The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1903-04-12

1yoe ar espatia te on ncighborhood gossip
Sometimes a drunk" will scrap because
a ticket is not furnished him on time !,
another will abuse the railway because
he has gotten left BY a train; lunauc
will begin a baggage-smashing crusade;
the operator will be- i'm portuned to com :
munlcate with&the superintendent to let
a belated man rde on frelght--all OF
these things and more, have i expert
encod while I have very pleasant emo
rles Of nice and entertaining travellers
and visitors, whose company helped TO
busiless night The good policy Of the
railways now Is to keep the ,operat ors
as much isolated from the public as pos
sble, and the block towers are prl-
vate. . !, -
The "owl'. must have his ear alive to
his call. Upon his promptness ana &eln,
cheney a great deal depends. u %sleeper
soon loses cast, Ferhaps. we ~ ,t'0s snna,sd
4 ful ca mot say they never at al snooSea'
but the chronic napper is a back number,
Before the days Of the absolute DOCK
system there were better opportunities
for those most bissful condiuons-stolen
naps Many a device has been resorte e !.
to by the not overscrupulous "napper
to enable him to snooze ana yet not i y =
awakened or else knowing that IT had
passed. 1t wouldn't do to leave the Sig
nal red II there were no orders. for II the
engineer stopped for a danger signal
only to nsd n sleeping owl" the situa-'
ton would Be embarrassing; but II the
signal was left white how was the oper-
tor 20 know when he awoke II the train
md passed, and how could he take an
order for 1t on anguncertainty7
CUNNING OWL.
One cunning and ingenious owl con- !,
ceiyed the Idea OF arranging q oeau -ia!i
on the table whenever his head recllned.
a 4 twine string was attached to sus-
handed weight; carried across the hall
and fastened TO a telegraph pole. inc traltl
8hrcd,e the string and the weight woke the
sleeper all right, as he had gotten his
head under the weight, and received a
fat blow on the nose! Another was won
to place potatoes on the r thn vsq ns +, -
we're gone, the proof was ample that the
train had passed. This worked all right
until one night he reported train ina.
didn't show up, for hourA 9 Afterwards
much to the discontinue OF the dls.
patcher. A goat had MADE h' u''is -
meal Of the potatoesl
rulness and promptness was the calling
Of the roll BY the dispatcher every hall
hour 4 record was kept and the boys
knew what It meant not to answer w
| to the three skies" One owl broke inc
record for promptness IN answering VIZ ,e
roll, but could not Eenera'S Do n,r r'so" hui n
Investigation proved him to be possessed
! OF a gem alarm clock! :,
+ had n funny experience at keswicF
some twenty years ago. Trains would sc.
orders at Charlottesville office. but wohic
| start from tho east YARD, one-hall q mn.
rom the office. The operator could MOI
/ /. 4 tch tneN
| dovoiyed mon me to report when \ henrt
thsm pulling tho grade up to l<eswlcK
Ioc Hall had a couple of west'bounds 4
| GordonsvIlle and L reported me east
Round as ''comlng," Tho meet wa, wa
made at Cobham-then plna,s'u, ne
That east-bound continued 70 p p.' o,o ,n,
4 grade for half an hour. but got no oios 5
Eorty-fiye minutes and Joe declared
"m,,st" be mistaken! No: tho CHOW
/ chow OF the engine Was plain, but J wen
4 out again and walked up the track ana
! behold. the wheel to the old MIL haa eoa
ten loose and the similarity 81 we cilom
l chow, TO that of the locomotive fWoui,
S s,v ,oolcd the Oldest engineerl The mil
had the right Of way that night ana w
vest hound waited awhile Mt Cobhams I
& EXPERIENCE IN LOUISA.
7, NAV proye OF interest to the tele
nathlsts and the students Of psycholoG'
al nhenomena to relate an owl eXpe
rlence of mine at old Louisa. whoFe ~
lowers bloom fairer and the o'ras SIN
sweeter, One warm summer night
took nv chair outside the office N IN
omen. and leaning 1t against the w'ndoN
4 sill enjoyed cool breeze, whlle
,vas In sound-reach Of the instrument
4 indeed my ears were not two feet fror
IL NV eye fell on the roof OF nome
stead, which glistened In the moon'gh
half n mile away, and Just then, VII
4 tho instrument silent. there passe
through my mind message from a re
mote point TO the occupant OF tha
house, summoning her to the slak be
az a near relative. wondered how
could get the message delivered In tim
for the lady to catch the night trair
duo In about three-qparters of an hour
The instrument called me and went u
the Office and mechanically took thu
very message--address. body and sigma
ture--that had passed through my mind
was sure had not dozed, Was It re
ceiyed by Induction" and was mo
mentarily asleep and heard the vihratio
Of the characters as transmitted owe
p through wire which did actually con
meet with the switchboard. but whic
was not "cut In" on my instrument?
first told this to Rev. Dr. ]. -. Haw
thorne, who was a congenlal guest O
the owl one night after the Doctor ha
related to me i. most interesting presen
timent experienced by him, and whic