The Farmington times. [volume] (Farmington, Mo.) 1874-1902, 1901-10-24
HORRIGAN'S VICTORY
nv orro KsEY.


HorigaE was his name. and after his liitls |
sis,ory over his section bosa his lame az
tended along on both aides Of the division,
and even beyond. Horrisah hated Marty,
the foreman, as did every man on that SEC
ton. Marty had an overbearins way about
him, which be got bossin' dagoss on Goa.
struesion job" as HorrigAn put Il.
Section 8 comprised the stretch OF track
between liz and Nh. and owing TO the heavy
traffic over il Was being repaired constantly
by Marty's gang. Marty lived near BG,
While the section house was at Mn. but iof
some reason he was allowed to live At BE.
Pull" ssid HoFrigaH.
Marty had two ways Of getting home after
work. One was TO flip the siI o'clock freight,
which lsit Mn any time between SIX and
midnight. The other was 10 30 home on the
hAndcar. after invsigiinR two Of the crew 10
pump" him home. The reward for thls
vas some sort Of . snap job on the next day,
and, while Martyrs personal popularity
wouldn't carry him far, yet thsre were al
says two men ready 10 run him home on
the car on occasion.
Naturally HorTigsn was never seen pro
pclling Marty home, and this fact angered
the boss. because HorriEan was the only
member u the crew who refused to do that
service. II hard work was 10 BE- done Hor
riEan was ordered 20 do Il. II there was any
way OF working Horrignn overtime without
entering It in the time book Il was done.
HorrSaa's reeiprocEtion was sincere. A
section hand has very few opportunities ci
returning such lavors, bat when they wese
found the principal was returned with good
ly interest. II anything cenld be done to up
set Marty, Horrigan iid il. In fact, he came
to look on il as duty 50 much 40 his pc
riodic visits 10 the priest. II Marty would
order some useless piece OF work done, HoF'
rigan would pass the wink down the line,
aud the orders would be carried out, even II
every man Jack Of the crew knew that the
work would have to be done over.
HorrigAn argued Il this way. Are We
the b0sa! Don't he get crisp when We don't
obey orders' Were labofers, not foremen
He's the boss
When Marty found out his error he would
have II recti6ed, Tuning inwardly ell the
time, because he would not admit that he
was wrong But though he patched up his
reports 10 that the loss Of time incident TO
the error did not show, yet they came hack
almost invariably With q query a. 10 the
cause OF the delay in finishing w piece Of
track or a complaint a. TO the time required
10 do certain Job,
SO il went on all the time. boss and crew
at pick points. Frequently Horrigan's name
would be sent IN 10 the office for IDsubordi
nation, with q recommendation for dis
charge, but !, would come back with . re
quest for complainant and defendant to re-
port at headquarters The inevitable result
Of the joint dance on the carpet was that
Ilorr gan never missed the pay car.
Things kept going on this way Tor year,
and all concerned were tired Of Il, Marty
did not dare TO ask for & transfer, nor did
he wGni 10 give in. Both savoFod Of a tar.
nish on his dignity, and that was unbeaF.
able, One day late IN the spring the gang
was working on the track, and liorrEan was
replacing a worn rail, with the assistance Of
Dugan The other mcn werV spread along
the track for a considerable distance. II
was mid .morning, and HorriEau did no,
want to take oui the rail untl the limited,
due at ESQ, had passed But this morning
the limited was late. and in It's stead light
freight train was moved along the block.
Marty had not noticed that the limited had
not passed on schedule a. ms back had been
turned while drinking with farmer in q
field along the track.
II was ten clock, and Marty, thinking
that the limited had passed. ordered the de.
iective rail taken out. Naturally H0rrigan
was ayersc 20 breaking the line until the
limited had passed Marty. unohssrvnn,.
took Harrgan's hackwardness for lAEncss,
and spoke to him sharply.
Say. sou solder. do you think you're the
president! How much work do you expect
to do 10 a day"
Horrxan's answer WAS drowned in the
torrent Of abuse Spouted by marty, and
with Dugan for a witness that he had pro-
tested against breaking the rail until the
limited had passed. proceeded to draw the
spikes from the rsl meanwhile keeping out
4 wary eye for the seniAphorc at the end OF
the block.
Out came the rail, and the new one was put
in position. just az the fshplAtes were be-
ing bolted IN preparatory to spiking the rail
the hoarss whistle Of the iimited's engine
was waited down the track.
They've got new whistle on her. >" Eaid
Marty to one C. .ss men. with the freight
in mind
Guess 30, replied the man, tamping at
tic, with that ready aequisseence sen.
orally granted a superior, be he right or
wrong.
With the freight in mind. Marty allowed
the two men 10 finish replacing the rail
alone. a. he figured that 1t would be com.
pletcd by the time the freight arrived. But
the limilcd-neyer running on . freight
sehedule-few on in an efIor, TO gain come
Of the lost time The signal tower operator
saw the track WAS not clear. and threw the
semaphore 20 danger" the limited stop.
ping jus. beyond the new rail.
On seeing the cause Of the delay the engi.
neer cursed tho track crew with that fluency
peculiar 10 rAilroadcrs, and was vigorously
joined by a newcomer who ran up with the
conductor.
What, do you mean TO hold up the lin.
tied on Job like thisF angrlly inquired the
conductors companion. Where Is your
boss"
And Marty ruefully stepped forward. Il
thought the limited bad passed "a on sched'
ule time, sir
We'll, il seems moi" answered the gen.
srnl superintendent. for II was he. gusAa
you had better go back 30 farming. Come
along with me in 10 the Office" And Marty
took bis FIRST ride in the limited in apparent
reluctance.
"yOu man In the red shirt, you run this
gang until you hear further"
Here, you mokea," yelled the red shirt,
at this accession Of authority, 10 the bal.
ance Of the section gang, who had gathered
about, git in here and help finish this Job.
Dye think ye're holdin' a cattle train"
In few minutes the rail was ready, and
with farewell toot the engine Of the lin.
tied pulled along her way, As the buffet
car reached the new rail the superintendent
was standing In the open vestibule. "Say,
yoa IN the red shirt, what's your nanse"
And with one voice that gang cried, Fiee-
fully: "HoFrigan. Chicago Record Her
aid.