The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-08-27

But the train despatcher had not re- ceived the expected orders. The Ad- vertisers auto car had to be run like an extra train. Clearance orders had to be in the hands of the chaffeur be- fore he could pull lever from the un- ion station. The chaffeur had to have orders where he was to pass the regu- lar freight and passenger trains; ne had to know every siding he was to take. It was a slight 6umpy thing this motor car as 1t stood there, dimly outlined in the darkness, but when 1t took the track 1t had to have the same consideration and the same considera- tion, given a full grown train.
 Beavers took another look at the gasoline engine and said another swear word under his breath. Phelps was over at the despatcher's office fuming because the order had not come. The auto car stood on the outer track at the east end of the passenger station a few feet from the under pass. It was a novel. odd looking thing to the rail- road men, The crews who were walt ing to take out the early morning trains gathered about 1t and examined it curiously Nothing just like It had been seen before in Montgomery. It was an automobile fitted on light. graceful car wheels of steel and run by gasoline The car weighed 1.1OO pounds and the engine had six horse 
 power. s
 Outlined vagely by the lanterns Of the railroad men its height rom the rails to the rear of the seat was less than five feet. Its length was about the same. Standing upon the track it's shane was like a pyramid. It had no fender. or as the country raised boy ac- customed to buggies said no "dasn- hoard" The chauffeur could easily step from the bottom of the car 10 the track beneath. Its middle was occu pied by q cushioned sette which would hold two men comfortably ana thFee men uncomfortably.
 rha roar of the machine was filled bv A large sloping box of wood, And this box held the cargo the auto car was to carry to Selma, the cargo 1t was to carry every morning from Montgom- cry to Selma and it was to carry two men and this cargo the fifty miles In less than two hours. The box was hacked with Advertisers, which were to carry comfort pleasure ana content ment to the intelligent peope of Selma and the towns of West Alabama. The car was brought from Chicago and put upon the track so that cargo of Ad- yertisers could be delivered in Selma at ten minutes after o'clock every morning. And when this is done the early morning passenger train wnich leaves Selma at 5:30 o'clock will carry comfort. bringing Advertisers to Ma rion. Greensboro. Akron and other West Alabama towns. That was what we were there for, to make the first business trip of the auto car and to carry the first cargo of papers. At ten minutes to o'clock we had Rlided out of the Western yards and raced over to the union station with the box packed and damned with Ad- vertisers.
 Some Railroad Comfort. Minutes after minutes passed and l still no orders came. Beavers resigned himself to his fate. He leaned his arm upon the machine and spat savagely | upon the ground. The railroad boys continued to look over the points of the
 strange machine and make more or less
 encouraging predictions as to whether she could make it to Selma.
 'I wonder how many Lowndes County
 bull yearlings are asleep on the track?'
 solicitously enquired a young brake
 man who was lingering with the pistor
 rod of the gasoline engine. You know | a COW or d yearling thinks a big broad
 railroad track Is the whitest and clean est place the ycan find to take a nap Say. mister, what will become of you
 all If you happen to hit q cow?'
 If we hit cow" said Beavers. grim. l " ana d lllllS SlOTtlyp IL Will uepenC
 on how we've lived our past lives as tc
 what becomes of us. As for morta
 remains, I suppose the coroner might | find enough to hold an inquest over" l Away in the distance we heard tho | whistle of "Ninety-seven," the mid
 night mail and the embodiment of | swiftness in the minds of the railroad
 men, It rattled and rushed into the
 station at a breakneck speed and stop | ned short CnHdan Gh nd i In two minutes her Montgomery pas
 sengers were on the platform, the con | ductor had waved his lantern and with | a jump "Ninety-seven" had sped on in-
 to the darkness until her rear light | passed out of sight around the cul-
 vert.
 Still we waited in the shadows for
 orders and the minutes sped on apace
 Up near the gates a lantern hove into view and 1t came towards us in sudden | jerky jumps. We knew that orders | had come and Phelps was bringing
 them on the run. He came into sight
 running and looking at his watch.
 BeaverS WAS already beside me on the
 seat. As Phelps jumped into the re-
 maining seven inches of room on the
 seat he panted:
 Signed for orders at 9:25. Let her
 go."
 | Beavers seized a crank gave 1t a
 twist and a series of sharp staccato
 puffs broke the stiffness of the early
 morning air, Faster and faster and
 faster they grew until the staccato yelps of the gasoline engine were al
 most merged into one continuity of
 sound, He moved his foot within easy
 reach of the brake and touched a lever at his sice.
 The wheels slipped upon the rails
 for the space of second and the ma chine leaped forward like startleI deer. We sailed paAt the station and darted in among the wilderness of switch lights. A labyrinth of tracks was spread out under the arc lamps and the switch lights, a bewildering 1 array broken here and there with switches. Like a thing of intelligence | the machine picked its certain way
 through the labyrinth at a rate of nearly thirty miles an hour. Over frogs and switches 1t rolled and jumped and We on the seat held fast.
 It was the most dangerous part of
 the trip, this wild ride through the
 switches of the yard, but We had been
 delayed thirty five minutes waiting or | ders at the station and time had to be made up, There was chance that | the machine and cargo would jump the | track, in this wild dash, but time had | to be made up.
 A dark shadow overhead came into | sight and without seeing it We knew that we had darted under the Bell Street bridge.
 Ease, her up. Ease her up" shout l ed Phelps for shouting was the only thing that could be heard going as we were going, Phelps was the rail l road man on the machine. It requires h.