The Tupelo journal., 1904-11-18
Jim Moore's
ThanksgivingDi Dinner
By WILL J. HAMPTON

No. AZ was due at Bridgeport at II
o'clock noon. 1t was Thanksgiving day
and Jim Moore. the engineer, was
booked to dine at home on turkey with
cranberry sauce on the side, not to men
zion a few oysters, with a wind-up OF
mince pie that was warranted to make
a man throw in a whole carload OF
thanks. extra. Bridgeport was the end
of his division, and as it happened his
Oft dav occurred on Thursday, his wife
and all the kin on both sides were to
have dinner that day at Jim's. 1t was
to be the dinner of their lives, too, for
Jim had not been at home on Thanks
giving day since his marriage five years
before the date of this chronicle.
The weather had been very bad for
several days before Thanksgiving, and
every day of that week it had rained
as if there had been an encore for
Noah's food, and the elements were
doing their best to respond to 1t. The
road ran through 20 miles of river bot
tom lands so low that in places long
treStles supported the tracks, and it was
at times a section that engineers were
glad to get through without some kind
of an accident. On this trip Moore had
an eight hour run and he had accom-
plished but half of it when he reached
the low grounds. AS the engine swung
round the last curve out of the hills,
and the first view of the valley pre-
scented itself, through the pouring rain,
Dick Long, the fireman, burst forth.
"Look at that sea, JIM" he shouted
above the roar of the engine. 1--WE amt
made of foatin' stuff, and do you reckon
we can SWIM"
Moore swept the watery waste with
his trained eyes. There was indeed a
wilderness of water spread before them,
but the railway tracks were plainly Wis
ioie, winding through it like a great
sea serpent with the ribs sticking out
of its sides, and with innumerable feet
extending into the water at intervals
and long reaches of dark body that had
no feet. 1t was thus the t~restles and the
solid portions of the road presented
themselves to him.
At the last station before passing out
into the low lands and owe the bridge
which spanned the river proper, the
train was tagged and the engineer was
informed that he must wait for orders
before proceeding further. For four
long and soaking hours the engine stood
on the track t%hrobbing restlessly and
taking the pelting rain as if it realized
that it was being imposed upon.
81 don't care a cuss about the wet"
said Moore to his fireman, "for this
cab keeps us dry enough and warm,
but what hurts my feelings is that I
am going to- miss the finest Thanks
giving dinner on the road between
Millopolis and Bridgeport. I've got a
bill of fare here in my wife's handwrit-
ing and it reads like a fairy tale"
He took it out of his pocket and be-
gan reading it aloud.
Let up on that" protested Long.
Don't you suppose a fireman has got
as fine feelin's as an engineer has, or
do you? If l listen to that a minute
longer I'll have a stomach strike"
Jim would have read further, even
under protest, but he was interrupted
by the conductor, who came up to the
engine on a trot.
by gum, jim" he exclaimed, 'the
water has broken through the fill be-
tween us and the hills and we are
marooned unless we go ahead and take
chances on getting out"
How about orders?" inquired the en-
gineer.
''The wires went down in the rush and
the operator has lost his connections
at both ends"
whats the matter with waiting
here and taking it easy till the dry spell
sets in?" inquired the fireman jokingly.
See that water coming up there?"
said the conductor, pointing to the rising
tide creeping up the embankment to
where the engine stood. I'm a mighty
little while it will be over this track,
and the Lord only knows how high it
will get or what will happen to the fill
with all that water piling up against
It. and more coming every minute. Fifty
feet of the fill has been eaten away since
the break took place back yonder, and
It is dropping like grass before fire."
"We'ye got to get out Of this" said
Moore decisively. Shake up the fire,
Dick"
"But how?" asked the conductor.
eve have a hundred passengers aboard,
and we can't risk their lives. can wei"