The San Francisco call., 1904-06-05

~ 4 We CdlteQ lnG Chs-OCA dPCA
V came out Of the GAINESVILLE
shops she was rebuilt from
pilot to tender
Our master mechanic. Neighbor, had
an idea, after her terrific collision, that
she could not stand the heavy main
Inc passenger runs. so he put her on
the Acton cutoff. 1t was what rail-
-oad men call a jerkwater run. what
ever that may be; little jaunt OF ten
miles across the divide connecting the
northern division with the Denver
stem. II was just about like running a
trolley and the run was given TO Dad
Sinclair. for after that lift at Oxford
his back was never strong enough to
shovel coal, and he had to take an
sngine or quit railroading.
Thus II happened that after many
years he took the throttle once more
and ran over. twice a day. as he does
yet. from Acton TO Willow Creek.
His boy. George Sinclair. the kid
engineer. took the run on the Flyer
opposite Foley. just as soon as he got
we'll
George. who never was happy un-
less he had eight or ten Pullmans be-
hind him and the right of way over
everything between Omaha and Den
veT. made great sport of his fathers
little smoking-car and day-coach be-
hind the big engine.
Foley made sport OF the remodeled
engine. He used TO stand by while
The old engineer was oiling and asked
him whether he thought she could
catch q jack rabbit. I mean," Foley
would say. If the rabbit was feeling
oeII"
Dad Sinclair took il all grimly and
quietly: he had railroaded too long TO
,sre Tor snybody's chaff. But, one
day. after the Sky -Scraper had gotten
her fues pretty well chalked up with
slkali, Foley insisted that she must be
renamed
Il have the only genuine sky-scraper
on the West End now myself" declared
Foley. He did have a new class H
engine, and she was awe-inspiring, IN
truth. 7 don't propose" he continued.
Ito have her confused with your old
tub any longer, Dad"
Dad, oiling his old tub affecuonateIy,
answered never a word.
shes full Of soda. isn't she, father?"
asked George. standing by.
Reckon she is, my SON"
Full OF water. I suppose?"
Try TO keep her that way, SON."
"Ssl-sods, isn't it, Dad?"
Now. I can't say. AS to that-I
can't say"
Wen call her Sal Soda, George"
suggested Foley.
NO" interposed George: stop a
bit. have it, Not Sal Soda at all
make It Soda Water Sal"
Then they laughed uprosriously; and
In the teeth Of Dad SincIair's protests
for he objected at once and vigor-
ously-the queer name stuck TO the
engine and sticks yet.
To have seen the great hulking ma
shine you would never have suspected
there could be another story left in
her Yet one there was; a story Of the
wind. As she stood, too, when old
man Sinclair took her on the Acton
run, she was the best illustration I
have ever seen Of the adage that one
-an never tell from the looks Of frog
how far he will jump.
Have you ever felt the wind? Not,
{ think, unless you have lived on the
seas or the plains. People everywhere
.hink that the wind blows, but it really
blows only on the ocean and the
prairies-
The summer that Dad took the Acton
run it blew for a month steadily. All
Of one August-hot, dry, merciless; the
despair Of the farmer and the terror
3f trainmen.
II was an August evening, with the
gale still sweeping UP from the south
west, that Dad came lumlering into
Acton with his little trolley train. He
had barely pulled up at the platform
to unload his passengers when the sta
ton agent. Morris Reynolds. coat tless
and hatless, rushed up to the engine
ahead Of the hostler and sprang into
the cab. Reynolds was one Of the
quietest fellows in the service. To see
him without a coat or hat didn't count
for much in such weather, but to see
him sallow with fright and almost
speechless was enough to stir even old
Dad Sinclair.
It was not Dads habit to ask ques-
tions. but he looked at the man in
questioning amaZement' Reynolds
clicked and caught his breath, as he
seized the engineers arm and pointed
down the line.
Dad" he gasped. three cars Of
coal standing there on the second spur
blew loose a few minutes ago"
Where are they2"
Where are they? Blown through
the switch and down the line, forty
miles an hour"
The old man grasped the frightened
man by the shoulder. What do you
mesn2 How long ago2 When IS it due?
Talk quick, mani What's the matter
with your"
mot FIVE minutes ago. No. is due
herein less than thirty minutes; they'll