Newman Township High School - Talisman Yearbook (Newman, IL)

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I4 THE TALISMAN ' slowed up so his fireman could get off to get the man, then proceeded to the top of the hill and waited. It took half an hour to release the man and get him back to the train. The train pulled into the terminal twenty-five minutes late. The grim officials met the offending engineer with bristling airs and threatening voices and would hear no explanation. He had failed them at the .critical time. He was discharged. The R. H. SL D. lost the contract and also lost a good man when Dawes was fired. He is now superintendent on another road. The man whose life was attempted proved to be one of the road's track supervisors, who had been attacked by bandits and thus disposed. -Arthur Parr, '14. Z CHASED BY A PACK OF WOLVES. Away from civilization in a great forest was a large lumber camp. They had been cutting wood for a distant city. One day the foreman noticed that their provisions were running low. It had been a very severe winter and it had taken more food than he had thought it would. He at once ordered a young lumberman to take a team and go to the distant city for more food. The young man was going to take two days to make the trip, as it was very cold and the snow was deep. He had presence of mind enough before he left to get his gun and shells. Everything went fine on his way to town, and he made the trip in due time. He loaded his provisions and made ready for an early start back to camp. He was up early the next morning and made a good start. It was a clear day, but very cold. Every particle of life in the forest seemed to be killed out except himself and his team. He had covered about two-thirds of the distancee when he heard the distant howl of a hungry wolf. Everything was silent for awhile. Then he heard the howl againg this time it was answered by a second wolf and again by a third. The next time he heard it, it was close up behind him. Then again it would be in front, again on one side, and then on the other. He knew by that that they were all around him, Then. he thought of the meat he had in his sled, and he knew they were very hungry and very savage. He gotlhis gun out from under the seat and looked to see if it was in readi- ness. .lust thcn a wolf crossed the road in front of him, he shot, but missed. and the wolf disappeared. After that they were more careful and stayed further behind, but still they kept steadily on his trail. At times things would be very silent, then they would howl dreadfully. After a few hours they became bolder and came closer to the sled. Then he saw he was going to have to run for it. He got his gun ready and began to push his horses. The wolves closed in and tried one by one, to jump up behind. One by one he shot them down, and when they fell the rest stopped to eat them. He thought he would be safe if only his ammunition would hold out until he reached camp. He counted the wolves and there were just fifteen left, then he counted his shclls. Glory. He had sixteen, but alas, he missed three shots. Now there were more wolves than he had shells. His only hope was to make camp. He was now within two miles of camp with three shells and five wolves, and two very tired horses. He was driving them as hard as he could, but they were failing very fast. .lust as he drove on to the river, which was about half a mile from camp another wolf sprang upon the sled and he shot her, but it was his last shell and there were two more long tongued, hungry eyed wolves following him. The second wolf sprang up, and he struck at it with his gun, andl senti it sprawling to the ice. lt was not long however, before it again was on its feet. Then the other wolf sprang to the sled, but before it had hardly struck a long gray body shot through the air and struck the wolf

