The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-07-01

key. "He's going to pick it up at one
 hitch-and without blocking!" 1 Hands of. Mac" said Lidgerwood good natured1y "If Fred didn't know l this trade before he's learning it pretty erapidly now."
 That's all right. but if he doesn't break something before he gets | through
 But Dawson was breaking nothing. Having designed locomotives, he knew
 to the fraction of an inch where the balancing hitch, should be made for lifting one; also machinery and the breaking strains of it were as his daily bread. >
 ''Now. then. Billy. try your hitch! Put the strain on a little at time and often. Steady! Now you've got
 her! Keep her coming!" Slowly the big freight puller rose out of its furrow in the gravel, right ing itself to the perpendicular as it came. Anticipating the inward swing | of 1t, Dawson, was showing his men
 how to place ties and rails for short temporary track. ard when he gave Darby the stop signal the hoisting ca bles were singing like piano strings, and the big engine was swinging bodi- ly in the air in the grip of the crane 1 tackle, poised to a nicety above the steel placed to4receiye it. < y.s-.,.. .. :, Dawson climbed up to the main line embankment where Darby could see him and where, he could see all the
 parts of his problem at once. Then
 his hands went up to beckon the stacking signals. At the lifting of his finger there were a growing of gears
 and a backward racing of machinery,
 a groan of relaxing strains and cry
 of "An gone.r5 And the 195 stood up- right, ready to be hauled out when the temporary track should be extend ed to a connection with the main line Let's go up to the other end and
 see how your understudy is making
 It, Mac," said the gratifed superin- tendent. "It is quite evident that we
 can't tell this young mansanything he l doesn't already ,know about picking up locomotives"
 ! On the way up the track he asked about Clay and Green, the engineer
 and fireman who were in the wreck.
 'They are not badly hurt" said the trainmaster. "They both went, home
 on POI"
 Lidgerwood was examining the crossties, which were cut and scared
 by the danges of many derailed wheels.
 -"You have no notion of what did
 lt?'' he queried, turning abruptly upon McCloskey.
 "Only a guess. and it couldn't be
 verified in a thousand years. The 195 went off first, and Clay and
 Green both say it felt as if a rail had
 turned over on the outside of the curve The entire train went off so thorough ly that it passed the point where the
 trouble began before it piled up. had turned over on the outside of the curve"
 "That proves nothing more than poor spike holds in a few dry rotted cross i Hes," Lidgerwood objected. "No; there were number of others farther along also turned over and
 broken and bent. But the first one
 was the only, freak" "How was that?'
 -Well. it wasn't either broken or
 bent, but when it turned over it not
 only unscrewed the nuts of the fish plate bolts and threw them await
 pulled out every spike on both sides of itself and hid them" Lidgerwood nodded gravely. '1 should say your guess has already VI flied itself. All it lacks is the nan
 of the man who loosened the fishplate
 bolts and pulled the spikes" That's about all."
 The superintendent's eyes narrowed. l. "Who was missing out of the Angels
 crowdb of trouble makers yesterday.
 Mac?'
 T hate to say," said the trainmaster.
 T don't want to put it all over any
 man unless it belongs to him, but Pm
 locoed every time it comes to that kind
 of guess. Every bunch of letters ] see spells just one name" GO on." said Lidgerwood sharply. 'Hallock came somewhere up this way on the POP yesterday" '1 know" was the quick reply. T sent him out to Navajo to meet Cruik- Shanks, the cattleman with the long claim for stock injured in the Gap wreck two weeks ago."
 Did he stop at Navajo?" Queried
 the trainmaster.
 T suppose so. At any rate. he saw
 Cruikshanks''
 Well, I haven't got any more guess
 es, only a notion or two This is a
 pretty stiff up grade for POP. She pass
 es here at 2:50, just about an hour be-
 fore Clay found that loosened rail, and
 it wouldn't be impossible for man to
 drop off as she was climbing this
 curve"
 But now the superintendent was
 shaking his head.
 l. xl 1oo