Rensselaer Republican, Volume 27, Number 20, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 January 1895 — The Man for the Emergency. [ARTICLE]

The Man for the Emergency.

We were humping along down toward the Gulf on a trunk line road less than a year ago. when we stopped at a small station thirteen minutes late. We had I>ee li reported as late from the lasft .and exy>ected orders here t<> change the ruu. A brief investigation, disclosed the fact, that tlio station, master, who was also the operator, was drunk. He had felt a chill coming on, and had downed about a pint of redeye to keep it off. He sat in a heap in liis chair, his strength all gone, and his eyes blinking, and all the reply he could make to the conductor was: “Shay, ole feller, whazzer mazzer wiz you?” The conductor pondered a minute. The side track there was full of freight ears. It was six miles ahead to the next station, but did the north bound express h*Te orders to Idt us make it?? He suddenly grabbed the operator, hauled him out of the office upon the platform, down upon the-earth, anti then carried him to the water ditch aud dumped him in. There weret tiiree feet of water, and it was cold as ice. He hauled tlie operator up and down for two minutes, dragged him! out aud stood him on his pins, and then said to him in a voice as menacing as the point of a dagger: “Go in and telegraph for my or< dors!” The man walked in all dripping, sai dowu to his table and sounded his call,] and in fifty second our train had orders to make Six-mile Siding,” and make it like !” The engineergot the word.j and away we went, and five minutes later were at the switch. Just then old north-bound tooted, and our last car was iu aud the switch thrown over not a second too soon. She came past us at the rate of fifty miles an hour, flinging dust and gravel clear over every car, but we hail saved our bacon. Two months later I met the operator in New Orleans and asked him if his cold water bath left any ill effects. “Not* the slightest,”-was his reply. “The only trouble was that the company objected to my way of taking a bath, aud fired me out.”— N. Y. Sun,