The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1904-10-09

w "a 4oou 1 Was lOSclEE CHIPS llltO
an old Hinckley insider up in New
England for an engineer BY the name
OF James Dillon. Dillon was considered
IS good a man as there was on the
road; careful, yer fearless: kind
hearted, yet innpulsive; a man whose
friends would fight for him and whose
enemies hated him right royalty.
Dillon took great notion to me and
loved him as a father; the fact OF the
matter is he was more OF a father to
I1e than 1 had at home, for my father
refused 10 be eomforted when I took
70 raiiroading, and l could not see him
more than two or three times a year at
the mOst-sO when / wanted advice L
went 10 Jim.
WAS q young fellow then, and being
Without a home at either end of the
run, was likely to drop into pitfalls.
Dillon saw this long before 1 did. Be-
fore / had been with him ehree months
he teld me one day, coming in, thar
IL was against bis principles 10 teach
locomotive running to young man
who was likely to turn cut drunkard
or gambler and disgrace the profess
sion, ana he added that I had better
pack up my duds and come up TO his
house and let mother" take care OF
me-and 1 went.
l was not guest there; I paid my
room rent and board just as 1 should
have dere anywhere else, but I had all
the comforts OF q home, and enjoyed a
thousand advantages that money could
not buy. / told Mrs. Dillon all my
troubles, and found kindly sympathy
and advice; she encouraged me in all
my ambitions. mended my shirts and
went With me when l bought my
clothes. Inside Of a month / felt like
one Of the family, called Mrs. Dillon
mother" and blessed my lucky stars
that | had found them.
Dillon had run good many years
and vas heartily tired of il, and he
seldom passed nice farm that he did
not call my attention TO it, saying:
Jack. now there's comfort: YOU lust
wait couple Of years-Ive gOr my
eye on the sliclSest little place just on
the edge of NJ, that l am saving
UP my pile 10 buy I'll give you the
Roger William one Of these days. Jack,
say good evening to grief, and me and
mother viii take comfort. Think of
sleeping till O'clOck-and no poor
steamers, Jack, no poor ''steantersi"
And he would reach over and give my
head q gentle duck as I tried 10 pitch
a curve TO q front corner with a knot;
those Hinkleys were powerful on cold
water.
In DHlon's household there was a
"system" of financial management. He
always gave his wife just half of what
he earned, Kept ten dollars for his own
expenses during the month. out of
which he clothed himself. and put the
remainder in the bank II was before
the days OF high wages however. and
even with this frugal management, the
bank account did not grow rapidly
They owned the house in which they
lived and cut Of her half mother" had
TO pay all the household expenses and
taxes, clothe herself and two children
and send the children to school The
Oldest, girl OF some is years. was
away at normal school, and the boy
about IS or H. was at home, going 10
the public school and wearing out more
clothes than all the rest of the family.
Dillon told me that they had agreed
on the financial plan followed in the
family before their marriage, and he
used 10 say that for the life Of him he
did not see how mother got along
so we'll on the allowance. When he
drew a small months pay he would say
10 me, as We walked home: No cream
i'm the coffee this month, Jack" II it
were unusually large he would say:
Plum duff and fried chicken for a
Sunday dinner" He insisted that he
could detect the rate Of his pay in the
food but this was not true-it was his
kind Of fun. Mother" and I were fast
friends. She became my banker. and
when ! wanted an extra dollar 1 had
10 ask her for il, and tell what
wanted il for. and all that
Along late i'm November Jim had to
make an extra one night on another
engine, which left me at home alone
with mother and the boy--I had
never seen the girl-and After swear
ing me To be both deaf. dumb and blind.
mother" told me a secret. For ten
years she had been saving money out
OF her allowance. until the amount now
reached nearly $4,000. She knew OF
Jim's life ambition TO own a farm, and
she had the matter in hand, If I would
help her. OF course I was head over
heels into the scheme at once. She
wanted TO buy the farm near n,
and give Jim the deed for a Christmas
present. and jim mustn't even suspect.
Jim never did.
The next trip I had to buy some
underclOthes: would mother tell me
how TO pick out pure wool? Why, bless
your heart no. she wouldn't, but she'd
just put on her things and so down
with ne. Jim smoked and read at
home.
We went straight to the bank where
Jim kept his money. asked for the pres
ident and let him into she whole plan.
Would he take $500 Out Of Jims money
unbeknOwn TO jim and pay the bal /
ance of the price of tho farm over VIVA
mother had?
No. he would not; but he would ad-
vance the money for the purpose-have
the deeds sent TO him and he would !
pay the price-that was fixed.
Theu 1 Matched mp an excuse and
changed of with the fireman on the
NJ branch, and spent the best part
o. Two lay-OveTs fixing up things with
the owner of the farm and arranging
70 hold back the recording of the deeds
until after Christmas. Every evening /
there was some part OF the project to
be talked over. and mother and /
held many whispered conversations. /
once Jim, smiling. observed that. If I
had any hair on my face. ne would be
Jealous.
1 remember that It was on Dec. Ia. |
1869. that payday came, / banked my
money with mother" and jim, as
usual. counted cut his half TO that dear /
old financier.
Uncle Sand better put that 'un in
the hospital" observed Jim. as he came
10 ragged ten-dollar bin. Goddess
or Liberty pretty near got her throat
cut there; guess some reb has had hold |
OF her" he continued. as he held UP
the bill. Then laying it down he took |
out his p0cketbook and cut off little
e-cOTnered strip Of pink court
plaster ana made repairs on the bill.
Mother pocketed her money greed !
ily. and before an hour I had that very |
bill IN my pocket 10 pay the recording |
fees IN the court house at ~.
The next day Jim wanted to use
more money than ne had in his pocket. |
and asked me to lend him a dollar As |
! ouenod my wallet TO Oklfge him that |