The Aberdeen Democrat. (Aberdeen, South Dakota) 1???-1909, 1903-08-07
BEHIND TIME AFTER ALL.
They Thought the "Flyer" ha"
Broker n Record, But 1t was
All a Mistake

was two hours late the tall, thin man
with the prominent cheek bone emit
ted a few bowls in the smoking room
about the rank service the rallroau
company was handing out, n toio
how much better it was in other parts
of the country, relates the New 1ork
Sun.
In the south, for instance" re-
marked the lame man. ;.
"Yes; in the south, II you Ike
said the kicker.
WELL" said the lame man, maybe
O know what you're talking apout
and maybe you don't. But, anyway, !
saw something in the railroad way III
the south once that l never saw along
the line Of this road, or any otner
road, north or south, either, for that
matter.
Down in North Carolina there is a
town called Charlotte. It's some shakes
of a town, too, and at noon every day
a train was due there. 1t was the star
train of the road. 1t had all kinds OF
fancy names. The newspapers referred
to it as the flyer, and at other places
along the line it was %variously known
as the swhirlwind,' the 'cannonban and
the meteor
"The people were proud of it. But.
strange as it may seem, it got
into Charlotte less than three hours
late. This is not a joke, but just a plain
statement of fact
THE people there got used to 1t. II
they were going to take this train they
began to pack their trunks about the
time she was due, and, of course, had
plenty of time after that to say good-by
to their friends, dine and reach the
station.
1.-The day 1 got into Charlotte l went
into the hotel dining room for dinner.
1t was a few minutes before noon. A
waiter was taking my order, when
there was suddenly q great blowing OF
whistles and ringing of bells in the
town. The din increased steadily, and
my waiter went out to see what was
the matter.
He didn't get back at all. All the
other walters disappeared, too, then
the cashier left, and when / went out
to the hotel Office to kick, the clerk and
bellboys had all gone, too! l found a
lone guest from New York wandering
around like myself, and asked him
what had happened.
"'Ill be hanged if I know he said,
but the whole town seems to be max
ing for the station. Let's goodwin
I'VE started for the station, and
meanwhile there vas more noise
than ever. Street boys were throwing
their hats in the air and whistling be-
tween their fingers. The fire bell had
begun to ring, all the church bells were
going, and the factory whistles added
to the general disturbance.
when we finally got to the station
there wasn't a thing there but a train,
the engine putting and snorting and
the engineer and fireman, dirty and
grimy, bowling and smiling at the
throng beneath, who were cheering up
%roariously.
by the time we got mixed up with
the crowd it must have numbered 1000
persons. One little old man, with
whiskers down to his waist, was in
such a frenzy that I decided to save
his life by interrupting his paroxysms
long enough to inquire into the cause
for the outburst. After five minutes
of shaking I managed to reduce him to
a state of fair intelligence and make
some inquiries.
why, gol darn it, he exclaimed
the flyers got in on time! Man and
boy, I've lived in town for 40 years
and never before has the flyer come in
on time. The south is progressing
sub. There's a train for you, sub!
Right on the minute, suh!'
Now, the arrival of this train or
time, gentlemen" said the lame man
pausing to sip a bottled cocktail. chad
reused this town as it hadn't beer
reused since the a 1t wasn't a sar.
castle demonstration. The people were
entirely sincere in their enthusiasm
over the feat of the railroads meteori,
train.
"a committee of citizens was URGING
the engineer and conductor to saw :
lew words to the people of Charlotte
and they were thinking of doing /,
when suddenly. my little old man Will
the Whiskers, who had relapsed once
Q into violent enthusiasm, pulled
himself together and began roarins
out that he wanted to say something.
When he got a few listeners hi.
race assumed an expression of sad dis
appointment and he said:
We're all wrong, townsmen r
breaks my heart to say it, but we,y,
all clean forgot that the yer. didn't pe
IN at all yesterday, and instead Of he
ing on time to-day, she's just "a horr,
late
The news spread like wildfre. an,
IN less than five minutes the whistle
had ceased to blow, the bells stonna,
ringing and the crowd at the static,
a melted away. The engineer. tn,
fireman and the conductor, deeply a.
fected by the change of heart on tn,
part of the people, went back to thai
places and there was no speechmakina
"a little freight was thrown off
~ hi rrN~