Devils Lake inter-ocean. (Devils Lake, N.D.) 1909-1915, 1914-12-25
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(CopYright.

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u 10 Flyn, alias "Snippy," was never q
good boy. We all knew that he was
bad, for our parents and teachers said
50, but we boys all liked him. Snip
py" could be depended upon. When
he promised any one a licking he de
livered the goods. Or took one him
,self,;8which answered the same pur
pose. !. 4. ;5 II; :% n $ .1s;&
a He never told on another fellow, and
studied his lessons to good purpose.
when nothing more to his liking was
TO be dssse. But his lessons never in
terfarsd with the other things.
a Simply" was understood for his
age, but a natural leader, with an ir.
resistible bent for forbidden places
and things and remarkable indie
pendence Of, character. He always
took tie consequences Of his own acts
gracefully and never grumbled.
We realized these and many other
of his characteristics later in life. As
a boy, we only knew that he was bad
but we liked him III r.
Before any of us were more than
half-grown boys, "Snippy" left school
and went to work in the rolling mills.
First, he was a buggy boy wheeiing
great balls of white-hot iron from the
furnaces to the giant trip-hammer on
a curious little two-wheeled, long.
handled iron cart, called a buggy"
Then he was fireman-stoker the
Welsh iron-workers called it. Snip.
py's"' furnace was always hot, the not.
test in the mill. Finally, about the
time the rest of us left gramm..r
school he was advanced to furnace
boss, or puddler. -: '.--
We used often to see him stripped
to the waist, the great muscles show.
ing on his back and shoulders, work.
ing before the open mouth of a glow.
ing furnace with a long bar forming
the half-molten iron into the great
ball which we had SO often seen beat.
en- into ingots by the trip-hammer. 1t
almost seemed the realization of many
familiar warnings to see the bad boy
writing and sweating amid the sui
phurous, gases, prodding the glowing
fire with huge, long-handled pitch.
fork A.. o.
Soon after this Simply" went out
West to newly opened steel mill
@and we heard nothing of him for sew
,eral years. Then rumor came to
town that he had been seen wearing
striped suit in a western prison.
Rumors were followed by facts
"Snippy'' was a. convict, Many wise
heads wagged, and the wiseacres re
called that they had foretold the END
of the bad boy long ago. -.-.'
Unexpectedly, one day "jSnippy" re
appeared. among us, He>had never
been handsome, or even passable in
appearance. and age haa not improv ed
him. He was still understood, except
as to his arms, which were much toe
long. &S% s'3* + !: e. 5 .4 zss% -
His chest and shoulders were pro
aportionate to his arms, and much toe
red and his freckles overlapped eacf
other. Both toes turned in and one
eye turned out. ~ : s5E@E ,.,.. F..
: They were the same peculiarities We
had known in boyhood, all accumulated
by age. He had, in addition, large
scar extending from the right ear. un
der the chin to the middle of the LET
cheek. ~. =. :. gs:f2 ,:a,is{ Is >; ii.
Some, well-intentioned, but badly in
| FORMED, person had thought to i'm
prove the world by putting Simply
out of 1t, and had left the, job .un
finished N, Hebwas a, bad man to- lool
at and worse TO handle. = IT,.
Simply was reticent. He gave M
| account OF himself or ct what he hat
!, been doing during his years Of alb
l3sence, ana his reticRnce was catching
No one asked him. 4 II was natural tt
associate scarSWitf the prison uni
form, Somehow, we felt that the. othe
]feliew had more need Sof sympath.
than Simply" had; ]. s,,;.. -, {: =
/. rs He wanted a job Steel-making hat
changed while he. wore the striped
suit; new tools and new methods ha,
come into use. "snippy" did not wan
to learn his trade.over again, SO h
went to railroading. .%s5+5. Il.
There was activity. danger, an,
i hardship enough in a brakeman's lif
i to tempt him. Then the mutual de
pendence and reliance of trainmen o.
4 each other appealed to him. His rug
.ged qualities of self.reliance and lead
ership demanded action and expires
] sion, and found both In the sstrenuou
life of the freight brakeman. .,$5
The mysterious feeling Of fellow
4 ship that binds together all men e1