The Topeka state journal., 1906-04-14

= ans surc Of leisct aaai. There qslli
Be no ae7ce!s- -
: ter mechanic sprang at each other in
/ a silent fury. No man dare say where
Norman staggered between them with
his hands up=but the blood was gush
ing from his mouth.
It was pretty serious business. They
caught him as he fell, and the boy lay
4 on Elackburn's arm limp as a dead
wire Nobody thought after they saw
thst hemorrhage that he would ever
live to have another. I was scared
sick. and [ never saw q man so cut up
as Doubleday. Blackburn was cool
in a second. for he saw quicker than
others, and he knew there was dan
ger Of the little dispatcher dying right
4 there in his tracks Blackburn stood
ever him, as much at home facing
death as he was in fight or in a dis
/ Ipatcher's chair He appeared to know
/ just how to handle the boy to check
/ the gush and TO know just where the
salt was and how to feed it, and he
had Doubleday telephoning for DR..
/ Car1art and me running to & saloon
after chopped ice in a jiffy. When
anybody was Knocked out Blackburn
was as regular nurse as ever you
saw Even sXvitchmen, when they got
pinched kind of looked to Blackburn
That day the minute he got Fred
! into Carharts hands there was Fred s
1 trick to take care of, and nobody, Of
course, but Blackburn to do it. He
sat in and picked up the Threads and
held them till noon. then Maxwell re-
ilieved him. Doubleday was waiting
outside when Blackburn left the chair
1 saw him put out his hand to the
night dispatcher. They spoke a minute
and went out and up Third street to-
ward Fred Norman S fnornz It was a
gloomy day around the depot. Every
body was talking about the trouble
and the way It had ended. They talk
ed in undertones, little groups in cor
ners and in rooms with the doors shut.
There wasn't much of that in our day
there, and 1t was depressing. I went
home early to bed, for was on nights,
but the wind sung So even IN the af-
ternoon. that I couldn't quiet down to
sleep.
We were handling trains then on
the old single order system. I men
ton this because in no other way could
this particular thing have happened.
but there's no special point in that
since other particular things do hap
pen all the time, single order double
order or no order system.
The wind had dropped and there
was just drizzle of rain falling
Through the mountains when got
4 down to the depot at Z O'Clock that
Sunday evening I don't know how
much sleep Blackburn had during the
day, but he had been at Fred Nor
mans bed most of the afternoon with
Doubleday and Carhart, so he couldn't
have had much. About half past Z
Maxwell sent me over there with a
note and his storm coat for him. and
the three men were in the room then
Boyl1ke hung around until It was
time for Blackburn to take his trick,
and then he and Doubleday and I
walked over to the W1ckiup together
At sundown everything was ship
shape There hadn't been an engine
+ failure IN the district for tWenty-fOuT
hours. and every hand car was running
! smoothly. Moreover, there were no
/ extra sections marked up and only one
+ special on the division card-a theatE-
i cal train east Ound with Henry IfyfI1ss
+ and company from Frisco to Chicago.
The Irving special was heavy as It al
ways is That night there were five
i baggage cars coach and two sleepers.
/ am particular to lay all this out just
as the night opened when Blackburn
/ took his train sheet, because sometimes
these things happen under extraordi-
nary pressure on the line and some
times they don't; sometimes thew hap
pen under pressure on the dispatcher
himself. Tt was all fixed, too, for
Blackburn to handle not only his owr
a trick, but the first two hours of F'red's
trick, which would carry till O'Clock
IN the morning. At s Maxwell was tC
double into four hour dog watch, and
Callahan was to sit in till noon.
There was nothing to hold the big
fellows around the depot that night
and they began struggling home
through the rain about 9 O'Clock. Be
fore 10 Buelks and Callahan had left
the Office, by II Neighbor had go
: away from the roundhouse: Double
day had gone back to sit with Free
Norman.
The lights in the yard were low, ane
the drizzle had eased into a 1nISt It was
nasty night and yet one never prom
1sed better for quiet. Before naidniEh
the sWftchmell we're snug in the yard
shanties; IN the WicIziup there were rhs
night ticket agent downstairs and the
night DaggageEan. Upstairs every
! door was locked and every room wa,
dark except the disDatcher's office In
that Blackburn sat at his key Near
by. but closer to the stove, sat the nigh
| caller for he train crews trying Il
/ starch his hair with ten cent novel
The westbound overland passenger
No l. was due to leave Anes at 1916
a. m. and ordinarily would have met
special like the Irving at Rosebud
which is good bit west of the river
But NO. Is engine had been stea H4fTas
| badly all the way from McCloE7 an6
on her schedule, which was crazy fas
| all night, she did not make Arnes til
some hfty minutes late. While tEez1
y were no special SFders, it was under