The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1902-11-09
H~T HERE goes a fellow that
walks like Siclone Clark
exclaimed Duck Middle

the trainmaster's Office with a group
of engineers. He was one of the black
listed strikers, and runs an engine now
down on the Santa Fe. But at long
intervals Duck gets back to revisit the
scenes of his early triumphs. The men
who surrounded him were once at
deadly odds with Duck and his chums,
though now the ancient enmities seem
forgotten, and Duek-the one. ferocious
Duck-sits occasionally among the new
men and gossips about early days on
the west end.
do you remember Siclone, Reed"
asked Duck, calling to me in the pri-
vate Office.
Remember him?" 1 echoed. did
anybody who ever knew Siclone forget
him?"
Il fred passenger for Siclone twenty
years ago" resumed Duck. He
walked just like that fellow only he
was quicker. 1 reckon you fellows
don't know what a snap you have here
now he continued addressing the men
around him. Track fenced; ninety
pound rails; steel bridges; stone cul-
verts; Stag ballast; sky-scrapers- No
wonder you get chances to haul such
nobs as Lilioukalani and Schley and
OEWtVt anu cut out ninety LllltS oil
hour on tangents.
when I was firing for Siclone the
roadbed was just off the scrapers; the
dumps were soft; pile bridges; paper
culverts; fty-six-pound rails; not
fence west of Buffalo gap and the
plains black with Texas steers. We
never closed our cylinder cocks; the
hiss of the steam frightened the cattle
worse than the whistle, and we never
knew where we were going to find a
bunch of critters on the track.
The first winter I came out was
great for snow, and l was q tenderfoot.
The cuts made good wind breaks, and
whenever there was a norther they
were chuck full Of cattle. Every time
train ploughed through the snow it
made path on the track. Whenever
the steers wanted to move they would
take the middle of the track single file,
and string out mile after mile. Talk
about fast schedules and ninety miles
an hour. You had to poke along with
your cylinders splitting, and just whis-
tie and yell-sort of blow them off into
the snowdrifts.
''One day Siclone and I were going
west on SO, and we were late; for that
matter we were always late. Simpson
coming against US on so had caught
bunch of cattle in the rock cut, just
west of the Sappie, and killed a cou-
pie When we got there there must
have been a thousand head OF steers
housing around the dead ones. ST.
clone-he used to be a cowboy. you
know-SiciOne said they were holding
wake. At any rate. they were still
coming from every direction and as
far as you could see.
Hold on, Siclone, and I'll chase them
out I said.
That's the stuff. Duck says he.
Get after them and see what you can
d.
never thought anything. I picked up a
jack bar and started up the track.
The first fellow / tackled looked
lazy, but he started full quick when l
hit him. Then he turned around to in
spect me, and 1 noticed his horns were
the broad-sauge variety. While 1
Whacked another the first one put his
head down and began to snort and paw
the ties; then they ali began to below
at once; it looked smoky. l dropped
the jackbar and started for the engine,
and about fifty of them started for
me.
Il never had an idea steers could run
SO; you could have played checkers on
my heels all the way back. If Siclone
hadn't come out and iolIied Them, I'd
never have got back in the world. I
just jumped the pilot and went clear
over against the boilerhead. SicIone
claimed l tried to climb the smoke
SAdths nut ne WIS excited. anyway.
ne stood out there with a shovel and
kept the whole bunch off me. 1 thought
they would kill him; but / never tried
TO chase range steers on foot again.
I'm the spring we got the rains; not
like you get now, but cloudburstS. The
section men were good fellows, only
sometimes we would get into storm
miles from a section gang and strike
place where we couldn't see a thing.
Then SiClOne would stop the train,
take a bar, and get down ahead and
sound the road bed. Many and many
a washOut he struck that way which
would have wrecked our train and
wound up our ball of yarn in a min
ute. Often and often Siclone would
20 into his division without a dry
thread on him.
Those were different days" unused
the grizzled striker 1.-THE old bows are
scattered now all over this broad land.
The strike did it; and you fellows
have the snap. But what ] wonder.
often and often, is whether Sielone is
really alive or not"