The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1909-01-15

- "iil' WIZ "DFElLE on EIlAI
proposition that grew out n a railway
strike
Capt Dickson. a former official 81
the United States secret service. now
retired was IN a muHua frame Of
mind. when 7 called ON him the other
evening and h. gave expire sion 10 the
foregoing words Something that hap.
pcned during the day had brought 70
his mind one Of the vivid experiences
OF his days Of active scrglcr. and had
no trouble In getting him 10 relate the
circumstances put them down IN
his own words
The T. Il o. was little railroad
that ran between two small towns In a
certain western state, and happened
20 become mixed 10 with this labor
difficulty because Of the fact that the
road carried the malls Ny depart.
ment was brought into play 10 prevent
any interference with the government
mail service by the strikerE
The country at large was not much
affected by the tying up Of this inslg.
nifcant part Of the great network Of
railroads Yet the government. with
the thorOughness # displays In every.
thing connected with u, took the liycll.
est interest In the case was as
signed TO II with Instructions To see
that the mail train made it's regular
daily trip without being molested.
I was much surprised 10 find an old
college mate Of mine officiating as gen
eral manager Of the road. | remem'
bHred him ~ a studiOug Rawky, red.
headed youngster. who was taking
course In civil engineering / had
some work with him IN the surveying
class. which was a part o. the course
Of mining engineering to which was
devoting my attention He was too
Belf-centered and too gtudiUus 10 BE-
popular with the boys Of his class, and
because ! appreciated his loneliness
and showed him some slight courteslcs.
he formed q deep attachment for me.
We promised to write when we left
college but as those promises gen.
orally go, neither Of Us thought Of Il
or. II We did. ever acted upon II. We
quite lost track Of each other until
walked into bis Office one afternoon
10 confer with him about the strike
He was not quite as redheaded and
gawky as IN his college days, but he
had changed 30 little that readily
recognized him He knew me instant.
~ and greeted me with a warmth and
genuine pleasure that was most
agreeable. He was showed under with
work. but he brushed aside the mass
Of papers that Uttered his desk and
made me sit down and tell him some.
thing of my experiences since had
left college before he would take up
business matters with me. He told
me of the struggle he had had in
climbing from Obscurity 10 his present
responsible position, which was not in
any sense an unimportant one. His
road was Il feeder or tapllne for one
OF the big trans-eontinental systems
and his post put him In direct line for
promotion into the service OF the lat
ter
He was as frank and engaging and
devoted 10 his work as when he had
beer an awkward, bashful college boy,
looked down upon. stunned and de-
spised by his classmates because Of
his poor circumstances and bis lack Of
time to be what they considered q
good fellow. He had fought hts way
upward against the greatest difiicul,
ties, and marveled at his ability TO
cope with the adverse conditions that
I knew had confronted him I'm his bat
tie. Since then have come TO know
that II Ia only by fighting that man
can develop the best that Ia In him
and that the more obstacles he encoun.
tiers and overcomes the better man he
makes in the end.
After talking over old times for
while VIE got down 20 bpsin.ss. aud !
soon ggthered thorough knowledge
OF ths situation. The trainmen had
conceived that they were being un.
Justly treated and had made certain |
COZ plants, coupled with certain do |