The representative., 1901-06-20
Experiences Of Ex-Tank No. 10.

LA- i QIlk NO. III.
on all the tunnels except the main one.
which 1t would be dangerous to leave.
This said, when got that short arm
Jolt. Is approximately the read goods
II was discharged from NV wararnba
which was hopelessly pent up in the Ra-
mona hotel In San Luis Obispo In the GUS
tody OF bonfface upon whom I'd had no
claim except the prospect of immediate work.
looked like the end man in barrel house.
me casn In hand consisted Of one much
rubbed dime. So that experienced quite a
guip OF gratitude when the superintendent
OF construction attached me to the bridge
gang who were engaged In framing timbers
for the main tunnel on which work was stiil
being carried forward.
After two days Of this I was ticlled n.
foolish as II I'd been offered the presi-
dency of a trust company when the SUPER
intendent dug me up and said he had .
softer job for me.
You can take said he. in a tone Of
man passing me a handful of money. the
right shift braking on the muck train. You
start In tonight at o'clock
never expected to get hold Of such
easy work as that again, and I'm afraid
that was real chesty in my conduct toward
luck.
:At o'clock l was ready with my Ian
tern-strange fulflllment that Of q boyish
cream. for I'd always hankered as a kid to
pc brakeman and swing red lantern
to couple the cars, filed with rock. that
were hauled out OF the tunnel by mules
the engine was hitched behind-to be run
ABOUT mile down the steep mountain grade
to a spur blocked by piled ties, where they
were dumped. Well. this brakeman's job
was a sure enough hit with me, and by 10
o'clock l had 1t all figured out that l had
struck my vocation in life
AT ~ O'Clock, just Aft I'd framed up
tnis IDEA. and having. supposed, coupled
all OF the cars on to the engine-which, as
l said. was behind, so that 1t could pull the
empties up the grade after the dumping
Climbed On to the front car and gave the
signal to go ahead. AS stood on the front
OF the car, taking in large gulps of the cool.
night breeze. and thinking about what a
mad, reckless, sassy thing with lantern /
was, anyhow, 1t began to strike me that
that outfit was going pretty fast for a muck
train.
Il didn't have any chance to think real
hard over this before a succession of STAG
cato toots from the engine whistle put me
next to the fact that the train was cut In
two-that had missed cog in my coupling
operations There was the engine way be-
hind, while l. was the fgurehead on long
craft filled with rock going down noun
tain at the rate Of mile minute-and
that pile of ties at the end. Nope, / didn't
SO to speak. I jumped for general results
Il was just sore and scratched and bruised
up when l came to some hours later. but
wasn't shy anything except my job Abo1t
Lice feet aver the whole camp was busy
Mas9 l*esssss - es.sessss s4 easss2
4Ses III q Ills - allslIlIls
e l6
& 'r 49, "a .zs:..... !. "a 90
/ Whateyer for doing the sGGke About NILE
out met the foreman Of the dax sAift, who
being driven out to camp by his girl; ami
after hearing my little spiel he told the
girl to drive me into town, while he jumped
out OF the trap and walked into camp to
his work.
THE news Of the wreck had reached San
Luis ObisDo and the Ramona hotel, where
I'd been living the society life. before the
girl drove me in. and the landlord of the
hotel was suffering so acutely from a visual
affection that he couldn't see me at all
when put in my little plea for some clean
clothes. l was permitted, however. to see
that the trunks were properly packed. which
enabled me to to extract from one OF them
some pins and plain gold studs that got
SIG for from ginmillist right away. ! got
a barber man to shave me around the cuts,
bought a pair of jean pantaloons. and dug
up 1878 for a ticket to Los OlivOs.
"Los Olivos struck me as a mighty good
name for a place, and figured that could
eat those things, anyhow, II 1t came down
to cases again. So far as could see, how
ever, there wasn't an olive within As
leagues Of Los Olivos, nor was there any,
thing else, much. Its contiguity to Santa
Barbara, As miles distant, was Its only rec
ommendation to man sore In all his joints
and nothing else to do but to hunt for civ
ilization, and SO l went into that new pair
Of jeans for $3.50 to pay my stage fare over
to Santa Barbara.
II had $1.85, clay pipe and two ounces
of hay tobacco when l got to Santa Bar
bara Santa Barbara was the best looking
town I'd seen in California, and I<ede-
cided to settle down there, become iAern-
Der Of the school board and marry into the
family Of the Alcalde.
$50 1 started out to get something to do.
found that the only thing they did there
was tourists. / had always nurtured a
sneaking desire to show somebody how to
run a hotel. and SO l swan into the ken
Of the proprietor of one of them. He sized
me up IL l was three weeks over the Mo-
jave desert In wheelbarrow when asked
him for a job, and then he asked me II the
traction engine that had run over me had
been bumped much on the rails. He told
me that his hotel wasn't due to open till the
first of October, and remarked that II
hiked around then there might be something
doing.
Il didn't see much else to do but to pick
up a pot Of shellac that I saw lying around
loose and to start in to paint the dining
room floor. as sort of entering wedge to
to make good my claim for job In that
hotel when it started in to do business The
proprietor watched me With a grin. had
about finished up the dining room when the
proprietor began to pull pieces out of his
scalp. He'd got a barber 1t seemed, to come
down from San Francisco, to sign a lease
on the hotel barber shop. and his lawyer
was out Of town and there was no one to
draw up the lease.
II butted in and told him that drawing
up leases was like playing bean bag for me-
lures I'd do the job for him. He handed me
the Eskimo stare. So went OH for about
half an hour and drew up what thought
ought to be pretty fair imitation of a
barber shop lease, then returned and
flashed 1t on the hotel proprietor.
well, that's where landed. That lease
made hit with the hotel man, and he put
me to the question. gave him the story.
and when 1 got through / was the fax
haired boy and he telegraphed to San Luis
Obispo for my wardrobe. He was in poor
health himself. and I managed that hotel
until the following June. The manager that
had been engaged turned up on October the
first and found me encamped with the main
A-tent I'd have been sorry for him, but
he proved to be an enemy OF my bOyhOcd-~
a former paying teller OF Wall street bank
who had cussed me into standing in line
on many occasions when, as a kid, was
chasing brokers' checks for certidcation on
the street.
ssThat's how I got away from California
There isn't much red fire or heap big coin
about it. as there's been in connection with
the escape Of some Of the others of this club
from the golden sands Of the Pacific; but it's
enough to indicate that got mine In Cali
fornia, and to explain why 1t Is that ex-
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