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n ssm si uhnkuxalr movimber i 1983 the acton free press i 444 4 hfc mtttttbs 0liirt tnry i at thewreck of the circus train by bamom merwin a i- oow as a matter of fact there are mbderately quiet stretches in a railroad mans life it isnt all adventure and excitement by any means but when you ask a man for a story hes going to give you the biggest he knows this story may sound queerthough jhonestly rye been through some things that if i should give you the facts you wouldnt believe a word of but if queer things dldnt sometimes happen on rail roads there wouldnt be any use for wrecking trains as for that matter i might still be a hostlers boy in the chicago round house instead of an but no matter what i am now i started out to tell you about dad burns and the elephant and id better keep on the through track i guess everybody knows what a wreck ing train is a flat car with a steam derrick that can reach out in any direc tion and lift tons of wreckage off a track nrhrr car with tools and spare ropes for an emergency and a caboose for the crew to live in there is always an engine under steam ready to pull her out one day i was cleaning the bright work on the big- schenectady mogul that pulls the e fatd limited over the first division when a wrecking call came into the round house and close after it was b01 mcgee coming in on the run buttoning his overalls he pulled him self up the steps and jumped for the throttle his fireman flipped on at vtbe- doorway and almost before i could my work and run out to see the she was on the turntable jjtowere still using the oldstyle twoman table with long handles on each side i ran for one handle and we swung her round in lively shape locking the table so that mcgee could run her out on the the other and each had an end sticking out m the auv- the third car was half way down the embankment and partly telescoped by the fourth it had all gone off to the right so that the other track that- we were 6n was clear the rfcst of the train seemed to be ail right they had run it back a few hundred yards down the grade for fear of fire i suppose th wreckage had piled up so around the engine thatybucbutdn see much of the boiler and some pieces hafcbeen thrown clear over the fence into the fields some of the mmit were killed we could see them among the wreckage and a lot of others were roped to gether in a field quite a long way off there were ponies and humpbacked oxen and zebras and buffaloes there and a giraffe they were all squealing excited siding where- the wrecking trainalways stood ready the crew were hustling out in a strag gling line some without hats and ome with their coats slung over one shoulder dad burns was the first on hand of course he was chief of the wrecking crew and one of the quickestthinking loudesttalking men i ever knew the kind of man that asks no questions and takes no excuses who never knew what sort of a mess- hed have to clean up until be got there and then he had to work like bottled lightning with the cork out he was standing at the head of the train waiting to couple up the engine and hollering back to the boys to move fast andy maxwell the hostler and my boss was walking along just ahead and grunting and bellowing and i could hear others back in the train that sounded like hons and tigers i stood there with a couple of the boys leaning against the handrail of the caboose platform waiting for orders when two men you could tell that they were circus men came out of the caboose they must have got on at the back one of them the tall one had a rifle wheres your boss he said to me i was a green hand you know so i dldnt speak up but one of the boys answeredup ahead they dldnt say anything more but started through the tool car i was curious and i went along the three of us the circus men and i climbed over the ropes and tools and across the coup lings to the derrick engine room and then out on the fiat behind the derrick dad burns was thererandthalt a dozen of the boys sad was standing on a coll of chain with his arm around a g9 hollering in his choicest language at a lot of the circus men who wouldnt come near us but stocd off in the field and hollered back it struck me as queer that dad shbud be taking tune to talk when the track was piled up with the remains of a train and i looked around a little i couldnt see- ahead for the tender was in the way so i crossed the car to where i could almost touch the wreck and leaned out then i could see it a big elephant one of the biggest i ever saw was standing to one side ol the engine with his ears flapping and his feet braced apart he was swinging from side to side and just then he lifted his trunk and trumpted dad heard us and turned around he through but there dldnt seem to be anybody in the crew with head enough to go at it without dad to jaw at him and teu him how and dad was fifty yards down the track on his hands and knees in the mud under a culvert every minute or so jhed poke his bead out and holler at us and shake his fist until katser made him jump back we could not hear what he was saying but i reckoned from the look on his face it was something pretty vigorous then besides there wasnt any medal competi tion among the boys to see whod be first to climb out on the wreck to handle the chain for that beast was as likely as not to get it into his head to come back any minute though i think my self hed have found it a good deal harder to climb up the embankment than it had been to go down so they talked on i i was thinking- about what the circus man had said that the thing to do was to find a way to chain the elephant so they could get close enough to shoot him