The Meeker herald., 1908-05-23
PUT ON AIR BRAKE
ENGINEER SAYS DON'T RUN BY
WHITE LIE.
little Experience That Cured Old
"Portly" Of the Idea That II Meant
Clear Track Honesty
Always Best.


times has the deferred dividend clause
attachment.
Now, when ] first went runnin' l
wasn't against tellin' little white lie.
White is supposed to be the signal for
a clear track, but, my young friend,
whenever you see a white lie starin
you In the face, just put the air brake
in the Emergency notch m plug her.
II you run by many white ones there's
danger ahead.
Il had habit when l first got an
engine of bein' a little careless, n
ran by semaphore signals once or
twice. l remember one time. after Id
discovered my mistake of signals, of
Just hittin' the water glass on the In
jectOr a sharp crack with hammer.
breakin the water glass n fllin the
cab with steam, maxim 1t most i'm
possible to see. but not lettin' enough
q the vapor escape to scald you.
When called upon for an explana
tion Of my not stoppin' at the signal.
just said that the waterglass busted
n l couldn't see till l put in new
glass. l hadn't swung the excuse
more'n once or twice before came to
be dubbed Water Glass Bill by the
boys on the road.
One dreadful snowy night. as we
lay in the bunk shanty at the other
end OF the division awaitin' our turn
out, Charley Cobb got to tellin' for
tunes from the tea leaves In the bot
tom of a cup from which he had been
drinkin'. 1t got around to me.
We'll, Portly, said Charley when
he had gone through the formula.
from the dope ! get from these tea
leaves I'm tipped OF that there's big
smash-up comm your way. Can't you
see the big piles Of wreckage? It's
due soon, too. Kind of funny oblong,
tubelike object off to one side which
plays an important part in II. l can't
seem to get the Marcel waves of the
wireless as to Just what 1t means
"'Humph! puts in Ira Lewis, you're
a bum huncher. That's a water glass.
That's what that is. Bill never got
into trouble yet that the water glass
didn't bust
They all Joined in the laugh that
followed this sally. Then I sank back
on my bunk to take little needed
rest.
All too soon the caller boy came
after, n in less time than 1t takes to
tell 1t was on my engine m down in
the yards hooked onto fast freight.
1t sure was an owlish night the wind
n snow cuttin' into ones face like
SO many little needles.
Il had the side cab window open
in order to gaze ont occasionally to
keep line on what was goin' on
ahead. Just as we went over the
pitch OF Miller's hill cold blast of
air struck the water glass n she
went snap like piece of clay pipe
stem, film the cab with steam.
ats happenin' Just like 1t was laid
out In the blueprint specifications
said to myself. grabbin' for the throt.
tie to shut of the steam.
But the vapor escapin' from the
water glass got so dense couldn't see
n 1t was fairly parboilin' my flesh.
was unsuccessful also in tryin' to To-
cate the air brake handle.
Here we were fyin' down Millers
grade under full head of steam, me
unable to see anything at all. Charley
Cobb certainly had the correct dope. If
ever got safely out Of that scrapc
solemnly promised myself to be pretty
careful In the future about semaphore
signals m tell no lies of any color. no
matter what happened.
~, nj linz m,
blow the steam clear of the cab for
half second. In that brief space
dead ahead saw the five tail lights OF
a caboose, the red lamps flashin at me
like a sparkin' ruby necklace.
Before | could wink an eyelash my
locomotive stuck her nose right
through that red circle with fright
full crash. l was still flynn through
space when | felt poundin' on the
soles Of my feet N heard a gruff
voice sayin':
".Come, Portly, come out of H.,
You're called for your fast freight run
now
There I'd fallen asleep n dreamed
all that about running away down
Miller's hill with cab full Of steam.
When l awoke ] was all in drippin'
sweat.
Now, say. you can bet / kept a
sharp lookout for things on that trip
m took the tip from tea cup n dream
book No more breakin' water glasses
for mine. I've always told the strict |
truth since. n I've never had any !!
more trouble either"
Steel Cars,