Evening capital and Maryland gazette. (Annapolis, Md.) 1910-1922, 1917-10-22
A RaiIrOader's Yarn.
CBy Edith Barnard Delano, of The
Vigilantes)

Vigilantes.)
Mike s. runs No. on the B. & o,
An old timer is Mike, and proud of il
Could have had a job with the
brotherhood any time for years past,
but doesn't think he'd enjoy life un-
less he could see it from cab win
dow. Might have been G. M. if he'd
had more book-learning; but Mike
doesn't miss that--plenty of man
sense to make up for it. And he's
friends with everybody; call four rail
road presidents by their first names,
and they say the Old Man himself
asks Mikes advice at times
There's been a good deal of talk
lately among the men about those Lib
erty Bonds, and Mikes friend of EN-,
He was leaning out of his car win
dow in Camden Station the other day,
and another engineer who is known
among the boys as something of a
tightwad. was leaning out of his,
couple of tracks over.
Going to buy one of these new Lib
| erty Bonds. Bill?" Mike asked
Il am not" said Bill SOS you
couldn't mistake what he meant. Il
keep my money in savings bank.
That's good enough for me. How'd
know this country'll win the war?
Who d'you reckon will give me back
the money on Liberty Loan Bond if
Germany wins, hey? No, sir, guess
the savings bank1l carry me along
for a while longer"
| Mike scratched his ear and grinned;
he has a catching sort of grin, has
/ Mike "Bill Edison" said he. you re-
mind me of something that once came
| to my notice, because l was in it.
Must be a matter of thirty years ago,
row / was on my first passenger
| engine. and a beauty she was, a thun-
dCrer for those days, inst out of the
shops, and l was prouder of her than
| | was Of the twins.
] at was along in the spring some
time, and the crews coming east all
| reported worst food conditions ever
known. ! brought my train down
over Harper's Ferry when the yellow
mud was boiling down underneath
like as if all Niagara was let loose.
Got as far as Cumberland, and receiv-
ed orders to leave the train there and
take my engine back, and run her
out on the Harper's Ferry bridge and
leave here there. Yes, sir, leave her
/ there / didn't believe those orders
wer straight until | found out that
every other big engine anywhere with
in reach of the bridge had gotten the
same. Well, we did it; the bridge was
crammed full of engines, all the tracks
would hold, by nightfall.
1T wasn't until l got back to Balti-
more, some days later, after the floor
had gone down. that got wind o. the
way it happened. John NJ King was
V P. in those days, and a better rail-
reader never lived, bar none He hap
pened to be in charge at the central
building right then, and reports of
foods kept coming in and coming in,
and everybody got more and more
worried. One bridge after another
went down. one mile of track after
another was washed out. Finally
some fellows from the Maintenance of
| way luSuSu Al duu Sdiu tue I1dl pei ,
Ferry bridge would sure be the next
to 60 King thought minute. then
gave orders that every heavy engine
the bridge would hold should be run
out on her and left They thought
King was crazy, but they didn't know
him. Why, Mr. King. there's no use
sending all that new rolling stock
down with the bridge said one man
King just gave him look, If the Har-
| per's Ferry bridge goes down, son.
said he, we won't need the rolling
stock
And say. Bill Edison, - Mikes hand
was on the -throttle and he'd got his
signal to pull out, "the Harper's Ferry
bridge is still standingl l guess she'll
carry You and me along for while
longer, hey2"
And the point of the story is that
Bill Edison bought Liberty Bond the
pcxt morning.
/