The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1908-11-24
Fiction
THEIR LAST MEETING.
by oY wARMAN.

y i tuN '--+----fi ~, UIfya =.
Every morning for month or more
the man had come 30 the gate1n tbe
outer4offide and asked TO see The gen
eral manager. Every tIorning the OF.
Zee boy had givon him a blank form 10
Gil out. P s,r.E r
"Alr A.
Wishes TO sce--Mr y.
"Buslness-private."
AS often MS the boy went In with the
slip OF paper he came back with the
answer, "The general manager Is too
busy to see YOU"
In time the employees learned to
look not Mt the clock for the hour of
10, but to the gate that swung in the
low fence. When he had come and
gone thirty seven times. lenying thirty.
seven neatly nled requests behind
him. the maragrr Instructed the boy
"Mr. A." said tie boy md closed the
door of the private Office. leayIng the
'a-go men alone, 'rhe general manager
was embarrdssrpl 'ti,Gtead OF. a long
haired, hollow cy!td crank. with s6iled
linen covering his concaved chest, his
cnlicr whs Il Wc,l dressed Intelligent
looking gentleman, ''' -. = -
Delighted. denghf6d. Nj e., said
the stranger, lAdSanciny" WITH out,
stretched hnud. no coed cf you to see
me! Yes, J did eat the other@yes, yes,
! know how busy yop aTe!,gpst 80.
Just so! Ah-h!' ~ XXI" Tx. :,
The men shook Lands hurriedly.. ey-
Ing each ottef ,prerisely MS a pair OF
prlzefShter5 enter he rlng,t,l .t,e.t.,y
The mGpaSer Noticed for the orst
time pecrllnr look In the mans eyes,
"sit down" said The stranger, and the
railway maa sapk back Into hls swing.
lng chair. ~. shan't t.lke. much OF your
time-thil time, snid the visitor. hook
Ing one les over the c1r2er OF, the table
and 6ngging into a comfortable pose.
The manager felt ndgety under the
strangers soul searching eyes
"I'vc got n good thing" enld the
man, keeping his eyes upon the mana.
gers cOnsclcnCo
Il was afraid Of that. said the man,
ager half playfuily, bat the man did
not smile.
You have some heavy grades on
your line" ,.,, ~. ,..
YES" asaented the mpragcr, .
You have doubtless observed that Ii
is almost inyariabiy Upon q niountain
that the air plays out, Just when they
are needed most Is w3qn the brakes
+ refuse y. gtSlSork' You know that n don't NJ
'V,uiI.H, tiss siaatr.t " yEgA
n well, I've spent slerpless nights
working. out a system that will always
work and save millions oe money now
lost in wrecked rolling stock and thou,
sands of useful lives
"What is your schrmeT My time is
limited"
First Of all, you shall build for me
mammoth windmill on the banks OF
the Missouri. The cea seless winds that
come crying across Colorado and Kan
sas will push the paddles In the big
wheel, which, revolving, viii drive a
great pump that will force air through
small pipe TO be laid along the line
under the ties. Beneath each water
tank upon the mountain side we shall
build an air tank, so that while the
fireman takes water the brakeman can
take aif, filing the air drum with good
valley air, and then there will be no
ltfouble, II Is because the monntaln air
ias too light 10 bold TINT the trains get
away on the hills Knowing this, the
blood of innocent men, women and
children will be upon your head II you
Jfall 70 protect the lives Of your pm
irons" NJ s6t IN, u.
~ "Ill sec. you again about this, said
the manager, putting pn bis hat and
leading the way out through private
door All the way out the maD kept
close TO the manager. The elevator
dropped them to the ground toor. The
manager called a cab AS the dooi
closed the man reached through the
open window into the carriage. press
ed the managers hand and said sig
nlficantly, looking deep into the rail-
road mans soul, "You won't lose mev'
Tho inventor continued Ia call upon
the manager. every day at first, then
twice week and later only three or
four times a month
one evening the general mnuager sat
In "A box at the tlieator, Between acts
gentleman who sat almost directly
belund the railroad man left the box