The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, February 24, 1901, Page 11

c'fic had & new en- o4 the Arst station When the scur- rushed from Two ladles who h n order from a powder hox ittle doubtful about e which they e grip burst to make a sneak or else he'd find himself etracked for the time be- ip in the air, 1 was a little me the signal was enough, the fireman he same hiss- open and forty-gleven article When the gate slammed lled out it left two in between stoops your grand- out the semi-a-phore. in into a freight train wemen, who not to wait a minute when “1 don’t see shoveled coal into the this beastly when we were in such a great head around and got a so much more of The poor. long suffering valize had gone arm waved us by nd with a turn ishes the air to we cams (v @ standstill I was 85 interested in the little by-play thet I forgot t was warned that I ml, ¢ eve on the wi up like the Maine if T didn’t stop laugh- ing and pay strict attention to business. Now, vou keep your weather eye on the lookout for ‘After the War,’ " said my shoveling frier “Who is ‘After the War’ and how in the world did he ever succeed in getting that hame? Teft me where to look for im,” and again the story was uppermost in my mi I slow up here a little, 'cause s curve is a mean place. All right, little way W turn off the air; that's right “That g0 or 1 flagman has been here for nd he !s a standing joke with the inmen. Has the most convenient pain you ever heard of. “During the strike some fellows told him in the bay. He nearly dled witn & pain then. Had it all during the strike, but e straightened out and post d he felt better, but wasn't quite well. he men nicknamed him at that time. there he was, bowing, waring us by with all the Even as I looked he *“Look out, Don't you I ain’t here to but to pass this He couldn’t have puffed up scraping and able, » sume teamster: our eyes? r the train a-comin'? 1 to such as youse, cre train.” THE AUNDAY CALL. more if he had owned the whole Southern Pacific. The Broadway people got off on the run, dnd didn’t stop running until they had caught their various cars. “Holy gee, Mike; get onter the new en- gineer,” piped & small ragamuffin, “Say, be yer runnin’ the train cheaper 'n the other guy? Aw, go on, Miss, and tell a feller what yer perched up thar fer. Aw, honest now, is you runnin’ the engine? No 1li2." By this time all the people about were curious, and T was glad when it was tims to go on. Still I heard, “Say, Miss, com- in’ back this way? We'll 'wait fer— A general tacket about that drowned his shrill volce. From Broadway to Fruitvale it was all work and no- pla; As we neared the a3 time long dridge I knew tnat tners would bs something or somebody to pass us. There didn't seem to be anything, but when the entire length of the engine was upon the bridge a long arm flew out and beckoned us on, and at the same time flew a danger signal to ever: dy else, When the last car Was off the arm fell down in a listless fashion, asif Derfectly satisfled with its work. The farther away from the mole we g0t the more Interosted the people became. They would rush to the door or window, strike a pose and aet as if they had never n & train; but if they spied my red necktie flying in the breeze they nearly broke their necks get- ting the rest of the family to se€ thé wo- man in the cab. ‘Wonder upon wonder! When the fireman wasn’t shoveling coal he had his eye on me. I rather think he doubted my mechanical ability. “It's 'bout time to give the Seventh- street screech, {sn't it, boss and he grinned in a knowing way. But I knew what that whistle was and 1 knew that I had to pull something from the celling somewhers, so I made a bold bluff, but when I heard the terrific blast I nearly tumbled out of the window. The three toots gradually meited into one long one. My next trouble was the switching at Fruitvale. It seemed to me as if I ran half way to East Oakland before I could that the brakeman would 1o a pulp when he coupled the lave an idea that he felt a for he kept an eye on me d just as far as he could with- out actually getting in a squeezable posi- ti be A portly old gentleman caused a little diversion at Clinton on the way down. That train is a heavy one, as all the workmen are going home. it is almost impossible not late. Consequen to be a little @ieimininh fintefreede chelefuaiooh funfefefeds uefocferlals sdeoiminfel duielniminb deinioinp deinieinil it birbe i T made up time between stations and went so fast that I nearly bounced out of my seat. It isn't nearly as smooth riding in the cab as it is in the cars. Mr. Man heard us coming and had to run and this hurt his dignity very, very badly. As he passed the engine he gasped, “You are running ahead of tim I know It, as I have taken this train for vears. T won't have it. The idea of mak- ing mé run when I left home in plenty of time. Let's see. 1503." When he looked for the number he saw the new hand and that stopped his sput- tering. Instead of being praised for be- ing on time I was lectured. The engine gets thirsty about 5:30. She wants coal and vlenty of ofl and the burned cinders let out of the steve. In fact, she wants a rest before doubling up time, By the time I had attended to all her wants I was as black as the ace of spades and If T hadn't possessed the seven lives of a cat would certainly have burned my- eelf with the torch. I don't belleve the engine had as much oil on her as I did, but as we were to run together it didn't make much differ- ence. At any rate pot couldn’t call the kettle black. I nearly ran over a pot dozen times. They are stat about the vards, and when th it means sixty days to pass one When the pot light showed white we picked up six extra cars and got all ready to take the 6 o'clock people out From that time on there was no mv'fr tng. People were too hungry clable and too much in a hurry seat to fuss about any little thhg. Only once did I think about the poeple, and