Griggs courier. (Cooperstown, Griggs Co., Dak. [N.D.]) 1885-1902, 1901-01-17
MY FIRST attempt at holding an Of
IN fee had proved such q fiat and

should never have the heart to apply
for another. / worked faithfully in
the school for about a month, and then
the fever to try again took hold of me.
/ knew it would be Of no use to apply
to my former superintendent, Mr..
Brink, so 1 wrote to Mr.. r. B. Bunnell,
superintendent Of telegraph of the P.
@. & x. railroad at Kansas City, Mo-,
saying that I was an expert operator
and desired position on his road. Mr..
Bunnell must have been laboring under
hypnotic spell, for by return mail he
wrote, inclosing me pass to, Alfredo,
Kan, and directing me to assume
charge of the night Office at that point
at the magnificent salary Of $3.50 per
month. This was slight decrease from
my former salary, but I didn't care. I
wanted chance to redeem myself, and
II felt confident I could be more sue
cessful in my second attempt. So I
packed my few belongings, bade good
by to the school forever, and away I
went.
When 1 left 'MN'' said nothing to
anyone about my destination, and I
did not know q thing about Alfredo,
except that it was near the border line
between Kansas and Colorado. The
brakeman on the train in talking to me
told me it was very pleasant place;
but when he said so I fancied I.could
detect a sarcastic ring in his voice, and
I was in no doubt about il when ar
rived and saw what desolate, dreary
place Alfredo was. The only things
in sight were a water tank, pump
house and the telegraph Office; and I
wish you could have seen that Office.
It was simply the bed of a box car.
taken of the tracks and set down with
one end towards the track. A small
platform, two windows, a door and the
signal board perched high on a pole
completed the outfit.
4 I arrived at $3.50 in the morning, and
there wasn't.a living soul in sight. An
hour later a big broad -shouldered Irish
man, who proved to be the pumper,
came ambling along on railroad We
locipede. He looked at me for min
ute, and after Ihad made myself known
he grinned and said: ''Well, hopes as
how We will loike the place. Burke, the
man who was here afore ye, got scared
OF by thramps, and I reckon he's not
stopped runnin' yit." Fine introduce
ton. wasn't IL?
I found there was no day operator,
and the only house around was the Sec
ton house, two miles up the track. The
operator and pumper boarded there
with the section boss; but the railroad
company was magnanimous enough to
furnish a velocipede for their use in
going to and from the station. How I
felt the first night, stuck away out
there in that box car, two miles from
the nearest house and IL miles from the
nearest town, must leave to the imag-
ination. Ny heart sank and I had many
misgivings; in fact, was scared to
death, but set my teeth hard and de-
termined to do my best, with the hope
that I might be promoted to better
Office. I did win that promotion. but
wouldn't go through my experiences
again for the whole road.
One night after I had been working
there about a month went to my Office
as usual at seven o'clock. II was a
black night, threatening a big storm.
The pumper had not gone home as yet.
and he remarked that it was ''goin' to
be a woild night" but he hoped 'the
whistlin' av the wind would be after
kaping me company" and with that
h %e,.axv la ID 80 \ -
went.
I didn't much relish the idea of the
storm, for I knew the reputation of
Kansas as cyclone state. and my box
car office was not well adaptedto stand
a hurricane. However, i went inside,
and after lighting my lamps sat down
and wrote letters and read, when I was
not taking train orders. This office was
kept up solely because it was con-
yenient place to deliver orders to
freight trains at night when they
stopped for water.
About 1880 in the morning my door
opened suddenly and a man stepped
quickly in. I was startled, because this
was almost the only man except the
pumper and the train crews that had
been there since / came. Once in awhile
q stray tramp had gone through, but
this man was not a tramp. He wore
q long overcoat, bnttoned to his chin,
with the collar turned up. IA SLOUGH
hat pulled well down over his eyes so
far concealed his face that his fea-
lures were scarcely visible. He came
over to my desk and .grufly asked:
4 4'Whats Slime lis there passenger train
east tonight? r" :'
4 answered that one went through at
halt past one, the Overland flyer, but
d Il did not stop at Alfredo. Quick as
+ dash he pulled q revolver, and, pokina
ssi 4, sin NJ face. said: "Young man. You