The Calumet news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 1907-1938, 1910-03-19
The Presidents
Special

Has 1t ever occurred to you as you
lean back in the soft seat of n Pull
man palace car and watch the land
scape flashing by, dreamily listening
to the rhythmic click-click of the iron
rails upon which you are being whirl-
ed along at the rate of sixty miles an
hour that your very life Is constantly
in the hands Of one man? Not the
man at the throttle, nor the blue coat
ed, grim looking conductor who hur-
ries to and fro with lantern on his
arm, but to one man who Is seated be-
fore a little instrument that clicks
clicks, clicks out the fate of hundreds
Of lives every hour of the day. one
mistake, one moment of neglect, and
YOU are whirled into eternity amid the
grinding noises of the train wreck.
'The Presidents Special" Is a silent
drama founded on just such a situa-
ton. IT is drama that possesses all
the elements of such a tragedy. ac-
counts Of which we so often find i'm the
paper
The story of 1.-The Presidents Spe-
cial" is simple and direct, yet exceed
inly dramatic. The day operator at
Willoughbv Station comes on duty and
finds Collins the night man. quite ILL.,
Collins leaves for home, PROMISING to
he at work again in the evening. This
he fails to do and the day operator is
forced to. stick at his post for forty
eight hours. His wife calls at midnight
to bring him his lunch and endeavors
to cheer him up while he is struggling
with the powers of sleep. At this
iuncture he receives n telegraph mes
sage instructing him to flag passenger
train No. and sidetrack same, giving
the Presidents special the right OF way
on the track This the wife learns and
leaves.
The operator. left alone, begins n
terrible struggle to keep awake. At
last nature conquers will power. We
see the operators head fall to his
arm. and sweet sleep reigns supreme
Suddenly breaking the silence Of the
night. passenger train No. 3 dashes by
The rattle of the wheels awakes the
sleeping man, but too late! He has
paid the awful price of moments
sleep. To his mind come constantly
the words, "a wreck, a wreck and
am the guilty man." His dream be-
comes confused. Sc sees the trains
rushing down the track towards each
other-an awful crash. and all Is dark
ness before him! Now come the VIC
tins OF his guilt, accusing him OF his
crime, hooking and jeering at him.
Death seems to be the only solution
to shut them from MS sight. He draws
forth the revolver and. as he raises the
weapon to fire. his senses reel and he
falls fainting to the floor.
Suddenly the scene changes to the
ouiet of his home. His child Is say
ing her midnight prayers, in the midst
of which his wife hears the long, low
whistle OF No. . coming down the
track. In a second she realizes that
her husband has failed to flag the ex-
press. Grabbing up a red table cloth,
she dashes from the house to stop the
train, but II Is too late--the train has
passed. Fate at this moment takes
MP the destiny of lives and brings
down the road IN automobile. The
frantic woman halls the car, and in a
spirit of desperation tells what is need
ed to save hundreds of lives: the train
must be stopped. A second Of explain
alton and the big touring car Is seen
dashing down the road at the rate cf
sixty miles an hour after the express
train.
Then follows race so thrillir~ ~
few spectators have ever witnessed
,ts equal on the moving picture can
vas. This thrilling story will be con-
tlnued at the Royal theater tonight
and tomorrow afternoon and night It's
equal has never been in the copper
country.