming
ove the past and specializing on the
future
The incident herein related oc-
CURED one night after my return from
one of these flying trips to see Sped
dy. During the evening there mad
been a heavier movement of freight
than usual. but after No. 10 had
passed at 1850 there was a lull. which
is a bad thing when a mans sleepy.
Well, / dropped Off" eve while I
was telling myself that / was wide
awake, and dreamed hat Speedily had
become president of the road and had
--A W.
were going over the line in his pri-
vate car when something aroused me
I jumped up with that guilty feeling
that a fellow has when he has been
asleep IN duty. and looked at the
clock. The hands pointed to 1920.
Then I looked up and down the track,
and for the fleeting part of a minute
I fancied that L saw the red lights of
a caboose disappearing around the
curve to the east; but a glance at the
lever by which the signal was OPP
Grated showed me that the latter was
red, and whoever heard of an engi-
neer in his right mind running past
a red target? Being thus treasured.
I settled down to business and called
up Purdon. the next tower east, for
a report of No. 10. which / had failed
to get. Having secured this, I an
swered Speedily, who was calling with
ss'' on the train wire.
whats the last east?" he asked.
"No. TO-" I replied.
aCopy 2, Order No. q" began Sped
dy, and 1 reached for my order book.
'sTo opr. N. J.'-Hold e~ast-bound trains
for orders. 81.
III. W. K"
I wondered what was up as I re-
peated the order. signed my name to
it and got complete" A hold or
der usually meant something.
"Any sine of 1852" asked Speedily,
when I had finished.
"No sine"
I had no report of the 176. having
been asleep, I suppose, when the man
at Ralston called to report it. The
first thing to do, however, was to light
ND INV red lantern, which / did. After
I had hung it on the hook just out
side of the western window, where,
proudIy conscious of its Importance,
+ swung to and fro. I called up the
man at Raiston and asked him to go
ahead east"
Meanwhile, from what was passing
over the wire, I had learned what
the trouble was to the east. While I
named the engine of a w~est-bound
train had crossed over into the yards
at ManorviIle, at the end of the mar
rows is miles below. for the purpose
of taking out some empty cars. In