Newspaper Page Text
story of the r. r. engineer.
Detroit Free Prett.
li Lct me put my name down first—l
can’t stay long!”
It was a red ribbon meeting, ami the
man was a locomotive engineer, bronzed
and strong and having eves full of deep
determination, lie signed bis name in a
bold, plain hand, tied a red ribbon in his
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 a hard drinker?” que
ried a man who walked beside the engineer.
“No. Fact is, 1 was never drunk in my
life. I’ve swallowed considerable whisky,
but I never went for enough to get drunk.
I 1 shouldn’t miss it or be the worse of it for
■ an hour if all the intoxicating drink in the
world was drained into the ocean.”
“ Hut you seemed eager to sign the
pledge.” |
“ So T 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, if you'll walk down to the depot
I'll tell you a story on the way. It hasn’t
been in the papers, and only a few of us
know the facts. You know 1 run thenfght
express on the 11—— Hoad. We always
have at least two sleepers ami a coach, and
sometimes we have as many as two him- j
dred passengers. It's a good road, level
as a floor and pretty straight, though there
is a 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 an hour for
thirty or forty miles, and we rarely go be
low thirty. One night 1 pulled out of De
troit with two sleepers, two coaches, and
the baggage and mail cars. Nearly all the
berths in both sleepers were full, and most
gf the seats in the coaches were occupied.
It was a dark night, threatening all tl>e
time to rain, and a lonesome wind whistled
around the cab as 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 all right up to mid
night. 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 opera
tor at the station had failed to receipt bis
usual report from below. That was stknge,
and yet it was not, and after a little con
sultation the conductor sent me ahead.
Wp were to keep the main track, while the
other train would run in on the side-track.
Night after night our time had bin so
close th t 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
a rattling speed, fully believing that the
other train would be on time. Nine miles
from D—— is the little village of Parlo.
There is a telegraph station there, but the
operator has no night work. He closed
his office and went home about 0 o'clock,
and any messages on the wires for him
were ludd above or below until next morn
ing. W4iu-I sighted this station I sax a
red lantern swinging between the rails.
Greatly astonished, t pulled up the heavy
train and got a bit of news that almost
lifted me out of my boots. It was God's
mercy, as plain as this big depot. It was
the operator who was swinging the lantern,
lie had been roused from sleep by the
whistles of a locomotive, when there was
not one within ten miles of him. lie heard
the toot ! toot! toot! while he was dress
ing, and ail the way as he ran to the sta
tion, 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 :
“ For God’s sake, switch the Eastern ex
press off quick ! Engineer on the Wes
tern express crazy drunk, and running a
mile a minute!”
“ The operator signaled us at once. We
had left 1) nine miles away, and the
message couldn’t have caught us anywhere
except at Parto. Six miles further down
was the long switch. It was time we were
there, lacking one minute. We lost two
or three minutes in understanding the sit
uation and in consulting, and had just got
ready to switch in where we were when
the head-light of the other train came into
view. Great Heavens ! but how that train
was flying. The bell was ringing, sparks
flying and the whistle screaming, and not a
man of us could raise a hand. AN e 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. It wasn't over sixty
seconds before that train was upon us. I
prayed to God for a breath or two and then
shut my eyes and waited for death, for I
hadn't the strength to get out of the cab.
“ Well, sir. God's mercy was revealed
again. Forty rods above us that locomo
tive jumped the track and was piled into
the flitch in an awful mass. Some of the
[coaches were considerably smashed, and
some of the people badly bruised, but no
one was killed, and of course our train es
caped entirely. Satan must have cared for
Big Tom, the other engineer. He didn't
get a bruise, but was up and across the
iields like a deer, screaming and shrieking
like a mad tiger. It took five men to bind
him after he was run down, and to-day he
is the worst lunatic in the State.”
