The Washington times., 1905-07-16

SYNOPSIS OF PRECEDING CHAPTERS.
John Gray, a young Virginian, is persuaded
by Frank Howe. brakeman to lea'-e profit
less farming and ''go railroading.'' Gray bid:
adieu to his aged father and mother, hi:
old friends. DR.. Deane and daushter Madge
and. with Howe, beats his way 20 Chi
cago. The freight train on which they are
stealing a ride goes into wreck. which
gives Gray his first experience Of the perils
and tragedies of railroading. Arriving ir
Chicago, they receive, through the assistance
OF ''Girlie'' Mason. positions under Lanigan
the general yard master. They find home
in Nanny Sullfvan's boarding house
where Gray meets number of railroad meI
and gains an insight into their makeup.
During supper --Grlie' comes into the room
in an intoxicated condition. He is put to bed
by Scranton Pete" one of the ''old- timers, -
who regards him his protege- Several
hours later as Howe and Gray walking
through the train yard. they see comno
ton about yard engine Forcing their
way through the crowd they find to their
horror that .Girlie" has been run over while
attempting TO save a six-year-old girl
''Girle' dies in the of Scranton
who vows over the body of his dead friend
that he viii give up rairoading forever.
Scranton spends the night making UP a
package of -'Girlie's' private papers to send
To the boys father, and dawn is breaking
he tells Howe ana Gray of a frightful wreck
occasioned by his drunkenness while on duty
train dispatcher several years before.
scranton Pete" Tor Pete Lawrence. as he
is now calIed) and Gray leave Howe in Chi
cago and, go west to Unitah. at the invita-
ton OF Mr.. Blank. the president of the Inter
Mountain Raiircsd. Pat Brady, one of the
cleverest engineers in the States, joins them
there Lawrence gets a, position of trust, di-
rectly unde Blank, and Gray and Brady are
appointed, respectively, fireman and engineer
on the Huron branch, an exceedingly rough
and difficult stretch of mountain railway
Blank lays down his policy toward his en-
ployes 10 Lawrence. which sums Justice
and the cards dealt above the table to all.
and a heavy kick into the outer darkness to
ing weaker shouider. The ife new " men gc
at their dangerous work with a rush Of en-
thpsiasrn-
where Gray receives his first instructions in
firing" an engine for mountain climbing.
McGahee, the roundhouse foreman; Tom Coffin
who pulls the lead engine their train
Green, the yardmaster- Brady shows Gray
some useful tricks of the profession. and as
they pull out on their first run assumes to-
ward him a tone OF absolute authority. ad-
monishins him in a laughing voice that
here is where friendship ceases"
The double header reaches Huron after pass
ing many traces of srfghtfuI wrecks along
the steep grade. Adams the manager OF
the mines, takes Healy aside and offers
mountain on the trip back He forges ar
order from Blank to deceive the two engi-
TO temptation. Under his orders. the mer
ssnea9 ssfl,. pull out with a makeup OF thirty
man back to the caboose, and Brady adj
vtses Gray to follow suit. but Gray re-
fuses. Before many miles are covered the
men in Huron hear the ominous whistle for
emergency brakes, followed by the signal
from both engines that they have lost control
OF the weight behind and are running away
nuf nr, he hOiI ir1zr
IN time to see Collins engine jump and bury
him. crushed mass of flesh, beneath the
rowest of margins. and walk back to examine
the S-reck, where they meet Healy. who,
bility for the tragedy. Adams huriedly leaves
Huron. TWO years go by rapidly and Howe
becomes an expert in his calling One aft
ernoon Brady receives a wire and. after read
ing it slowly. hands 1t to Gray with the brief
remark that he had expected 1t. but was
afraid he more sorry than glad It is
headquarters the following morning and stand
an examination for engineer.
Gray successfully passes the examination
and IS ordered out on engine sos, which is
TO pull a special. Sampson. the superin-
engineer the importance of making up time
that has been lost out of San Francisco and
tells him that unless they handle the con
signment of tea schedule the company is
subject TO heavy forfeit. Gray's orders
make him due at Black River the end OF
his run. at $40. From the minute he draws
TO thr effort of making UP time. The sta
tion agents along the line are given an ex-
hibition Of fast running which amazes them
At times the special is making 100 miles an
hour. At $40 to the minute the SOC pounds
into the Black River yard ''on time" a
few minutes later Cray is handed wire
from Sampson which reads: &c. & z. En-
gine SJ6: Allow me TO congratulate you on
the finest run ever made in the Rocky noun
tains J. S"
A few weeks later. as a consequence OF
heavy extra expenses and light freight trans
portation, Mr.. Blank is Obliged TO throw a
heavy block of Inter Mountain stock or
the New York market He directs his brokers
70 scatter the stock. but th~y trea cherously
sell il in lump to English syndicate and
use their inside information to pick up a
number Of small holdings fer the in
terest The result is that the syndicate
Blank is TIE largest single holder. His res
igration IS requested, and in a few weeks all
the old officials except Jasper are frozen out.
a man named Warner becomes division super
intendent in SIMPSONS place. and IL soon be-
comes apparent that the old employees are
not wanted. They drop off b. resignation
and discharge. one by one. and their places
are filled with incompetents drunkards.
As a result the road soon becomes a shanble.
Jasper, accompanied by Brady and Gray, goes
on to see Coleman. the new president. TO pro-
test against the situation, but is received
with brutal contempt All three resign. after
of the State VIII not permit the existing stu
alton and reckless slaughter of passengers
and employees TO continue Brady and Gray
become Jasper's guests for a few days. and
the latter starts a mail campaign TO secure
them new positions