Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1913-04-08
RAILROAD STORIES
Old Times Have Them On Hand te
Satisfy Publie's Craving.


There 10 a great deal Of romance
woven about the business Of railroad
ing. Books have been written Of IT.
poems sung of 1t. When one sits at
ease behind the brass-railed platform
of the observation car, 1t Is quite easy
to think Of the romantic life Of the en-
gineer ahead.
II you should some time get per-
mission to ride on q locomotive and
the fireman lets you feed the hungry
nav Of the engine for several miles.
romance will take seat some dis
tance in the rear. There Is nothing
particularly romantic about shoveling
q few tons of coal into the mouth Of g
flaming furnace, and II hot cinder
pops out and flies down the collar Of
your shirt, that is not very romantic
either.
II is a source of constant amuse-
ment to seasoned railroad men to hear
outsiders rave about "romances Of the
reil." To them It means toiling and
sweating for a livelihood. But X a
curious person Is determined to find
romances, the average railroader will
be tickled to help him along, The ay-
erage railroader is q champion kid
der" with a wonderful fertile imagi-
nation; he loves to sit down with some
OPEN -mouthed, wild-eyed person and
spin his supply Of yarns, most OF
which would bring a blush Of shame
to the notoriously inaccurate Baron
Munchausen.
Any one searching for railroad tales
was, sooner or later, sent to see Uncle
ol~ foI ofo O. L.
neer, who was employed IN the Wa
bash roundhouse at Moberly, Mo.
Uncle Nick had but one tale, but 1t
was q good one. Here is the way 1t
ran:
II forget the exact date, but the
Wabash was the Old North Missouri
In those days. We used wooden string
ers for rails, with strip OF metal
nailed on top Of them. We used to
name engines, calling them Vermont
'Mississippp and so on. Finally. they
got so numerous that 1t was decided
to number them instead. ! had the
original No. 13. She burned sticks Of
wood instead Of coal, and the fireman
was called q wood passer.
"On the day am telling about mo-
ticed that 1t was the thirteenth day OF
the month; that, with engine No. 13.
a superstitious man stiff. To add to
that we pulled out Of Moberly just 13
minutes late with 13 passengers
aboard My wood passer was mighty
scared, but Just laughed at him.
"The Old North Missouri ran from
st. Louis to Macon. We were running
along nice and smooth with our trip
almost over, when-bingo! A warped
wooden rail sent US into the ditch.
None of US were hurt, but, believe me
or not, the first thing I saw when I
crawled out from under the wreck was
q @ mile post 1t said Macon CITY, 10
Uncle Nick told his story in very
convincing fashion, and 1t was quite
q disappointment to find that mile
described. But, worst Of all, was the
discovery that his experience had been
confined to the kind of engine that
has to be hauled by other power than
it's own. The only way he ever rode
on a railroad was as passenger.
When a passenger hands the brake
man and conductor perfectly good
cigar and proceeds to get chummy, the
two railroaders know that they are
about to be pumped for yarn. On a
local freight one day cigar won me
the invitation to climb into the cupola
Of the caboose, a place reserved exclu-
sively for the train crew, with a Keep
Out" sign for all others. This is the
story the brakeman told me:
He was slim, red-headed kind
and we called him Splinter. He was
night man at the signal tower at Ona,
w. Va. The Baltimore and Ohio
tracks 90 through the side Of Q hill at
Ona and q cut has been made through
solid rock. Spinter's tower was just
outside Ona Cut, as 1t was called.
Splinter was a plug tobacco fiend;
he always had to have his chew. One
night just before the F. F. What's
the Fast Flying Virginia. the road 9
crack train-was due, Splinter found
he was out Of tobacco. The F. F.. ".
was reported late, and he figured that
by sprinting a bit he could get to the
store at Ona and be back In plenty OF
time to give a clear board to the
F. F. V. w
He figured his time a little too
close, and as he got back to his tower
the F. F. ", tagged down by the red
to a stop. He rushed up the towers
steps and gave the train the clear sig
nal just as the engineer was starting
to climb down and find out what
strange thing had stopped him at ona
Cut.
ITO stop the roads no-stop train
was a crime, and Splinter already con-
sidered himself fired. Well, the F. F.
v. slowly moved on. She was heavy
train and II took some time to get up
steam again. Just as she was crawling
into the mouth Of the cut and round
ing a sharp curve just inside the cut
the engineer jammed on the air
brakes and reversed the engine. And
1t was not a minute too soon. They
stopped within four feet Of big rock
that had fallen on the track from the
top Of the cut. 1t would have meant
bad wreck.
Splinter told the truth about stop
ping the F. F. v. 1t happened that the
president Of the road was on the train
with his family. He sent Splinter a
check for $500, saying, I hope this
will keep you in plug tobacco for some
time st. Louis Post Dispatch.
sumptuary Laws Of Japan.-one of
the most striking changes wrought In
Japan during the JaEAnese emperor's
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