“ Tom was a good fellow," continued the
engineer, after a pause, “ and he used to
take his glass pretty regularly. I never
saw him drunk, but liquor kept working
away on his nerves til! at last the tremens
caught him when he had a hundred and
fifty lives behind his engine. lie broke
out all of a sudden. The fireman was
thrown off the engine, all steam turned on,
and then Tom danced and screamed and
carried on like a fiend. He'd have made
awful work. sir. but for God's mercy. I
am trembling yet over the way he came
down for us, and I'll never think of it
without my heart jumping for my throat.
Nobody asked me to sign the pledge, but I
wanted my name there. One such night
on the road has turned me against intoxi
cating drinks, and now that I’ve got this
red ribbon on I can talk to the boys with
better face. Tom is raving, as I told you,
k nd the doctors say he’ll never get his rea
son again. Good-night, sir—my tram goes
3n ten minutes.”
••— Ii sflS' _.. .
*1.50 A YEAR.
Keene in k Hflruit 4 wurl.
Deltiiit Free Prexs.
“ Mv brother died, you know,” began
Ephraim Cowcis.
“ Yes, brothers are dying all around us,”
replied the court. “If 1 had any brothers
I should expect them to take their chances
with the rest.” j
“ I e died, sir. out in Springwclls, and I
was going down to the funeral.”
"Of course you were, Mr. Cowles, and
of course you felt very sad at the had
news. But } r ou didn't get down there.”
“ No, poor John ! I didn't 1” exclaimed
the prisoner, wiping his eyes on his sleeve.
" I met with a bad accident, sir. The
horse ran awav and threw me out.”
“Correct, Ephraim, entirely correct, but
wasn’t it funny where you landed. You
were thrown a mile and a half to a foot,
landed in a Woodbridge street saloon on
your feet, and you walked directly to the
bar and said you'd take some sugar in
yours.”
“ Was I in a .saloon ?” asked the pris
oner. seeming greatly astonished.
“That's where you were, my boy, and
it wasn’t a first-class saloon, either. When
our folks first saw you you were trying to
bite the bar-tender's thumb oft, and he was
getting ready to gouge your eye out.”
“ Is that possible?” gasped Ephraim.
“I’m telling you nothing but tho best
brand of truth to be had in the market.
You had already demolished two tables and
broken several bottles of rare old wines
made of alcohol ami logwood. When a
man is going to his brother's funeral, and
the horse runs awav. you can’t tell what
strange things will follow.”
“ Well, you seem to know best about
it,” said the prisoner, as he buttoned his
coat. “ I’ll go down and tell the man that
I didn't mean to bite him.”
“Oh, no you won't. I sent him your
regrets an hour ago. and informed him that
he could draw on you at three days' sight
through the House of Correction. Thirty
days is the figure.”
“And I’ll go up as soon as I see about
the funeral.”
“Delays are dangerous, Mr. Cowles.
You had better go right up right away.”
“ 1 won't!”
“ But you will !”
And so he did. It mada Bijah red in
the face to lift the fellow into the buggy
and tie his legs around one of the seats,
but the law must be enforced if the effort
snaps off every suspender-button in the
great west.
Easlerii Josslery.
I have seen a man throw a large ball of
cord in the air, which unwound as it as
cended, one end being fastened to the
ground. As the hall unwound it disap
peared in the clouds and the cord remain
ed stationary. In a few moments the man
sent a lit tle boy up this cord, pretending
that it was to find out what held the other
end up. The boy went up and up. till he
was lost to sight. And lie stayed up so
long that the man pretended to become en
raged, and climbed up after him, with a
drawn sword in his hand, and he, too, dis
appeared from sight. And presently down
fell a bloody foot, and then another, and
then a leg. and then different pieces of the
boy, all bleeding. We dipped our hand
kerchief in the blood, to see if it was really
blood, and it was. At last the boy's head
fell down, and presently the man climbed
down, all bloody, and still simulating rage.
He collected the fragments of the hoy that
lay around and threw them in a heap on
the ground. Then he threw a cloth over
the pieces, and the hoy instantly jumped
up alive and well. The man and the boy
were entirely naked, and the trick if it was
trick, as you will say it was, was done on
an open plain, out of doors. I say it was
actually done. There were hundreds of
spectators. That is the kind of things that
Eastern magicians do.
