La Junta tribune., 1907-07-20
q ne western yard. II was good luck
IN ss,<p the Eun nyoIn


seen them MS they pulled out. Surely
she heard the choppy. Ice bitten scrcech
Of the 50ti. That was never forgotten.
whether the service was special or reg
ulnr. Besides the head cab OF the
ram carried this time not only Georgie
Sinclair, but her father MS well. San
| key could handle slice bar ms well us
q punch and rode on the head engine.
where, II anywhere. the big chances
hovered. What he was not capable of
In the train service we never knew. be-
cause be was stronger than any emer-
gcucy that ever confronted him.
Bucling snow is principally brute
force. There is little coaxlng. Just
west OF the bluffs, like code signals
between fleet OF cruisers. there was
volIey OF sharp footing. and In min
| ute the four ponderous engines. two Of
/ them In the back motion, fires white
and throats bursting steamed wildly
into the canyon.
Six hundred feet from the first cut
Sinclair's whistle slgnaled again. Burns
and Cameron and Kennedy answered.
and then. literally turning the monster
| bAW tN<seS "NhihNt tuc uuhLbuk
tain, the crews settled themselves for
| the shock.
At such II moment there Is nothing to
he done. II anything goes wrong. eter-
nifty is too close TO consider. There
come mutiied drumming on the
steam chests. n stagger and II terrific
impact nnd then the rccoil, like the
stroke OF trip hammer. The snow
shoots Into the air fifty feet. and the
wind carries II cloud OF fieecy confu.
sion over the ram and out OF the cut.
The cabs We're buried In white. and the
great steel frames OF the engines
sprung like knitting needles under the
friehtful blow.
Fausing for hardly "A breath. the sig
milling again began. then the backing.
up and up and mp the line. and again
the massive machines were hurled
screaming into the cut.
You're getting there. Geor.ie.' ex-
claimed Snnkey when the rolling and
lurching had stopped No one else
could tell n thing about II. for it was
snow and snow aud snow. above and
behind and ahead mud beneath. Sin
clair courhed the flakes out OF his eyes
and nose aud mouth. like baffied
collie. He looked doubtful of the claim
until the mist had blown clear and the
Quiyering monsters were again recalled
for II dash. Then 1t was plain that
Sankey's instinct was right. They
were gaining.
Again they went In. liftn. very
avalanche over the stacks. packing the
bnil.s OF the cut with walls hard ns
Ice. Again MS the drivers stuck they
raced In n frenzy. and into the shrek
Of the wind went the unenrtily scrape
Of the overloaded safeties.
Slowly and sullcnly the machines
were backed ugnin.
shes doing the work. Georgle"'
cried Snnkey. For that kind OF IL
cut shes ns good as rotary Look
\ everything over now while go back
and see how the boys are standing IT,.
Then we'll give her one more and give
1t the hardest kind"
And they did give her one more. and
another. Men at Santiago put up no
stouter fight than they made that Sun
day morning In the canyon of the
BlackwoOd. Once and twice more they
went In. and the second time the
humping drunilned more deeply. The
drivers held. pushed. painted and gain
ed agains: the white wall. heaved and
stumbled ahead. and. with II yell from
Sinclair and Sankcy and the fireman.
the double header shot her nose into
the clear over the Blackwoo gorge.
As engine after engine flew past the
divided walls each cab took up the
rry IT was the widest shout that
ever crowned victory.
Through they went and halfway
across the bridge before they could
check their monster catapult. Then
at half fun they shot 1t back at the
c"t. 1t worked as well one way as
the other.
The thin. Is done" declared San
key. Then they got into position up
the line for a final shoot to clean the
eastern cut and to get the head for
dash across the bridge into the west
end of the canyon, where lay another
! mountain OF snow to split.
Look the machines over close,
/ boys" said Sankey to the engineers.
III nothing's sprung Wen take n full
head across the gorge-the bridge will
carry anything buck the west
cut Then after we get No. / through
] this afternoon Neighbor can get his
baby cabs In here and keep 'em ciias-
iiig all night But It's done showing"
he added. looking into the lcaden sky.
lie had everything figured out for
= The master mccllanlc-fhe shrewd.
/. Kindly old man. There's no man on
earth like Il good Indian and. for that
| matter. none like II bad one. Sankey
/ knew by Il military instinct just Whit
I had to be done and how 10 do it. lf he
bad lived he WAS TO have been assist.
ant superintendent. That was the