now it struck me that that ought not to be a very hard thing to do for we had the derrick and no end of ropes and chains i kept still for a while because i didnt see how some of the old hands could help thinking of it too but they just went on jumping around and talking louder and louder and all the while getting mad at each other not for any reason but because they were finally i hollered out because crawled back and say that culvert was an awful muddy placeand tossed put a couple of loaves i climbed up to the car in time to see kaiser reaching out his trunk tor bread keeping those little- eyes of his on us as if he suspected we were up to something when hed eaten jt he felt around with bis trunk for some otore-but- there- wasnt any ed he backed away a few oteps now boys said i swing the derrick round when i came to think of it i might as well i hadnt anything to lose you know being only a sort of a substitute if youll quit jawing ill chain up that there elephant they didnt pay much attention so i said it again some louder i tell you ni chain up that there elephant then they stopped and looked at me a couple of them laughed -but- 1 was getting a little mad myself and i didnt care i jumped down on the fiat and said to the circus man the tall one what do elephants like to eat you see i remembered that they liked peanuts and dldnt like tobacco but that was about all i knew he looked surprised but maybe youve noticed that when a lot of men get whirled off their feet and are fussed and rattled theyre pretty likely to listen to a chap that thinks he knows what hes talking about finally he said why hay mostly and bread breads the thing said i can you get some right away by that time i guess he was ready to try most anything for he went back through the caboose without a word and was gone quite a while we all stood around waiting without saying much after a while he came back with a bushel basket full of loaves of bread that hed jjot from some of the other circus men theres another basket back there he r one of the boys hurried back for it now said i we want a good strong rope and some poles one cf the older men said the three- the engine started up and the steel arm- with the noose dangling came round until it reached out oyer where kaiser would have to come for the bread then all the boys fell to with poles and longhandled hooks and spread out the noose and held it that way so that it made a big circle with the bottom on the ground kaiser wanted ifc all right but he looked pretty doubtful- about coming for it take it easy the circus man said not very loud hell colne if you give him time he aint had anything to eat since yesterday so we waited the boys on the pole3 growling some under their breath for a threeinch hawser is heavy to handle and after a while kaiser began to come toward it putting his feet out carefully and watching us all the time some body said ilet him have it now but the- cirpus man shook his head i guess he was right for if the first shot hadnt finished him wed have had it all to do over again and maybe more kaiser had to put one foot through the loop to get within reach of the bread we still kept still you see we were safe enough for he was down at the foot of the em bankment and his head didnt gome up to the floor of the car even if he had tried to climb up we would have had time to get back into the engine room but ho was watching the bread for dad had put out some more this time nearer the culvert and farther through the noose it struck me all at oncewhy doesnt he try to get around the rope but no he came right ahead and put both fore feet over it humping up bis back and reaching way out with his trunk the fellow in the engine room didnt need to be told anything he was stand ing to the doorway and when he saw that kaiser was halfway through the noose he made a dive for the lever and before the elephant had got one loaf to his mouth that rope drew up tight around his shoulders and we had him but you should have seen him tear around once i thought he was going to pull the car derrick engine and all clean down ihe bank i think maybe he would have upset us if we hadnt all hollered for the engine chap to ease up you see he wanted to lit f kaiser right up in the air and three tons and a half of live kicking elephant arent to be trifled with while we were hanging on to oius- selves and talking all at once and won dering what todo next that tall circus chap just jumped down by the side of the oar and standing part way down the eihbankment where i expected- every second to see him knocked to pieces he hauled up his rifle and pump ed ball into the beast until almost be fore we knew it it was all over the rope was slacked down and a big gray heap all that was left of kaiser lay there humped up in the mud then dad came but he wasnt say ing a word but there was a look about him that kept us from laughing at the mud on him the first thing dad did was to cut the rope free from the elephant and signal bill mcgee to back up the grade to the wreck whos bossing this crew he said then nobody answered a word them locked foolish sort of whos boss here he said and then but hold on here i dldnt start in to tell about myself thats about all there is to the story of dad and the elephant though i did swap jobs and hang my coat next day on a peg in the caboose of the wrecking train but i didnt mind changing sometimes the crew had to work hard but thats so in most jobs there were long stretches when it was easy going and then the pay was some better for all who prefer quality fresh from the garden some of again j cadesky optometrist wni vtsit acton on monday november 7 anyone suffering from eyestrain defective vision