The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1905-10-25
:. The Boy With che Flag :.
81 81 @Sl q

~ A"''Nt HOi ulVNueI' u keep my
eye on him"
And who'll keep their eve on you.
MahoneyY' demanded the timekeeper.
with laugh, and walked away. Ma
honey's fondness for liquor was pretty
well known among the men. and on
several occasions the boss had been
within narrow margin indeed of los
Ing his lucrative and responsible posi-
tlon.
Thereafter for several days. Corny
shook in his broken old shoes whenever
the timekeeper made his visit TO this
portion of the works But the young
hagman was not molested. and it even
seemed that the jolly clerk took lik-
ing to the solemn-faced boy at the
crossing.
Don't you ever laugh. youngster?r
he asked one day stopping beside him
for a moment.
Corny looked confused and blushed
furiously. II don't see anything 10
laugh at" he stammered.
81 dunno said the other. "Most
boys Of your age would laugh if they
got six dollars a week." and he went
on. leaving Corny dumbfounded. for
be didn't know that Mahoney was ex-
tracing an extra generous "commis
sion from the pay envelope of the
fiagman.
But collecting tax upon the wage
of the laborers employed on his sec
tlon of the work was not Mahoney's
only sin. The man was good work
man when he let liquor alone. but he
grew both reckless and abusive when
he drank, and as the contractor himself
seldom visited the piece of ditching
there was nobody to report Mahoney's
lapses unless it was the, tlmekeeper.
When that individual was about, the
boss was usually very circumspect.
70 oversee the various gangs of men
and plan the work a mans head should
be clear all the time. Corny was i'm
pressed by this fact, for at first the
hustle and confusion-the steam drills
going at several points along the ditch
where veins of rock had been found.
the rattle Of the trolley overhead. and
the shouting of the underbosses and
Iaborers-seemed quite overpowering.
He began by being afraid that he
should transmit the signals wrong TO
the engineer; but that individual told
him before his first week was up that
he was the best signal man they had
had on the job. Perhaps the engineer.
who was a good-natured fellow. said
a word in Cornys favor to the time
keeper. and that is the reason he was
allowed to keep his position.
Everybody seemed to like the time
keeper but the boss, and when Ma
honey as the men said, had the drink
IN him. he was ugly to everybody.
One afternoon the half-tlpsy overseer
sent the man who stood on the plat
form above the end of the ditch where
the shovellers filed the trolley car
away on another job and took his
place for a time. At once things be-
gan TO 20 wrong for Corny not always
understood the boss signals, and the
distance was too far for audible COM
mand to be repeated.
Once MahOney walked over to the
boy and gave him tongue lashlng
which very nearly paralyzed him. OF
course the boss blamed all the mistakes
upon the nagboy.
But when he had gone back TO the
further platform the timekeeper
stopped beside Corny. He had been
in the engine house ana had seen the
whole occurrence from the window.
Don't fret yourself over what that
brute says 10 YOU" be said. seeing the
teNrs running down Corny's plnched
/ checks. He isn't so big q man as he
thinks himself If he has got a brother
in the City Hall and a pull in -Four
teenth street"
Then he went on to the end of the
ditch. Mahoney was believing at the
men u his usual aggressive style. The
timekeeper stood nearby and watched
him unobserved.
Just then the empty car ran along
| the cable and stopped over the plat.
form on which Mahoney stood. The
boss motioned for a quick drop" and
/ The car came down on the run and
struck squarely on the platform instead
Of entering the mouth of the sha H.
The chains loOsened and fell off, and
The great steel hook swung loose.
Instantly Mahoney leaped up, show.
ering his curses upon the poor flag
boys devoted head.
Hold on. Mahoneyr' interposed the
quiet voice Of the tlmekeeper. "That's
your fault. You signaled for a quick
drop-and you got it. You'd ought tC
SEND That car down steady, or you'll
break some Of the mems heads"
TN break your headw roared the
boss, turning his passion-inaamed face
upon the young man.
But the tlmekeeper smiled sarcastic
ally, and stepped gingerly down upor
the platform. "You amt fit for thl,
place" he said. In disgust. LET m,
catch that hook, II you're not going to
it'll do some damage to those pipes"
The heavy hook was swinging to an,
fro across the pipes, banging from on
to another. Mahoney rushed at th
nervy young tmekeeper.; and had tn
latter not stepped aside he might hav
been thrown from the platform.
"What are you about?" he demanded
selzing the swinging chain with on,
hand and stopping its pendulous mo
tion.