The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1908-05-23

George Washing
NN132 ton look like
/S0 80 typew liter
EQ power press agent,
w ~ has his fads and
fancies.
Some dote on
patent water
pumps, others have leaning toward
Wooten boilers, while the master me-
chanic of the Airline division, Mr.. NC
Cracker, ran to naming locomotives
instead of having them numbered. his
selections had a peculiar twist, sucn
names as Dante's Inferno. Nemesis
and HelPs Kitchen meeting his fancy.
Withal he had q good nose Tor loco
motive mettle and I doubt II the Air
line ever had q better stable OF iron
horses than when he was In charge OF
that department.
"Bill Holt was the engineer on
Dante's Inferno. Bill was the real
thing at handling locomotives and
when he was at the throttle 1t might
be said that the Inferno could pull
like Hades.
AT that time was night operator
at the Stockton waterplug. Sam Mills
was fielding the dots and dashes at
Scruggins Corners. some Is miles
away.
Sam had bug on homing pigeons.
1t was only short fly, Texas lea
guer one might say. from the water
plug to Scruggins Corners for the big,
strong pigeons Sam bred. Going to
work at the waterplug of nights usu-
| ally took two or three Of the birds
over to my station and let EN- loose at
various times of the night to take
practice trips back to Sam at the
Corners.
"Bill Holt and Dante's Inferno were
always on the job on the Cannonball
fast freight eastbound nights. As the
schedule was laid out in the time
card the Cannorball passed the mid
night express going west at Fargo, a
siding about ten miles east OF Scrug-
gins Corners, the Airline not having
double tracks at that time. Sometimes.
IL the Cannonball was behind time,
the dispatcher would give orders to
put the lid on the Inferno and back
In at the waterplug siding to let flyer
by.
'One night something bigger'n q
woodchuck seemed to have gone cross
ways with Dante's Inferno and Bill
was falling down on his time. On the
other hand the time card was being
pursued by the Nemesis on the mid
night express with vengeance. So
was on the lookout for the train dis
patcher when he called me on the
wire and gave me the following order:
1.-The Cannonball freight, Eng
Dante's Inferno, and No. IL, Eng. Mem
esis, will meet and pass at Stockton
Siding instead Of Fargo, the Cannon
ball to take the siding
Il slammed my signal board agains
the Cannonball and informed the dis
patcher that the semaphore was SCI
. On this information he let the mid
9 night express proceed on the order.
I'm the meantime Dante's Intern
o had had a change Of heart and wa
I making up time. Bill Holt therefor
must have decided to cut out tn
+ Stockton watering stop and tank u
: further down the line. l could hea
him coming down the valley, hittin
1t up for dear life.
1 1T was a cinch that old Bill woul
make some complimentary remarks o
train dispatchers in particular an
l.. telegraphic orders in general when b
met up with my signal. 1t was u
gade from Stockton to Scruggin
Corners and Bill had to hand it to ii
Inferno for all she was worth comm
down through the valley in order
make the hard pull.
We'll. say, he just whirled by n
little station without so much ;
whistling by your leave and dusts
on for all he was worth.
II looked out at my semaphore. N
q heart sank until it made my corr
= hurt. The light showed white nc
withstanding the fact that the lever
= my Office was thrown to the dang
position. Either the wires had
come kinked, holding the blade ba,
to safety, or the red glass had fall
out.
But it was no time for speculate
as to cause. The pressing business
hand was for me to get those orde
to Bill Holt some way.
Il called Scruggins Corners on I
wire. but Sam must have been fussi
with his pigeons. as he didn't answ'
Then my eye lighted on the bash
with the carrier pigeons which
had brought over earlier in the eve
ing.
1T took me Just about three secon
- tn ge the largest pigeOn, Samson, {