Year: 1879

81 LET me put my name down frst-I
can't stay long !"


1t was red ribbon meeting, and the
man was locomotive engineer, bronzed
and strong, and having eyes full of de-
termination. He signed his name in a
B bold, plain hand, tied a red ribbon in his
q button hole, and as he left the hall he
said:


"As the Lord looks down upon me, I'll
never touch liquor again |"
"Have you been hard dcinker ?"
queried q man who walked bes side the en-
gineer.


mo. Fact is, / was never drunk in
my life. I've swallowed considerable
whisky. but never went far enough to
get drunk. l shouldn't miss it or be the
worse off for an hour if all the intoxicat
ing drink in the world was drained into
the oce1n."


"But you seemed axnious to sign the
pledge"


$50 ] was, and I'll keep it through
thick and thin and talk temperance to
every man on the road"


"You must have strong reasons"


"Well, il you'll walk down to the de-
pot I'll tell you story on the way. 1t
hasn't been in the papers, and only few
of us know the facts. You know I run
the night express on the B road. We
always have at least two sleepers and
coach, and sometimes we have as many
as two hundred passengers, It's a good
road, level as floor, and pretty straight
though there is bad spot or two. The
night express has the right o. way, and we
make fast time. It's no rare thing for
us to skim along at the rate of fifty miles
nm hour for thirty or forty miles, and we
rarely go below thirty. One night Ipull-
ed out of Detroit with two sleepers, two
coaches, and the baggage and mail cars
Nearly all the berths in both sleepers foil
and most of the seats in the coaches were
occupied. 1t was a dark night threatens
ing all the time to rain, and lonesome
wind whistled around the cab ms we left
the city behind. We were seventeen
minutes late, and that meant fast time all
the way through.


WELL" he continued after a moment,
everything ran along MI right up to
midnight. The main track was kept clear
for us the engine was in good spirits
and we ran into D. as smooth as you
please. The express coming east
should meet us fifteen miles west
of D, but the operator at that
station failed to receive his usual re-
port from below. That was strange and
yet it was not, and after a little consuta-
ton the conductor sent me ahead. We
were to keep the main track, while the
other train would run on the side track
Night after night our time had been 50
close that we did not keep them waiting
over two minutes, and were generally in
sight when they switched in.


"When we left D. we went ahead at
rattlng speed, fully believing that the
other train would be on time. Nine miles
from D. is the little village of Parto
There is telegraph station there, but the
operator has no night work. He closed
his office and went home about nine
o'clock, and any messages on the wires
for him were held above or below until
next morning. When l sighted this sta
ton | saw red lantern swinging be
tween the rails. Greatly astonished, |
pulled up the heavy train and got a bit of
news that almost lifted me out of my
boots. 1t was the operator who was
swinging the lantern. He had been
aroused from sleep by the shrill whistle
of locomotive, when there wasn't one
within ten miles of him. He heard the
toot toot toot while he was dressing,
and all the way as he ran to the station,
thinking that he had been signaled. Lo!
there was no train there. Everything
was as quiet as the grave. The man
heard his instrument clicking away, and
leaning his ear against the window he
caught these words as they went through
to D:


'"For God S sake, switch Eastern ex-
press off quick ! Engineer on Western
crazy drunk, and running mile a min
Hte.'


"The operator signaled us at once. We
had left D. nine miles away, and the
message couldn't have reached us any
where except at Parto. Six miles further
down was the long switch. 1t was time
we were there lacking one minute. We
lost two or three minutes in understand
ing the situation and in consulting, and
had just got ready to switch in where we
were when the headlight of II other train
came in. Great heavens but how that
train was flying The bell was ringing,
sparks flying and the whistle screaming,
and net man of us could raise hand
We stood there on the main track, spell
bound as it were. There wouldn't have
been time anyhow either to have switched
in or got the passengers out. 1t wasn't
over sixty seconds before that train was
upon US. | prayed to God for breath or
two, and then shut my eyes and waited for
death, for hadn't the strength to get out
of the cab.


"Well. sir, Gods mercy was revealed
again. Forty rods above us that locomo-