The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1917-10-20
By N. wAl.TEm


uews of American troops under fre In
France WAS brought 90 this Office to
day by an officer Of the railway engt
necrs Who. before cniisting. had worked
on every railroad In tho middle west,
Ito was enthusiastic about the prompt.
ness with which the Engineers wer, put
TO work ai the front and the Importance
of the job assigned to them
'As soon ~ We got over there" he
said, I'VE were put with the british
forces and our regiment scattered all
over tho area In which We were placed,
We aro the only American troops In
that part of the country and We have
not seen any others since We reached
France. I was given n hundred men
and put In charge Of the operation and
maintenance OF eighteen miles of mar.
row gauge railway which runs from the
standard gauge rail head 10 the batter.
ios. We soon got used to shells which
flew about frequently. and have some
20 regard them as a pcstifcrous hut
quite necessary nuisance Tho engines
and track are All American made, hut
the cars are British make
How do you set on with the Brit
ishy"
II have had a tough timc learning
To call n ear truck. "a conductor u
guard. gasoline petrol. and ~ on. but
avn entirely surrounded by English ~
| have had 20 surrender"
What do you make OF them as fight.
crsr"
The English are an earnest people,
and determination IL their middle name
hut. oh Lord. how they procrastinatel
They treat us with every mark OF re-
spcct. but they hasten TO assure us
that we must not be in too 'dcvilish a
hurry an the war win probably be car.
rying on tomorrow. There is no dc
nying, however that they arc good war.
makers and are persistent In their ways
To the last degree. Their soldiers are
well disciplined and very COURAGEOUS
and their officers very brave and cheer
fui men. We get along finely. but u
true Yank viii always he distinguished
among them for his kick and ginger.
aod knows they have reason to lack IL
after three years OF what | see here
daily
I'VE haul ammunition. food. engi.
necring supplies and troops to the front.
On our main lines we use Baldwin's
steam locomotives. The stuff for the
batteries Is put or In yards In the day
time and our night crews haul IL TO
the front by means OF blk patrol clec.
trio tractors. These are very good
Pittsburgh machines and our gsls en-.
gino men are delighted with them.
"Whenever the American railway
mon como In touch with the Canadians
on the same job. there is particularly
keen and friendly rivalry.
There IL n Canadian In charge OF the
next division to me and he and I wage
fearful warfare to outdo one another
in ton-miles This IN where find Amer
lean business methods pay. have a
sergeant who In private life was n
publicity agent: he goes out scouting for
business and when he lands a new job. |
which Is good for three ears daily a
week. give him day OF in the near. !
est town to celebrate, lie does"
One incident told by this man. who
knows all the tricks of operation on
every road between Minnesota and
Texas he was particularly proud of. |
and II observes To bc put down As he |
told il.
ION one section NJ my division there
is n steep grade In the track and an |
engine can only haul five loaded cars
over the grade. Now this grade is ON |
the main line and much OF our traffic |
passes over IL. The company. which |
operated here previous TO ourselves.
was wont To send out from the terminus |
tive-car trains rs regular thing on |
the main line. Well. we built siding |
- al. H..
stationed two engine crews one TO re-
lieve the other. and one engine there |
and sent out ten-car trains over the
main line. Upon arriving at the foot
~ the grade the engine stationed there
pullcd cut OF a siding we had construct.
sd and pushed the train over the hill, |
whereupon the engine uncouplei and |
Dent hack to its station. This enabled |
IS to rsleaSe four engines. I imme-
diatcly went looking for morc cars and /
more business | Tot the business all !
right. but when applied Tor more cars
| stirred up an awful 'strafc' \ very /
important man himself paid me a visit
and demanded 20 know how | could /
have four iocos' TO Sparc. and when /
I told him he said that l was running
more traffic over the line than my mo-
tive power complement was figured 20
haul. told him 20 give me more cars
and | would put a hole In tho records
of the British army. and he finally. with 1
a deprecatosy smile. agreed 90 try the
experiment Since that time have run
an additional ten trains daily over the
main llns. hut | am in had with every
Light Railway man in the area. be
cause ! have smashed a treasured Brit.
ish railway precedent by top-loading my
motive power, according TO the good old
American railroad system Of scrapping
locomotives as soon as they are wcrn.~
As 90 the end ~ the war; he WAS
making NO gucsses but he said. L
don't care how soon Il Is. As IL Is very |
unsatisfactory 90 have % wait twenty
DAYS for news Nom ones wife
lie was married two weeks before
sailing from America