The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1911-06-19


headquarters and in the excitement oi the
coming contest men forgot the heat Then,
even as the switch engines il the Crescent
City's yards pulled and tuggcd and gangs
of negroes strained at the loading derricks,
came further word that all tic chipping
centers Of the South would be drained to
help relieve the pressure, that themopcment
would be much heavier than az FIRST ex-
pccted Beat the Shore Line was the
gist If private message to IIelcomb from
the President himself Out over hundreds
of mics OF wire went forthwith yct more Of
the General Managers own galyanic energy.
The derricks swung faster, the negroes
sweated and toiled furiously under the
premise Of double pay and watermelon
apiece AS quickly as they were loaded the
cars were pounced upon aud borne swiftly
away. And always came the messages
from headquarters Hurry harry, hurryw
A mighty Consolidated slid easily down to
the head Of the fast-engthening string Of
cars and a bucking, snorting, changing
switch engine rammed a big red caboose
viciously in at the other end. It was thirty
minutes before Fifty-three was scheduled TO
start, and the Cotton Special was ready.
But the Mississippi division dcspatchers
were ready too The train wires snapped
and clattered with the quick clear " d, the
despatchers cali that is law over all traffic
Trains were headed into sidings, given meet
ING orders, brushed aside here and there,
that the way might be clear. While the
copper threads were yet busy with orders
Tor the far end Of the division, the big engine
breathed deeply once and from front to
rear the couplings canked and grew taut.
Then the monster roared her impatience
through the stubby stack, the drivers spun
on the polished surface Of the rails. and the
Special strained forward with fast-growing
speed on her thousand-mile race. For once
freight ran as first Fifty-three and from
twenty to thirty minutes behind her the big
1907 hurtled between the cotton fields with
the five mail cars for Mex York and took
her dust as the second section
All through the afternoon and into the
night came reports Of the Special progress.
Division after division took her up and sent
her its length. She was gaining on the
Shore Line train and would probably pass
Dover Tower, where the two roads crossed,
before il did.
Mart. Bowman, the operator in that
tower, spent his spare time during the
afternoon informing Bancroft Of the
whereabouts Of the Shore Line cotton train.
For the towerman bore The Shore Line
grudgc Somewhat vindictivc Of spirit was
Mart, and in two respects he rescmblcd
George Amhorn's lamented pig he was
narrow of mind and he has a place in this
story On this day when the rivalry be-
tween the two lines had taken Oh tangi-
bility in the form of the Cotton Specials,
he recalled afresh little scene Iii his
Office, and could hear
quite clearly chat officials judicial tones
Is he said, Its two to one, Bowman.
The engineer and fireman both say that you
displayed no red light and their reputa-
ions are fairly good I'm going 70 give YOU
he benefit Of the doubt, however, and re-
ain yousin the service, but not at Woods
zap After a ten-day lay-off you viii re-
,ort for day work at Dover Tower The
alary will be sixty dollars per month
i've less than you are getting now and the
N. G. =. viii pay hail ol it. That's ALL