Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1908-10-30
s NOR e AN .
SAWM WILL
Now tire Fat Engineer Wac Fooled
BY the Unmusicai Flagmon

neer, when ! awOke suddenly WIN
q start. could hear sawmill soin
to beat the band.
Now that's a fine layout. says
to Hank Simms In the next punk.
How under the canopy do they ex-
pect q man to sleep, buildin bunk
shanty right near sawmill?
"'Sawmill nothin'' says Hank.
That's Jerry Day. the new nagman
for Archie Dunn, snorin' over in the
trainmen's bunk room. Amt he a
pippin?
III that anti-noise society gets next
to him. says. they'll hotfoot him OUT
OF this community lstanter.
There was no more sleep for us
that afternoon, 50 We got UP and sat
in q hot game OF pinOchle.
Jerry Day was first out with Archie
Dunn that eyentn' Oh the first 70 n
was second out on second ~. fretSht
runnin' SO heavy them days that they
were runnin' the fast freights III two
or three sections.
When 1t came time for us to leaTe
the freight yards the fog was so thick
you couldn't shoot holes into 1t with a
machine gun. tell you | was mighty
cautious. movin' along on only about
notches OF steam on the throttle.
Pretty soon on the heavy air l
heard a sawmill goin' full blast.
Strange says to myself, that
they're running a sawmill in these
parts this time of the night
There was q peculiar sound to that
sawmiIl that I'd heard before. All OF q
sudden 1t came over me like flash
what 1t was That's that green hag-
man OF Archie Dunn's.' it came to me:
he's just hidin' his red lantern under
q bushel of snores while his train Is
stalled on the main track.
80 quicker'n a deaf n dumb man
can say Jack Robinson got my engine
in back motion. couldn't see thing.
hut from the sound of that foghorn
ahead we'd stopped about caboose
length this side of that warnin' snore.
THE fog shifted for a minute n
there was the tail lights OF Archie
Dunn's caboOse almost restin' on the
right OF my cowcatcher. 1t was a
lucky thing for me that l had recoS-
nized the deep snOre OF that fiagman.
"Mebbe l didn't climb onto that ca
boose n give that new hand brief
n pointed speech on the rules n resu-
lations of sleepin' on duty. especially
dwellin' on the necessity Of the flag
man totin' his red n white lights II
telegraph poles back WHEEL his train
stopped on the main track.
"a week q so after that I was
second out again behind Archie Dunn.
An 1t was Just such q foggy night as
the one l was speakin' Of before. She
rock Holmes himself couldn't pene-
trate the density OF that mist.
Twas movin' along again under two
speeds forward. keepin' my weather
goggles trimmed for. trouble ahead.
Just as sure as you're born there
came to me again that 40-sawmill-pow-
er spore Of Archie Dunn's rear guard.
so l says to myself: My little heart
toheart talk with that fagman bore no
fruit. Ell? Well, I'll just give him lit
tie bump this time n see what little
scare will do him.
You can just imagine I was pretty
warm under the collar. comm up on
that Teller snoozin' ON the breastworks
twice in two weeks. I kept getting
closer n closer to the snore, but
there didn't come along any hind end
for me to bump into.
Il got a little scared myself. then.
thinkin' mebbe might hit EN- too hard.
so I sot up in the air n We swun =,
under the lee Of that warnin' snore.
Well. now. mebbe I hadn't made I'D
my mind to write up-A round robin en-
that careless hagman Of Archie
Dunn's.
"YoW bet what would say In nv
report would end his usefulness to TIE
railroad. hadn't reported him the
first time. thinkin' he was young n
new TO the business. relyin' on my lit
tie talk to reform him. But Il was all
OF now. Discipline required that l
must make written report.
We laid there a few minutes. with
that feller snorin' me jawin' to myself
n mebbe envyin' him just little OF
his sound sleep. when all At once the
fog cleared away as II II had been sent
for. You could have BOWED me over
with toothpick, Scan that track
ahead Of me- as " rs I could see. /
could detect ne tail lights Of train
ahead. But OF to the right in the
fields was e really truly sawmiIi- prob
ably workin' overtime on some little
extra Job.
Now. say mebbe I didn't feel a.
cheap as pair Of Ice skates In the
summer time. nearly got laid Oh
for ton days mysei: Tar dciayin' that
fast freight"