Evening star., 1927-06-02
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TR.lCEWELL.

! Memory may have a great deal to
do with the ability to keep a conver-
sation going. Most women. for in.
stance, are able to repeat the entire
contents Of long letter after one read
| ing. whereas most men, on the other
hand, can tell one scarcely a thing in
| the missive.
The ability to recall exactly, there.
| fore, Is an Invaluable asset, In every
| day conversation. unless one falls into
the pit OF garrulity. The latter com.
prises not so much accurate memory
| as a striving after accurate recoiiec-
ton. Now let me see, 1t was on the
seventeenth Of the month. no. 1t was
on the nineteenth-no, 1t must have
been the seventeenth--" that is the
sort of thing that makes the loquacious
| talker q great bore.
The old railroad man 1ndulged In
| none Of that beating around the bush.
| The names of towns came off his
| tongue readily, without hesitation,
| giving a reality to all he said. II
he started trip at certain hour,
| that was all he said about the hour.
| He brought home a whole new world
| to his listeners, who were railroad pas.
sengers merely, men ana women who
| had never given thought to what
| lies behind the great trains which
glide so smoothly into the stations at
| the end of their trips.
Upon one occasion this fireman was
on a. train that was held up for half
| a day or more by reason of SHOWS.
1t happened that they had made a
small town, and the passengers hear
ing. there was a dance hall there,
fixed it up with the conductor, so
that he was TO blow the whistle
when the train got ready to start.
All the passengers then adjourned
to the dance hall. After they had
been there several hours, q temptation
| came to the fireman on the second
engine.
He blew the whistle.
Through the snow the dancers came
vending. only to find that It had been
a false alarm. Accordingly, they all
trooped back to the hall.
When the conductor finally blew
the whistle, not a soul responded.
and he was forced to go to the hall
and personally convince the dancers
that the train actually was leaving.
Upon another occasion, while In the
roundhouse, this boy (our talker) spied
comrade asleep in another engine,
and tilted full bucket of water over
him.
He fell out of the cab, injuring
himself, and the perpetrator of the
trick, running away, slammed into a
bar. nearly cracking his skull. Both
were laid up for q week or more.
At the turn.table many tricks were
perpetrated, and many queer things
happened. The chap who operated
the table had habit of riding around
and around, when an engine signaled,
since he could not tell where the bell
| came from. An engineer, driving his
engine to the table, stopped it to run
back to the board to see IL he had
read his orders correctly. While
gone, his engine started up, and slow.
ly ran itself into the pit, while the
turn.table man was searching for it.
Upon another occasion, the turn.
table man, In order to teach a fast
driver to approach the table at a prop.
er speed, deliberately turned the table,
so that the engine was with difficulty
stopped as 1t dangied over the pit.
| Not every one, OF course, has expe.
rienced the hard work and romance of
| railroading, but almost any one, it
| would seem, could find something to
talk about. il he really tried.