The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1906-04-14
1.-THE IRON HORSE
Some Celts Who Hold the Reins
on the Flyers.

w viz GAy 0GDs
Attitude Of tho Engineer Sug-
gests q Man at Ease.
| The engineer set his reverse and
pulled the throttle q bit, and we started
SO gently you could hardly feel it.
There was no slipping OF the driver on
the track, nor q pound too much steam
: turned into the cylinder. The train got
| under Roadway evenly. Slowly we
rolled down the yard among the
switches and out of North Station. Both
the fireman and engineer kept their
eyes out here, but this vigilencc was
not the fixed sort you read about. 1t
was that which Il good driver gives the
by the way, the smoke and gaSs"s which
| trouble passengers when Il car isn't
tight. are not noticeable ON an engine;
the: pass overhead. Out unde: the
clear Sky the train moved faster, at
about - miles an hour till it turned
off out of tn" yard switches: then.
We're off, said the fireman. and the
engineer pulleI the throttle Il little
wider. Out on the road beyond Somcr-
. ic Sot u i,
lever and pulling the throttle dclib-
/ crately To certain picked notch. tle
engineer let go and leaned back. That
WAS the time Of the greatest exhilara-
! ton The great locomotive seemed to
be reaching out 1t moved like u snake
swuying in front from one side of the
track to the other. and ut each swing
it took q better grip ON the train,
gathered more momentum. Rising at
, curves, it seemed to dive around them,
ana. once we were going full speed,
behaved most like Il huge buffalo driv-
ing ahead cumbrously, yet with !. sense
of power that made she motion easy:
clumsy and stupid. but irresistible and
effortlcss. We on its back were thrown
from side to size, towns passed with 3,
ut us and rattl"! like tin pans, the air
batted. cuffed ana slapped in on our
faces.
Improving my grip. looked over
at the engineer. He was leaning on the
window ledge. his throttle hand resting
| idly on the lever; and, though he was
looking ahead, he seemed hardly in
tcreStcd. His whole attitude suggested
| IL man at cHst:. For miles and miles
/ the engine hel,i the pace, the engineer
+, the pose, and tee beautiful Massachus-
ettS country opened and closed.
/ folded and m:olded beside us like ~
beautiful picture book in strong, old,
slow hands. BY and by we slowed for
IL town; then for water; then for an
other town: once to pass Il place where
/, men wcro repairing the track: then the
engine slowed down. and rolled leisure
y into the station. just on time.
The Celtic engineer looked at me.
: Want to go back to the yard with
u.s." he asked.
NO. come AMI have lunch with me-
"Dh, | cant 90 that" he answered
! "l'v" got to so to work now"
spect and tighten this and that for his
afternoon trip down: but he meant
also that there hadn't been amy work
about running his train in record
breaking time. There wasn't: at least
no labor. There was responsibility,
, concentration, Judgment. and a sure
, hand. but no conscious effort. once
during the trip he got down and told
the fireman to run her. The fireman
sat like the engineer of the story
books, his BODY leaning forward. one
hanG ON the throttle. the other ON the
lever. and his eyes fixed ahead. He
won ked, and IL. will work when he
gets his first cAcinc. But the old en-
sinrcr. surcr with tried attention and
Il nicer. illcr nnnd, so controlled that
machine that, though he gave no sign
of effort. physical or mental we tin
ished the last mile of our distance in
( the last minute o.: our time.
Well. ncrhal.; the night trip would
bear out the tictionists The darkness
seemed to me 20 be absolute THAT
m;l'1cs the Signals plain" the engineer
sai' IT did, i:,!ecd: only l saw too
many till he explained how to dis
| tinauish ours from the g;,laXies that
/ ronfoundcd me. We rushed faster and
| fastc" into the dark. \ light ahead
i tlo?trd across the track. back again
then seemed 10 shoot up into the ali
on the right! :. white signal; another
light on he right slid diagonally dowr
ing straight for my window. "Bang!'
II struck and ] ,!Odgcd--a passing uI
train. We seemed to be going twic.
as fast Us ut any time in the morning
and j asked the fireman what speed W,
were making. fIc spoke to the engn.
Ger. who lcancl far over to sec hi:
watch in the light OF the furnace. Sit