The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1910-07-28
HOW JIMMIE
GOT HIS ENGINE
The Incident That Brought Him
Promotion and a Bride.

r. that when Jimmie Kincaid got bis
engine be would also get Nettie Oliver.
But Jimmie's ch1nce for getting an
engine 10 the near future did not seem
particularly bright. He was fourth on
the list OF dremen Of the Lawrence
burg division. and that meant be must
wait until four engineers died. reached
the age OF limit or were fired. or
course there was always the chance
that be would be able to do something
TO attract the attention Of the superin-
tendent OF motive power, and then he
might get his engine at any time.
In the meantime Nettie had a fairly
good position as felegrapher at Benson
station. and Jimmie could get a chance
10 char with her for a few minutes
every day when his train. passenger
No. IA. lay over on the siding at Ben
son TO allow the limited mail to pass.
When he had begun scraping an ac-
quaintance with Nettie something over
year before Jimmie had used the
pretext that he was thinking Of learn
ing telegraphy. and under her tutor
ship he had picked up fair working
knowledge Of the Morse code.
Many a sly joke did the train crew
Of No. u crack at Jimmie's suddenly
born ambition to learn telegraphy. but
he bore all Of these with equanimity
and said that the knowledge might
come in handy some time. After
awhile II became understood among
all the men that Jimmie's case was
really serious. and then the jokes stop
ped. Even the head brakeman Of No
IA. who had a reputation dis wit. for
bore to make remarks about the con
uection between the Morse code and
pretty girls.
Benson station is at the foot Of
Twelve Mile hill, and this hill is re
garded by the engineers as the worst
place on the division The grade IS so
heavy that the track winds up the hill
in two long loops When you get to
the beginning Of the second loop you
are only a mile from Benson station
on a straight line, but it is six miles
distant by the track After he had
mastered the rudiments Of the Morse
code JiinlnIe would take hold Of the
whistle cord when No IA came TO tie
loop on the down grade and signal
hello to Neftie at Benson station in
sharp blasts upon the whistle. which
stood for the dots and dashes Of the
code
So things went along for a year. and
JimmIe's prospects OF promotion got
little brighter. on the records Of the
Office Of the superintendent Of motive
power he was still merely James Kin
caid. fourth on the list OF firemen.
with good reputation and the pros
pect OF succeeding to an engine in the
course of five or six years. When
business picked up In the fall a mum
Der Of extra freight trains were put on.
and he got his fist chance to run an
| engine.
on the first trip II fell to his lot to
take out the third section Of freight
train No. log, eastbound. The third
section Of No JOG was made up Of thir-
| ty-one heavily loaded cars. and none OF
these was equipped with air brakes.
AS he pulled out Of Adairville the old
yard master swung himself up into
the cab of the engine and said:
Il think yen pull the engine all
right. Jimmie. me bye. but for the
love Of the saints be careful when ye
strike the top Of the bill this side Of
Benson. Faith. it's a heavy train
they've given We. snd II 1t should break
in two going down that hill and thin
cyars with no air brakes on to thin
there'd be the devil and all TO pay"
Despite this warning there was no
fear Of a break in two in Jimuiies
heart as be nursed his engine along
toward the top OF the hill Oh the other
side Of which lay Benson. This is an
accident which happens very rarely
and which not even the most expert
enced engineer can successfully guard
against. But as he struck the top OF
the hill and began to descend on the
side toward Benson he felt jerk
which nearly threw him of his seat
Looking back. be saw that the wors'
had happened a coupling had snap
ped in the middle Of the train.
For the present there was but one
thing to do. aud that was 20 80 down
grade as fast as he could. Looking
back he could see that the rear brake
man. who was the only man 90 the
cars which had been left behind. had
made one inenecinaI attempt TO set the
brakes and then mad jumped 10 safety.
Jimmie knew that If the fourteen cars
running wild behind caught up wit
the forward half Of the train ther
would be Il wreck which would cause
damage to the extent OF thousands OF
dollars and blacklist IL not kill, the en-
gineer responsible.
Faster and faster the telegraph poles
on the side OF the track new past him.
Jimmies mind was working faster
than 1t had ever done IN his life. His
orders directed him to wait on the sid
ing at Benson station for the west
bound passenger train to pass. and he
knew that At any cost be mustsave the