But why is it, if such things arc true,
and not tricks, that wc of the western coun
tries do not know more of them? Are we
not as intelligent as those of the East?
“ Our western civilization is youngyet,”
replied the occult, “ and as I have said,
the mind of the Caucasian is not as well
adapted to the perception of subtle truths.
But there are many Europeans who are
real adepts, and there are quite a number
of persons in New York who arc st udying
occultism. Some of them only study phil
osophically, hut some arc practicing it.
There is one who has several times accom
plished the separation of his astral body
from his physical body, though only for a
few moments.”
A Misadventure.
Jiurlington Hawk-Eye.
“ Serena, darling !” he murmured, and
the old gate scarcely creaked on its hinges,
and the silent stars looked down with ten
der glances—" Serena, sweet.” he said,
and the radiant blushes that kindled over
the pearly brow and cheeks softened the
silent lovelight in her lustrous eyes : "Se
rena, my own ! if every glittering star that
beams above, if every rustling leaf that
whispers to the night, were living, burning,
loving thoughts ; if every—Oh-h-h-hoo-ho !
Oh-w ! VVow-ow-ow ! Aw-w, oh; oh, oh !
0, jimmy! 0, glory! O, murder, mur
der. murder ! O, dad rang the goll-swiz
zled old gate to the bow-wows ! Ah-h-h !”
And she said stiffly that no gentleman who
1 could use such language in the presence of
a lady was an acquaintance of hers, and
she went into the house. And he pushed
the gate open, and pulled his mangled
thumb out of the crack of it. and went
; down street sucking the injured member,
and declaring that however lightly 105
pounds might set on the heart of a man, it
was too much pressure when applied to an
I impromptu thumbscrew. And the match
( is drawn, and all side-bets arc declared off.
HARTWELL, GA„ WEDNESDAY, JULY 11, 1877.
Aiiarry AVnrdi.
Angry words ! Oh let them never
From thy tongue unbridled slip;
May the heart’s best impulse ever
Check them ere they soil thy lip.
Love is much too pure and holy;
Friendship is too snared far.
For a moment’s reckless folly
Thus to desolate and mar.
Angry words are lightly spoken ;
Bitterest thoughts are rashly stirred ;
Brightest links of life *re broken
By a single angry word.
liiteiii|M>rAie<>.
AY ho can do justice $> the feelings of
those parents whose s®is, just ripening
into manhood, are dying*>efore their eyes,
loathsome victims of tlndr guilty excesses?
How shall they escape from the hideous
spectacle ? Their own house, the only
place they have to lay their heads, the
birthplace of their children, the spot whore
are clustered all their contorts, the peace
ful sanctuary of their deface, becomes the
hospital of their reprohalp son, worn out
with intemperance. Ho occupies one of
the chambers. There, while they lie on
their sleepless beds in a neighboring room,
they hear him call for drink, his disgusting
belches, his horrid execrations against him
self, and ever and anon a groan, bespeaking
misery too big for words to tell ! And is
this the return you mako, degraded young
man, for all the loving-kindness of your
parents? Is this the way you requite the
father that dandled you in infancy on his
knee, and from that time until the present
has been toiiing to provide for your happi
ness ? Is this your gratitude to the mother
who cherished 3 r ou in her bosom, that
rocked your cradle with throbbing temples
and aching heart—that watched you all
along through your playful boyhood with
ceaseless tenderness, and at length let you
go from under her eye to a place of educa
tion, only from confidence (a confidence,
alas ! too often misplaced) that the princi
ples and the gratitude with which she had
imbued you would forever forbid you to
distress her by a vicious lib* ?
Take some good advice from your friend,
J. M. Ussery, and reform.
Communication.
Perhaps it may not be amiss to call the
attention of your numerous readers to the
religious meetings to he held in Hart soon,
that they may take duo notice and govern
themselves accordingly. It is certainly an
extraordinary occurrence that a camp
meeting and two associations should be
held in one County in so short a time as
two months, and all in ten miles of each
other—the Hartwell Campmeeting in Au
gust. the Sarepta Association in Septem
ber. and the Tugalo in the first of October.
