The Winslow mail., 1900-05-17
How Western Union Won

4
THE Dugan domicile is so yards
from the end of the railroad bridge,
but the Dugan front yard straggles
all the way down the hillside to the
mud flats, where the ducks and the
little DUgans wade and sun them
selves oil the summer time. The rail
road bridge, which is a viaduct more
than mile long, carries the track
across the valley far above the shin
ing water, and often the high arches
in the distance are hidden from the
little Dugans by the blue smoke that
drifts thinly down the valley from
the mills where Mr.. Dugan works. In
the mornings the little Dugans carry
his d;nner-pail as far as the end of
the bridge, which gives him a short
cut to the mills, although he defes
the railway company's rules when he
resorts to it.
At the end of the bridge Dugan al
ways sends his children back to the
cabin, for the bank goes down in very
precipitous fashion to the river bed
from the high abutments. But John
ny Dugan, the eldest boy, often ven
lures on the bridge to throw stones
at the blue glass insulators on the
last telegraph pole-the top of that
pole is almost on level with the
track on the bridge, and it's base is
so feet below, close by the stone abut-
ment. Johnny feels brave to stand
where he can glance down the tall
white pole to where the Dugan ducks
are padding in the puddles and his
own small tracks are visible in the
adjacent mud.
Johnny Dugan and the Barry boys
had spent many pleasant hours, one
April day, throwing stones at the in
the act by big Ed ConIin, the teIe-
HHHHl II u
".' y psS n~ oouIul emo ooIo
graph comPany's Hneman, the man of
wonderful spurs and leg-straps. No
doubt they would have noticed his
approach and escaped recognition, as
usual, had they not been lost in ad-
miration of Jimmy Barry, who had
at last succeeded in breaking one of
the insulators. Ed Conlin promptly
called on Mrs. Barry, who ''blarneyed"
him wisely, and then on Mrs. Dugan,
who happened to be in an irate mood,
and so gave him the rough side of
her tongue and ordered him off the
place. Then Ed vowed that'i he ever
found Johnny Dugan on the bridge
he would throw him into the Dugan
duckpond; after which nothing but
enmity could rule between the Dugans
and Western Union. And rule it did
until one May morning after heavy
rain.
The rain had made the gully along
the track a roaring torrent of muddy
water. The river itself, from previous
freshets, was high over the flats. And
Johnny was on the end of the bridge,
pelting the insulators and keeping an
eye on all roads by which any section
hand or hneman might approach.
Such was the situation when some
thing went wrong with the telegraph
pole that had suffered so many as
saults. 1t suddenly fell toward the
bridge, so that the top red cross-arm
was close to the ends of the ties.
There the wires held it. Johnny
peered down and made out that the
earth had been washed away from the
base of the pole by the stream from
the ditch. Two of the wires had
broken under the strain.
Hi, kids!" cried Johnny to his
mates. who were hunting for car-seals
among the cinders. 1--WE can get the
glasses!''
The others came up to inspect, but
the humming wire and the great white
pole that extended from their feet to
the fiat below awed them. Johnny
alone was undaunted; greed pos
sessed him wholly as soon as he saw
that the top row of insulators were
loose and free of wire.
Johnny secured a short board and
carefully laid it from the bridge to
the cross arm of the telegraph pole.
He tried his weight on the board and
then slid out until he could grasp
the pole with his legs and arms. Then
he reached for the glass insulators
Hi, Johnny, the sectionmen are
coming!" sang out Jimmy Barry.
AS Johnny made a hasty swing
around the pole to get back to the
bridge, his fright at being discovered
vanished in great terror, for the tele-
graph pole lurched, another wire
snapped, and the big stick swung out
until it hung at an angle of 60 de-
grees toward the river, with Johnny
clinging desperately to the cross-arm,
50 feet from the swirling brown water
and 20 feet from his frightened com
panions on the bridge. AS the pole
stopped careening, Johnny gave one
frightened glance downward and then
turned n white, freckled face toward
the bridge.
Run, fellers!" he shouted, weakly,
and up the track the trio flew.
Ed Conlin and one of the section
men were coming down the track,
looking for the cause of Western
Unions trouble, and when he saw the
boys hurrying away, he suspected
them.
Get cut!' he shouted. IF catch
you here again, III" But Just then
he saw Johnny Dugan far out on the
tremulous pole.
How'd lie get there?" said the
staring secIionman.