St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1903-08-29
BEHIND TIME AFTER ALL.
Broken u Re cord, But 1t Was
All Mistake.


. marked the lame man.
Eyes; in the south, If you like
. said the kicker.
We'll" said the lame man, "mayt
you know what you're talking abol
!. and maybe you don't. But, anyway,
saw something in. the railroad way
the south once that / never saw alon
the line of this road, or any othe
road, north or south, either, for tina
matter.
Down in North Carolina there is
town called Charlotte. It's some shake
OF town, too, and at noon every da
train Has due there. It was the sta
train of the road. 4 had all kinds @
fancy names. The newspapers referre
to it as the flyer, and at other place
along the line it was variously know
as the 'whirlwind,' the 'cannonball' an,
the meteor
"The people were proud of it. But
strange as it may seem, it never go
into Charlotte less than three hours
late. This is not joke, but just plail
statement of fact.
"The people there got used to 1t. 1
they were going to take this train the,
began to pack their trunks about tn,
time she was due and, of course, hat
plenty Of time after that t6 say good b,
to their friends, dine and reach the
station.
The day got into Charlotte went
into the hotel dining room for dinner
1t was few minutes before noon.
waiter was taking my order, when
there was suddenly 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 l went out
to the hotel Office to kick, the clerk and
benboys had all gone, too! I found a
lone guest from New York wandering
around like myself, and asked him
what had happened.
:" I'll be hanged if I know he said.
but the whole town seems to be maxi
ing for the station. Let's go down.
I'VE started for the station, and
meanwhile there was 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 totthe station
there wasn't thing there but 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 ], 900
persons. One little old man. with
whiskers down to his waist, was in
such frenzy that l decided to save
his life by interrupting his paroxysms
long enough, to inquire into the cause
for the outburst. After five minutes
of shaking managed to reduce him to
q 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 q train for you, sub!
Right O.. the minute, subj
Nov, the arrival of this train on
oausing to sip bottled cocktail, had
reused this town as 1t hadn't been /
'oused since the war. It wasn't q sar-
:astic demonstration. The people were
entirely sincere in their enthusiasm
,ver the feat of the railroads. meteofic !
rain.
"A committee OF citizens was urging
he engineer and conductor to say q
ew words to the people Of Charlotte,
md they were thinking of doing II
when suddenly, my little old man with
he whiskers, who had relapsed once
more into violent enthusiasm, pulled
himself together and began roaring
'ut that he wanted to say something.
when he got few listeners his
ace assumed an expression of sad dis
ppointment and he said:
We're all wrong, townsmen. It
reaks my heart to say it, but we've
II clean forgot that the yer didn't get
n at all yesterday, and instead of be-
ng on time to-day, she's just "a hours
ate
1.-THE news spread like wildfire, and
4 less than five minutes the whistles
ad ceased to blow, the bells stopped
inging and the crowd at the station
ad melted away. The engineer, the
reman and the conductor, deeply af-
ected by the change of heart on the
art Of the people. went back to their
laces and there was no speechmaking.
"A little freight was thrown on, q
tile baggage taken on. and the last
aw of the flyer she was slowly making
er way to the next town and losing
little more time each mile.
II never have been able to under
land how the good people of Charlotte
anne to make that mistake, but they
i'd make it, and just mention the In
ldent to show that there are worse
aims than these we use going from ,
hicago to New York" !,
The Trouble with Him.
''Well, suh," said Brother Dickey,
'fraid Br.er Jinkins will never git {
long in de worf!"
'Why-what de matter wild him."
"Only dis: He skeered er thunder
a he can't dodge lightnin'!'