Now. kind readers, if we as rational
beings, are accountable for the opportuni
ties we enjoy of improving in our spiritual
training for a future state, 1 ask what
should be our course in this case ? Should
we not take heed to our ways and be fer
vently engaged, that those meetings may
prove blessings and not a curse ? May the
prayer of all good people be—“ Lord, let
thy grace abound.” Boil SlioliT.
A Preacher"# Joke.
S wanton (V<.) Courier.
A clergyman, a widower, residing in one
of our Vermont rural towns, recently cre
ated a first-class sensation in his house
hold, which consisted of several grown-up
daughters. The reverend gentleman was
absent from home for a number of days,
visiting in an adjoining town. The daugh
ters received .a letter from their father
which stated that he had “ married a
widow with six sprightly children,” and he
might he expected home at a certain time.
The elfect of that news was a great shock
to the happy family. The girls, noted for
their meekness and amiable temperaments,
seemed another set of beings; there was
weeping and wailing and tearing of Hair,
and all manner of naughty things said.
The tidy home was neglected, and when
the day of arrival came the house was any
thing hut inviting. At last the Rev. Mr.
came, but he was alone. He greeted
his daughters as usual, and as he viewed
the neglected parlors there was a merry
twinkle in his eye. The daughters were
nervous and evidently anxious. At last
the eldest mustered courage, and asked :
“ Where is mother?”
“ Tn Heaven,” says the good man.
“ But where is the widow with six chil
dren, whom you wrote you had married?”
“ Why, I married her to another man.
my dears.”
It is said to have been amusing to see
those seven girls set things to rights.
—
One of the belles of South hill is going
to marry a young clergyman from Indiana.
The South biller is a sweet, fair young girl,
now. and never the shadow of a cloud has
rested on her brow, but you wait till she
has got out of bod two or three hundred
times to make up shake-downs and cook
supper for nine brethren on their way to a
convention or conference, who have got in
on the late train and could't find the way
to the hotel .—Burlington Hawk-Eye.
A Compliment to The Hurl vit'l!
lliltll School.
Cornutpondenoe nf the .I then. Veorgiait.
Please do me the favor to permit me
through your columns to give a short ac
count of one of the most interesting occa
sions it has ever been my pleasure to at
tend. The occasion referred to is the Com
mencement of the Hartwell High School.
The examination commenced on Monday,
the ISth inst. 1 was very much grieved
that my business was such that 1 could not
be present Monday morning, hut 1 have
learned from those present that the exam
ination during tho day far surpassed the
expectations of any one present. On Mon
day evening there was nil immense crowd
of refined, well-dressed ami appreciative
people gathered together at the Baptist
Church (which was well arranged and
beautifully decorated) to hear declamations
hj- young men ami compositions I>3’ young
ladies. I have never, in my life, seen a
more genteel set of young men and ladies
than appeared on the stage that evening.
Their speeches and compositions not onty
did credit to themselves. Prof, and Mrs.
Looney, hut to their county. 1 do not
wish to show any partiality in this commu
nication, nor that 1 would say one word in
disparagement of the manly efforts made
by the other young men, but 1 cannot for
bear saying that the speeches delivered by
Messrs. Hodges. Mobil and Brown, would
have reflected honor upon those far their
seniors. Compositions read by Misses
Skelton, (Irubbs and Shirley, were most
excellent. The examination closed on
Tuesday. The most interesing feature du
ring the day was the examination of four
little girls in Geography. They seemed to
he from six to ten years old, and could an
swer almost any question in geography.
Bessie Webb and Belle Johnson, were the
names of (woof the little girls, and the
other two 1 have forgotten. Such bright
little jewels arc calculated to make happy
both parents and teachers.
The exercises were closed on Tuesday
evening with a concert given by Miss Annie
Jordan’s music class, which proved a suc
cess in every particular. No better music
teacher in the State than Miss Annie.
Long may Professor Looney and the
Hartwell High School flourish. A.
About to Fly.
Detroit Free Freu.
