Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1904-11-17
Driver Dicks Last Run.
A Railway Story.
BY ROBERT j. G. STEAD.

I'll o, there, Dick, wake up! You go
III out in 80 minutes. Hi, Dick!
Dick! SAY, Dick, roll out. Despatcher's
orders. No palaver. Come, get goin'
Dick! you morphine-eater, I'll maui
you if"
Eleven loads, seven empty, IS ALL"
mumbled the sleeping man. "Clear for
No. 8 at Haysville, open track to-"
But a violent wrench of the nose
brought Dick to a sitting posture.
After comforting himself in a couple
of heavy yawns he drawled to the
one-legged mar beside the bed. Hello,
Stumpy, what's doing?"
You're dom, or, at least, ought to
be. You take out a special with the
Superintendent at 2:3O. You've less
than 80 minutes, SO cut loose"
Not any for me, Stumpy. Tell
the old man l amt we'll; I'm down
with grip. Tell him l broke my leg on
the front steps, and my wife has small
pox. Tell him anything under heaven,
but give me eight hours sleep. Fifty
six hours on duty, and a hundred min
utes in bed! It's against human ma
ture. I amt going" and he snuggled
down among the blankets.
But Stumpy had awakened weary
trainmen before. With n dexterous
sweep Of the arm he whipped the
h1onkotc clno,. IF TIN had -W-
Come, Dick, no nonsense. You
simply must get up. No. 6 is showed
up at the end of the line, and you've to
take out a special and get her clear.
Hustle now!"
Cant you get some one else?
Where's Graham?"
Hospital with pneumonia On
duty 70 hours. Bad cold. May go hard
with hint" briefly explained Stumpy.
"How about Stuart?"
Ran into an open switch and broke
his leg"
Lucky dog! Try Mckenzie, then"
Hes taking a wrecker out on the
main. It's nc go, Dick. The Sup. is
6otbo oh tLuI Ilolli, dllu yOu dIO 6OluS
to pull him." and Stumpy's wooden
member clattered down the stairs.
And they wonder why, sometimes,
a man runs full-steam into eternity"
soliloquized Dick, as he hastily drew on
the clothes that were still warm.
"Fifty-six hours on duty, and a hun
dred minutes in bed, and only a twist
ed rail, or a broken flange, or a a
less signal-man between me and the
Judgment seat! Sitting there, hour
after hour, with the CLINT of that ever,
lasting thread Of steel Juggling at
sleepy eyelids, and old Shorter pant
ing a lullaby in ones ears. o, some
times it happens! Then the wrecker
pulls Zip, and while the doctors inspect
the CHASTITY heaps on the bank, the re-
porters and sightseers stand by the
scrap-heap. That's where they pulled
him OUT says one. He and his
fireman crushed to jelly. Brakes set;
engine reversed, but too late
Then a fool newspaper runs out a
scare-head: Engineer Disregards
Signal-Plunges Scores into Eternity
Stuck to his Post at Last O yes,
did you ever hear of an engineer dodg.
ing death when the crash came? No,
sir! not even for his wife and children!
But the paper doesn't say that the
sleep from which that engineer wakes
in eternity began 10, Is, 20 miles before
the wreck"
Dick heard the gate latch behind him
as he turned up the street. "Well
paid for it, are we? Yes, a. twentieth
part Of what the G. M. draws. And
we invest more than he does. Just our
prospects Of old age"
A gusty wind swept little eddies of
fine snow across the tracks. The
electric light threw the shadows Of
falling fakes upon the whitened earth,
so that it seemed alive with insects.
The moon was at the full, but only a.
misty dimness struggled through the
leaden banks Of cloud.
No. 800 stood on a siding with her
fog up. Harry, the fireman, dozed
peacefully on his cushions. Dick had
scarce reached his seat when Baker
poked in his head.
Hello, Dick, you pull me tonight,
do you? Well, we've an open run, SO
cut her loose" he said, as he handed
up the order sheet.
Whats our load?" asked Dick.
-Four Goals to give you weight, the
Sup.'s car and my dog-house. Give
the old man a whirl for his w%hiskers."
Dick studied his order sheet. econ.
Baker, Driver Henderson" he read.
mo. 10, special. Open track over
entire division. Run regardless Of
time. Stop for orders at division
terminal"
Harry slept peacefully. All right,
old boy, take it easy for awhile" said
Dick, as be threw on a few shovelfuls
Of coal. He opened the blower and in
a few minutes heard his safety threat
ening. Forward went the reversing
lever;then, as he gradually opened the
throttle, he felt the drivers grip the
rails and the engine swing ahead. In
a train-length he was hitting a 90
mile clip.
The swirling snow dashed against
the cab windows, and at times he could :