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THE TALISIVIAN I3 WHY THIRTY WAS LATE. The C. I. 8: X. tracks paralleled those of the R. H. QQ D. thru nearly a hundred miles of picturesque mountain scenery. The reason for this was entirely physicalg the engineer of each road, finding the route chosen to be the best available without great expense for cuts, fills, etc. Besides passing thru a very lucrative grazing and mining country, making con- siderable freight business, the roads were the favorites with the crowds of tourists passing thru the country each year, and hence each road bid heavily for its share of the traffic. A To bear out the glowing statements of the traffic departments in their advertise- ments, the transportation departments of both roads provided unusually modern and luxurious passenger equipment. The boast of the C. I. QQ X. was the Meteor, which surely bore out its name when handled by the unerring engineers, Davis and Hawley. The crack train of the mountain division of the R. ll. Q D. was the Sierra Limited, known to the railroaders as the 30. Now it happened that each road was very desirous of getting the mail contract from the government. Since all things were so nearly equal on the two roads, Uncle Sam decided to give the contract to the road that had the best passenger record for one month. The month was up on the day of which we are writing. The records of the roads were nearly equal but very slightly in favor of the R. H. 85 D. Much that day depended on the behavior of the two trains, the Meteor and the Sierra Limited. As Engineer Hawley slowly brought engine 736 up to the head of the waiting Meteor she looked like some mighty steed anxious to be up and off down the two hundred and ten miles that was her day's run. Presently the conductor strolled up with the orders, went back to his train and waved his hand. The bell began to ring, the seven-foot drivers began to roll and the Meteor was on its way. The first stop, thirty miles distant, was made on time. So was the second and the third. The last stop before the division end was reached they were five minutes late, but Engineer Hawley know how to get all the speed possible out of the big Pacific and they made the last forty miles of the division in record time. They rolled into the terminal ex- actly on the minute. The superintendent, trainmaster and the general manager of the road were all on the station platform with watches in their hands. They complimented the train crew and again for the liundredth time hoped that the Sierra Limited would be late. If she was on time the contract would go to the R. H. Q D. The 30 was due to leave the eastern terminal just one hour after the Meteor, but on this occasion the train pulled in from the prairie division fifteen minutes lateg no time was lost in changing engines and in less than five minutes the 30 was ready to go wth engine 3003 at its head and Engineer Dawes, the best on the road, at the throttle. Engineer and fireman coaxed and petted in every known way the 3003, so that the train would go thru on time. In places where the track was good Dawes opened the throttle wide and hooped up the lever until by the time the third stop was reached, one hundred ten miles down the line, they were 1'eported exactly on time. Division and general officers at the terminal took heart. There was only one bad grade on the whole mountain division but the 3003 took it cheerfully and at good speed. However, by the time they were nearly to the top of the hill they were not going more than twenty miles per hour. Just at this time the engineer noticed a man suspended in midair not far from the right-of-way. Dawes did some quick thinking. The man might be a criminal and deserve death, precious minutes would be lost and the mail contract go to the other road. But he argued that a mants life is worth more than any old mail contract on earth. Decidedly he

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THE TALISMAN I5 in the shoulder and they both fell to the ice with loud cries. It was the young man's wolf hound that had come to the rescue. There was a terrible fight on the ice in which the hound was victorious, although she died in her attempt to' save her master. She killed one of the wolves and crippled the other so badly that he ran away. By the time the young man was down beside her the faithful old hound was dying. V -Kenneth Church, '16. lt CATCHING A BURGLAR. We had been losing coal from our coal house for some time and I had decided to catch the burglar. Having already tried abouti four different kinds I decided upon a new plan. Having an electric bell I purchased batteries and wire and constructed an alarm system arranged so that whenever the coal house door was opened the electric bell near my bed would ring. The first night passed uneventfully but the next morning I discovered that I had noi! connected up the wircs of the system properly and that the thief had taken an especially large amount of fuel. The next night I was suddenly awakened by the steady ring of my little servant, the bell. I hastily arose and carefully creeping out with my Colt's clinched tightly in my hand I came to the coal shed and seeing nobody on the outside, I quietly crept inside. But while I was feeling carefully about in the dark I heard the door slam and the click of the lock, then hurried footsteps. I was locked. in my own coal house. The first of my thoughts were to call for help which I did lustily, but no answer came. Presently I heard three or four men outside talking in a low voice. I again called for help, then there were hurried foot- steps towards the door which was unlocked and thrown open. l then thought only of my escape and jumped out of the coal shed only to be caught by three burly policemen, who hustled me, all unmindful of my protests and attempts at explanation, to the patrol wagon and taken to the city jail where I spent a restless night. Later I found that my wife had been the cause of all these proceedings, for she having heard my calls for help had telephoned the police. The next morning it took all of mine and my wife's powers of explanation to free me from the police. And. when I returned home I took down the electric bell system and declared henceforth the burglar should have all the coal he wished, but strange to say, I never again suffered any loss. -Harlan Keran, '16, R, TI-IE BOSS AND HOW I-IE WON I-IIS TITLE. The boss was a young man about nineteen years of age. This may seem rather young for a man to be in charge of about one hundred and fifty men, but he was fully capable of holding down his job. He was big of frame, and muscular, and about his mouth was an expression of honesty, truthfulness, and a willingness always to helpf others when in trouble or in time of need. I shall now 'tell how he won his title. He had been working at the mill ever since he was old enough to do any kind of work at all. The work that the mill was doing now was putting in a large concrete dam across the river just below the mill, and the other dam. The old dam was getting weak and they were going to build a new one and then blow the old one out. 4