The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1903-01-15

D the junction cne night: he
told 1t without my asking for
II. and without any introduction. He
simply looked up from hi] paper and
started in.
In the first place" said he. II should
never have taken the Limited out that
night. No man in my condition should
have gone out, not even on shifter.
But was kid then, | was the young
est engineer on the road, and when
Harry Wilkes had died the week be-
fore they picked, me from the whole
gang to run the Limited on off nights.
| had been at it just a week, as
said. when the King came out ard
gave ME the train for keeps. and raised
me TO "a. The next afternoon | went
down to Millys and asked her the
question l had been keeping back until
| got that raise, and she accepted me.
So when | came down 10 the round
house that night l wasn't fit to work.
was simply crazy. l was walking on
air and nothing Jared me 1t was
showing lightly as / backed 'he old
ia down through the yards. and by
ii o'clock, which was the Limiteds
bell time. there was about an inch OF
the white stuff on the ground. But
that didn't feaze me: neither did the
seven Pullmans and two extra ex-
presses bother me.
when Carruthers gave me the sig
nal l pulled out. and the old girl
glinno1
overs. dragging fourteen cars behind
her out into the night. / was as easy
with her as | could be; but when the
rails are all ice you can't be very easy
and then, as I've said, / was Just crazy
happy. Well. nothing very much hap
pened until after we'd got out past
Hornersville, where the Rush River
Branch runs off. Then the fun COM
menced. There was nothing wrong
with my train, but everything else on
the road was upside down. 1t happens
that way sometimes. or course the
snow, which was pretty thick had n
good deal to do with 1t. but even maxi
lot of cussedness lying around loose.
We had to dodge freights. all of which
were late, and at Boothtown We were
held up ten minutes on n crossed order.
Then the draw at James Greek got
jammed with ice. and that took up
some more of our time. And when we
did have clear track 1t was so blamed
Icy you couldn't get more than forty
miles out of It,
well, the long and short OF IL was
that we crept into Emerson thirty five
minutes late; and Brown. the des-
patcher at Melotropols, was swearing
SOS to melt the wires. 1t was up to
me. so to speak. and was just crazy
enough to appreciate the beauties OF
the situation. From Emerson to
Melotropolls it was 1I3 miles, and the
Limlteds time was four hours. AS !
was late, | had just three hours and
twenty-five minutes TO do Ii in. Tha,
wasn't bad. and | could have done II
on an ordinary night; but with six
inches of snow on the ground and q
| whole road tied UP in front of me-
well, II was different story. But
was crazy that night. as I've already
| said. / told the fireman to keep busy
and then We pulled out. l managed
to get the old ia under way In pretty
good shape. but / emptied my sant
box doing ii. However. 1t was all leve
road and things were going very nicely
| / managed to knock ont the eighty
eight miles TO Swlnbourne in two hours
and twenty minutes, which was very
dlshearteninG. | stopped at Swim
bourne and went up to the tower.
"'Tell Brown" / said that want
clear track into Melotropolls, as In
going TO bring the Limited in on time
"Then went back and climbed Vi
into the cab Of 1i4 and pulled out
had just an hour to do the last eighty
FIVE miles, and l counted ON the dow
grade from Swlnbourne TO help IN
do 1t. You'll readily see how Graz
| was. But man only gets accepte
by the girl lie loves once. so 1t was ex
cusable. But l oughtn't to have take
tile Limited out.
"Once we struck the top of the grad
l pulled the throttle out TO the las
notch and jammed the lever way fol
wnrd. The old ten-wheeler jumped q
II her flrebox was loaded with dyn,
mite. and she blew a stream of spark
into the mir that made her look lik
Vcsuvius. My fireman cursed me goo
and loud. but gave him a kick In tn
ribs that kept him quiet for awhll
When he got his breath he simply sho'
elled COAL. Little by little I got IL
lever back. and the old ia simply lai
herself out In earnest. coaxed her a
l could and finally when got b,
up to her best gait I looked aroun
Behind me the fourteen cars wei
slammlng around like mad, each OF
seeming to DO going on on q line
Its own. The scenery went past me
white streak. and the wet snow cor
menced TO bank up hard on the frol
of all our top gear. The bell got burl,
In II. the headlight glass was covers
half an inch thick. and as for the CT
Windows they simply weren't any u
II - al nut Z .1tslutt co 70 cvas m r Il