The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1907-01-16

and just what to do; how to do it. and
exactly how to do 1t; with the man
who sits shut in brick walls and hung
in Chinese puzzles, his ear glued to q
receiver and his finger fast to a KEY
and his eye riveted on a train chart
the man who orders and annuls and
stops and starts everything within 500
miles Of him and holds under his
thumb more lives every minute than
brigadier does in a lifetime? For in
stance" asked Callahan, In his tired
way, whats the matter with Bucks ~
Now, myself never knew Bucks. He
left the West End before went on.
Bucks is second vice president-which
means the boss-of a transcontinental
line now and very great swell. But
no man from the West End who calls
on Bucks has to wait for an audience
though bigger men do. They talk of
him out there yet. Not Of General Su-
perintendent Bucks, which he came to
be, nor Of General Manager Bucks.
On the West End he is lust plain
Bucks, but Bucks on the West End
means whole lot.
He saved the company $500, 900 that
night the OgalaAa train ran away"
unused Callahan. Callahan himself is
assistant superintendent now.
Three hundred thousand dollars is a
good deal of money, Callahan" 1 OBJ
jected
Figure it out yourself. To begin
with, fifty passengers lives = that's
5000 apiece, isn't it?" Callahan had
a cold blooded way of figuring a pas
senger's life from the company stand
| point. ''It would have killed over fifty
passengers if the runaway had ever
struck SO. There wouldn't have been
enough left Of 30 to make a decent fu-
neral. Then the equipment, at least
! $4,000 But there was a whole lot
more than 100000 in it for Bucks"
"How so?"
HE told me once that if he hadn't
saved SO that night he would never
have signed another order anywhere
on any road"
"Why?'
"Why? Because after it was all over
he found out that his own mother was
aboard 90. Didn't you ever hear that?
Well, sir, it was Christmas eve, and
tlBe year was 1854
Christmas eve everywhere, but on
the West End it was just plain Dec.
"a.
High winds will prevail for ensuing
twenty -four hours. Station agents will
use extra care to secure cars on sid
ings. Brakemen must use care to
avoid being blown from moving
trains"
That Is about all Bucks said in his
bulletin that evening-not a word
about Christmas or Merry Christmas.
In fact, If Christmas had come to Nc
Cloud that night they couldn't have
held it twenty-four minutes, much less
twenty-four hours-the wind was too
high. All the week, all the day, all
the night, it had blown-a December
wind, dry as an August noon, bitter
as powdered ice 1t was in the early
days Of our western railroading, when
we had only one fast train on the
schedule - the St Louis-California
express-and only one fast engine on
the division-the 101-and only one
man on the whole West End-Bucks.
Bucks was assistant superintendent
and master mechanic and trainmastel
and chief dispatcher and storekeeper-
and a bully good fellow. There were
some boys in the service, among then
Callahan. Callahan was seventeen
with hair like a sunset and a MIND
quick as an air brake. 1t was his
first year at the key, and he had 8
night trick under Bucks.
Callahan claims it blew so hard tina
night that it blew most Of the colol
out of his hair. Sod houses had sprung
I'D like dog towns In the buffalo grass
during the fall But that day home
steaders crept into dugouts and smoth
cred over buffalo chip fires. Horse!
and cattle huddled into friendly peck
cts a little out of the worst of 1t O.
froze mutely in pitiless fence corner
on the divides. Sand drove griffin,
down from the Cheyenne hills like
storm of snow. Streets of the raw
prairie towns stared deserted at tn
: sky. Even cowboys kept their ranches
J and through the gloom Of noon the SUI
cast a coward shadow. 1t was
} wretched day, and the sun went dow
with the wind tuning into a gale ant
all the boys in bad humor. excep
i Bucks. Not that Bucks couldn't ge
mad. but 1t took more than a cyclon
to start him.
} No. 50. the California express, wa
: late that night All the way up tn
/ valley the wind caught her quarter
: ing. Really, the marvel is that on
) there on the plains such storms didn'
blow our toy engines clear of tn
5 rails. For that matter, they might a
J. | we'll have taken the rails, too, for non
of them went ever sixty pounds. Fifty
nine was due at II o'clock It wa
half past u when she pulled in and o
Callahan's trick But Bucks hun
{ around the Office until she staggere
y m 1fuSar the SfraaEnd mo00Iirhf q