Bismarck daily tribune., 1908-12-27
seat, arose. smiled. bowed ana walked

ried about with him haunting dread
OF the wind crank. He would turn
corner In crowded street and meet
him face to face, and for the briefest
moment the man would search the
soul of the manager. Once In the city
that was headquarters for the 0olnpa-
ny they held "a great exhibition, and
the general manager was chosen to
welcome the president OF the United
States. The moment he came to the
edge Of the platform and faced the
waiting multitude, waiting not to hear
the railroad man, but the president, he
became embarrassed. Ladies and gen.
tlemen," he began, II see before me-
Here the speaker paused awkward
E, like O schoolboy who has forgotten
his lines. Before him rose the gaunt
face Of the wind crank, who stood In
the front row. towering above hts
neighbors. ys-s-.-------
Pulling himself together, the rail-
road man went on. His friends began
to tremble for him. What he said had
nothing to do with the exhibition, the
president or the. people there assem-
bled. ''The company has always en-
deavored to keep abreast of the times.
We have adopted every safety appli-
ance that has been invented, but so
long as human hands, guided by the
brain of man''- Il
At that point a man who was intelli-
gent when he was sober broke in on
the orator, s'Oh, come often th' perch
an let som'on' talk 'at can talk senser"
Blushing to the very roots of his
hair, this local orator, the man who
had been called 'the Demosthenes OF
the west" stumbled from the stage.
At last the long winter came to an
end, and the inventor went away with
the snow. AT all events, the manager
had beeniirid of him for a long while
when one day his special stood upon a
short spur near the mountain top wait
ing for the eastbound overland ex-
press. Presently the party were made
aware of the approach of the opposing
train, but instead of the low singing
Of the rail, for which they had been
! listening, they heard suddenly the roar
of a runaway train and the frantic cry
Of locomotive for brakes. The flag
man who had opened the switch to let
| the special back in on the spur stood
| there waiting to let them out again
when the express should pass. All the
| people had climbed down from the
waiting train to stretch themselves.
The engineer was oiling his engine. The
fireman had climbed up bank to gath
er some wild flowers that grew where
little stream Of clear cold water CUR
gled from the rocks. Seeing the flag
man still holding to the switch, the
general manager ran toward him, cali
ing to him to let 60 and stand back.
What might have happened If the
manager had remained quiet no man
knoweth, but when the fiagman saw
him coming and heard him shouting
without understanding what he was
saying he glanced nervously in the di-
rection of the approaching train. The
wild engine at that moment rounded
curve and headed down a short tan
gent straight for the switch. The flag
man was seen to glance back again at
his own train. which stood well in the
clear, then throw his weight on the
switch lever. Over went the rail for
the spur, and across it went the flying
train. j.,
An air hose had blown off just as
they tipped over the top of the hill
(this was before the days Of the self
acting, self adjusting automatic air
brake), and the few hand brakes at
the crews command had served only
1 to steady the train. They could not
hold the big mountain engine, and now
she shot in on the spur, wide open,
splitting fire and screaming like wild
fend. She hit the special with a crash
that shook the very hills. The special
train, with its lighter locomotive, was
driven back three cars or more and
crushed like an eggshell against the
rock cliff that rose perpendicularly at
the far end of the spur. The heavy
sleepers crushed the mail and express
cars against the wrecked locomotives.
There were the old familiar shrieks Of
the broken engines, the means of the
mangled and the excited shouts Of the
rescuers. The general manager had
succeeded in dragging man from the
ruins and placing him in an easy posi-
ton. The man appeared to be quite
dead. AS the manager was about to
turn away something tugged feebly at
his sleeve. The manager stopped down,
put his ear to the mans breast, peered
into his face and then stepped back
with startled expression. Now, with
the superhuman strength that some
times comes to dying men, the wreck
lifted his head and looked with
strange, wild eyes into the face Of the
manager.
"oh, you murderer! Do you still
argue that you can hold a train with
mountain air? Now, with system Of
afr pipes-running up from the valley
all this wreck-and-deat
The general manager put his ear
down again, but the troubled heart
was hushed.
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