that was when I heard, “Oh, deario, I'm so glad you are home again; it has been so lonesome without you,” and I saw a happy pair start off rejoicing. Everybody has time to eat excepting the trainmen. It was horribly tanta- lizing to see people sitting at the table as we whirled by in the eold night air. Even the men sitting on stools in a cheap res- taurant were much envied. Ahout 8 o'clock the fireman said, for a cup of coffee, Mi: you ready 11 is getting mighty cold and supper time comes late these night Was I ready? I cou he pa At 9 o'clock we de only our engine was on covered sixty-one miles of the day’s run or 115 miles after nine. No matter how late it was always some pec red it into the the road, and we there were le who were later than we and who had t “Ah se people don't coun are always running T late every morning in the year a hablt, and a mighty poor one at that Before the gates were on there was an average of one accident a day: now there is one in six mont The gates we on for ) folks and kid My friend didn't eovis broke engagements. Let n be time. The work got dread in London who owned a G that was very fond of her, wa = moved to the count ays was left d Penny. The do; once became in nothing and stood 1 dow for hours at 4 on: He moaning pitifully. away from exha Those who knew him =ald he was dy of a broken heart. When it that he would dle if he co mistress he was taken seeing her was once got better. I came to town for left the dog with t} try. When dead, lying o poor brute, thinking hir serted, lay darhy seen was extravag is mistress soon 2 two down e, and ¢ en or e aker. ad before \ ver re- turned to duty. The veterinacy geon who attended him said lie of & “broken heart. T e Monarch &dho Helped Unmake JTwo Empires. HE report that Leopold II, King of the Belgians, Is to abdicate the throne because the duties of a menarch Interfere with his per- sonal pleasures is again current. Although this mad monarch has never wittingly done anything great. he helped to unmake two empires, one in the Old World and one in the New, and decided the succession to the Austrian throne. Fate sometimes uses fools to accom- plish great things. Leopold's connection with the fate of French intervention in Mexico is & matter of fact, though not of history. And it Is now generally conceded that the downfall ot the Napoleonic dynasty at Sedan In 1870 was due to Louts Napoleon's Intervens tion In Mexico. Leopold is ‘he oldest brother of Car- lotta, ex-Empress of Mexico, and while ~he and her husband, Maximillan, were away trying to found an empiré in the New World, he squandered in West African speculation the fortuns Which his father, Leopeld I, had left to her. When In 1868 it became clear that force alohe could malntain the imperial Govern- ment in Mexico, Carlotta set out for Eu- rope to get help. She relied upon her in- heritance, for with money she could have secured an army large enough to protect her imperial husband. At the time there were thousands of re- cently discharged rebel soldiers in the United States who would have been will- ing to enlist In the Mexican enterprise for hirs But when the unhappy lady went to Brussels to get possession of her fortune she. was dismaved to learn that her royal brother, who was then King, had spent it all in the Congo Free State in West Africa. He brutally refused to make'the loss good or to aid her in any wa It was during this stermy interview with King Leopold that Carlotta first lost her reason. But she was not entirely in- competent till after she had tried in vain to get help from other sources. From Brussels she went to Paris, where, after many heartbreaking dela: she gainéd an interview with Napoleon IIL She entreated him to at least keep the promise which he had made to Maximilian to keep eight thousand French soldlers in Mexico for six years. But the French Emperor could neither send more troops to Mexico, nor even refrain from with- drawing the French soldiers which were already there, The civil war belng over In the United tates this country had time to enforce the Monroe doctrine, and Lieutenant Ger:- eral John M. Schofleld, U. 8. A., was sént to the French court “To get his legs under Napoleon's mahogany and tell him he must get out of Mexico." This was a mission of delicacy and ore which required tact. Although the pecpie of France were not in favor of the inter- vention in Mexican affairs, their national pride would not permit the Em vield to meénace even from the ailow French troops to be an effort t Dublic threat by the American people would have precip tated a war betweea his country and France. But Genmeral Schofield w to his mission without the £ the friendship of cur former allies—tna people of France. Napoleon withdrew his troaps and tha death of Maximilian ended the impe: Government in Mexico. But this defeat In Mexieo showed that Nepoleon IIT did not possess tho faresight with ch he was cr d: that he was not the great man he had been suppos to be; at he could err in judgment he had not been engaged in Mexico and imminent danger of beco volved cifficuities with t 5 1 Bismarck would probabl ruC the dm“.m\- blow in 157, After Napoleon turned a de ar to Carlotta’'s appeal she went t Pop. His power is spirit not temporal, and he was unable to help hér xn ark frengy of the maniac then came upon her fever to be dissipated. Her brother, the Duke of Flande back to her old home at Mi Trieste, on the Adriatic. In this beautif €astle Maximilian and Carlotta had blissful years of their marr: ? the arrival of the deputatic S Mexican Assembly of Notables. who ¢ am. to offer Maximilian the throme and of Emperor of Mexico. In this quiet retreat Ca recover, and Leopold. kn ta began to ng that dis grace would inevitably follow if she recovered, sent his wife to Miram to fetch Carlotta to Belg ¥ and aggravate her brother t canditi might see her oc the malady. The threw her into the mest v The Q n took Carl of Servieren in Belgl T ears,