When a Congress street woman answered
the door-bell yesterday she found a stran
ger mi the step, lie had a bundle in his
hand, a smile on his face, and lie said :
“ Madam, can I sell you some fly-paper ?”
“ Does the paper fly?” she asked.
“ No, ma'am, but it makes the tlics fly.”
** What do 1 want the Hies to fly for?”
she continued.
“ Every fly, madam—” he was explain
ing, when she called out:
I want you to fly ! I can get along
with flies better than with agents !”
*' But I am not on the fly,” he softly"
protested.
“Our dog is,” she grimly replied, and
so he was. He flew around the corner,
the agent flew for the gate, the roll of fly
paper flew over the curl), and a newsboy
climbed a tree-box to be out of the muss
and shouted :
“ She flew, thou flyest, he Hied, and I
believe the dog got a piece of meat with
that coat-tail !”
Fo Dure was any Tropic*.
A negro preacher had elaborated anew
theory of the Exodus, to-wit: that the Red
Sea got frozen over and so afforded the Is
realites a safe passage ; but when Pharaoh
with his heavy iron chariots, attempted it,
they broke through and were drowned.
A brother rose and asked for an explana
tion of that point, “ Iso been studyin
jography; it say dat its very warm coun
try—where day have de tropics. And de
tropics too hot for freezin. De pint to he
splained is. bout breaking through de ice.”
The preacher straightened up and said :
“ Brudder, glad you axed dat ouestion. It
gives me casion to splain it. You see dat
was a great while ago—in de ole times fo
dey had any jography—fo dure was any
tropics.”
licy lo Aiintf-i-ninH.
The following is the solution of the ana
grams, published a few weeks since :
1. Foretelling.
2. Patience.
3. Allowance.
4. Idolatry.
5. Salesman.
0. Distillation.
7. Merchants.
8. Minister.
9. Organist.
10. Canister. I.KE.
The skeleton of a oat walked into Byan's
store, at Hohokus. Byan, seeing her bawl
ed out: “Mickey! didn't I tell ye a
month ago, to fade that eat a pound of mate
a day until ye had her fat?”
“ You did, and I’m just fading him a
pound.”
“ Has that cat ate a pound of mate this
morning?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Shure I think it’s a lie ye are telling.
Bring me the scales. Now bring me that
ca £ *
The cat turned the scales at exactly one
pound.
“ There ! didn’t I tell ye she had ate a
pound of mate this momin’ ?”
“ All right, my boy ; there's your pound
of mate, but where the devil’s the cat?'’
Jefferson's idea of a lawyer was that he
was a rnan who contested everything, who
conceded nothing, and who talked as long
as a human being could be made to hear
him.
HART AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.
I’roreiMllnifu of ||i<> l.ut llt'iiiilnr Heel
ing of thin Norii'l.r, 111-11 l at llnrt
nell. July Xd. I*T7.
Present, F. B. Hodges, President; J.
G. McCurry, Vice-President; J. F. Craft,
member of the Executive Committee; and
others.
Head minutes of last meeting, which
were adopted.
The following gentlemen enrolled their
names ns members of this Society, to-wit:
Dr. A. J. Mathews, D. G. Johnson, Dr.
Geo. F.berhnrt, J. W. Smith.
Ordered, that the Constitution and By-
Laws of tho Society be read, which was
done.
The President gave notice that at our
next meeting, in August, our annual elec
tion for officers would he held, and hoped
a full attendance would be present.
Secretary read communication from
Mnleoin Johnston, Secretary State Agri
cultural Society, in which he informs us of
Agricultural Department of the Atlanta
CoiisMitfion. of which lie is editor. The
Secretary stated that he had promised this
paper a communication from our Society,
from time to time, and nsked members to
co-operate and assist him in making those
reports interesting to our furmers.
The following reports of experiments
with seeds, received from Agricultural
Department, Washington, D. ('., were re
ceived. :
F. S. Roberts, received, last fall, I quarts
of Shoemaker wheat, about which ho says
— 1 “ My opinion is that it is an excellent
variety of wheat for this country ; it is as
red as a fox's tail, the chaff, head and all,
and not hoarded ; I sowed tho 4 quarts on
a poor piece of ground, on which I put
about 20 bushels of cotton seed to the acre ;
I sowed it late in November, plowed it in
in the usual way ; the yield is very fine,
which I will report at next meeting; 1 also
received J or I packages of garden seeds
in March last, amongst which was Long
Green Cucumbers, which aro fine and yield
ing abundantly.”
F. B. Hodges, received one quart of
Red Rust Proof Gats last fall, am! says—
“ I sowed them some time in December
last, on a piece of thin land; I sowed them
on a part of a field that was particularly
affected by the freezing weather, the freeze
killed them out pretty badly, and the rab
bits ate them also, seemed to feed nearly
altogether on that part of the field; I
made from the quart a large shock of a
dozen bundles, which made a little less
than half a bushel; I will test them on
bottom land next year and give them a fair
trial; I also received a package of Boston
Green Cucumber, which are very fine.”
Reuben HuUington received a quart of
white rye, wich he says will excel anything
that has ever been seen in this country;
thinks the quart wdl yield a bushel or
more.
John G. McCurry received a package of
garden seed cal leu “ Kale,” and reports
—“ This was a refused package given out
at the distribution, that no one seemed to
want; 1 took it borne and sowed it about
the time I sowed turnips last fall ; it is a
delicious green, and I tell you all, it is tho
best thing 1 have ever seen for winter salad
ever brought to this country ; it is very
hardy, easy to cultivate, yields abundantly
and easy to cook tender; I received four
other packages of garden soed and sowed
them ; I tried my best to forget the names
of them, which f have done—as they were
very shabby; I got a package of cucumber
seed that were very fine.
Captain Craft moved, that at our next
meeting a discussion he entered into on tho
cultivation of wheat, and the same ho
opened by F. S. Roberts, by a report on
that subject; which was unanimously
carried.
Went into distribution of seeds, there
being on hand 30 packages of turnip seed,
four varieties. Tney were equally divided
amongst all tho members present.
After a short discussion as to the best
time to sow oats, it was generally agreed
that October and November was the best
time of the year in this climate.
Adjourned to next regular meeting in
August, first Tuesday.
(J. \V. SkiijKL, Secretary.
NUMBER 40.
Fast men. like fast rivers, are generally
very shallow.
A n Oil City man recently died of love,
but it was love of whiskey.
Those who come to you to talk about
others, are the ones who go to others to
talk about you.
Truthfulness is the corncr-stpne in char
acter; and if it be not firmly laid in youth,
there will ever after be a weak spot in the
foundation.
He—“ I always forget whether you or
your sister, Miss Laura, is the eldest?”
She—“ Oh, I’m older than she, but only
three months.”
A clergyman being annoyed by the
squeking shoes of his parishioners, remark
ed that some peopie had too much “music
in their soles.”
You can always detect a bachelor by the
way he handles a baby; hut to be safe
from loss it is well to use a borrowed baby
in making the experiment.
Said the little pet of the household on
her birthday. “It’s a lovely doll, dear
grandpa’ and grandma’ ! But—but —l'd
been hoping it would be twins !”
“John, 1 fear you arc forgetting me,”
said a bright-eyed girl to her sweetheart
the other (lay. “ Yes Sue, I have been for
getting you these two years.”
If the saying were true, how easily one
could earn his living now by the “sweat
of his brow !” He would have only to
stand in the sun for a few minutes, and he
would be comparatively wealthy.
“Is that a friend of yours?” said a gen
tleman to a party who was sailing rapidly
down the street. “ Can't tell till next
Saturday,” returned the individual address
ed; I've just lent him a sovereign.”
An old lady in Baltimore aged 83 years,
named Betsy Quale, recently set fire to
her clothing while lighting her pipe, and
was severely burned. This is the oldest
Quale on toast of which we have any re
cord.
“ Why, Sammy,” said a father to his
little son the other day, “ I didn't know
that your teacher whipped you last Fri
day.” “I guess,” he replied, “if you’d
been in my trowsers you’d know'd it.”