or headache should not miss the opportunity of consulting this eyesight specialist appointments may be made with mr a t brown druggist consultation free office hours 9 a m till 4 p final aubi tombstone dealer after several futile suggestions- fbaw would just a simple gone home do for an inscription the widow i guess that will be all right it was always the last place he ever thought of going romance is dying out and women are to blame peter arno the difference m3o you know john remarked mrs jaggs as her husband stumbled up stairs that ive been awake for hours waiting for you to come home from the club if that isnt just like a woman growled jaggs and ive been at the club for hours waiting for you to go to sleep government of the dominion of canada of me when dad looked around and saw him here andy he called tgive me a man or two will you im shorthand ed maxwell looked round at me and said step up kid i had been working round the yards long enough to know that the work ex pected of me didnt including talking i jus made a dive and swung myself up the steps of the caboose a second more and we were off and we bumped and rattled through those two miles of yards at a rate that made the speed limit set by the city ordinance look like thirty cents it was a case of clear track all the way out through the suburbs we passed half a dozen local passenger trains lying up on sidings with a head poking out of every window to see us go uyt therrwe tne roiling prairlest where the towns are farther apart and trees and streams are scarce nothing but waves of meadow and cornfields and long snake fences i didnt feel exactly like asking questions anyhow i dont believe any of the boys unless maybe dad himself knew where we were going they all sat round on the bunks and the yellowbacked armchairs and swap ped lies corkers too some of them about the time mcgee jumped his engine clean over a washedout rail and the time the milwaukee freight got stalled and the wires were down and pansy brown ran eleven miles through the enow in fiftytwp minutes to send a mes sage and after a while when dad had gone up ahead to see that everything was hi shape they told thing ab him that made me turn away and grin i knew a little about dad myself that he was the nerviest man on the division and all that but there wasnt a man was mad i coud tell from the set of his jaw and the way his eye looked here he said jumping back give me that rifle who do you think i am to be held up like this but the tall man hung on to it wait a minute he said kind of excited it aint no good to lose your head weve been shooting at him for ten minutes but you cant touch him with this pop gun unless you put it right up against his eye dad had hold cf the gun by this time and the two were so excited they were wrestling for it hold your h6rses said the little man weve tried it his trainers off there now in the bushes with an arm broke and hes the only man that stands any show with kaiser when hes acting this way theres his gun up i looked forward sure i living could have done the things they told about their yams were getting stiller and buffer from the way they looked at me i guess they thought i was taking them down whole when all of a sudden the brakes squealed and we began hauling up short everybody broke for the tool car so i followed along and right here i think id better stop and tell you what i saw when i got- out to the platform since then ive seen worse smashups with loss of life and all that but i never before or since saw anything quite like it it was a circus train harris con- aoidated railroad shows was the name on what was left of the front can and it looked like a plain case of jumping the track none of the circus men that i talked with afterward seemed to know just what had happened the engine had gone down the eighufoat embankment bead first so that the tender bad telescoped the cab and crumpled itself up around the boiler it was a i that the engineer and the fire man ever foynd tube to jump the first two ears bad gone after and walked right out oft top of the- tender one over there now enough a rifle lay en the track right by the elephants hind feet the only thing is to find some way of chaining him up so you can get close hes mad now hes got four balls in him already today and hes killed two men since weve had him dad was so mad he couldnt talk there couldnt nothing step a wrecking train that he was boss of he said he gave a jerk snatched the rifle away jumped off the other side of the car and ran up round the engine i never saw anything grittier it was grand he went up past that engine as if hed been waiting all his life for a chance to shoot an elephant arid he was afraid hed miss it if he didnt hurry we all looked at each other a minute and then without saying a word we all had the dame thought and went climbing up on the tender to see the finish wen si m when youve gone to the circus and seen a row of elephants reaching for peanutsror throwing hay on their backs youve thought they were slow beasts thats what id always thought you see but when i got up on top of the coal in the tender dhstlooked out over the engine i saw that elephant going down the track like 223 making up time he didnt run pretty but he did get over the ground and dad was in front of him doing the sprint ot his lite hed throwrf away the rifle we were all so flustered that we began to yell but i dont believe dad heard us he had something else to tnlnk about just then it looked as if he was trying to get down as far as the rest ot the train where he could dodge under the cars we were holding our breath won dering whether he wasgoing to make it for the elephant was walking right up on him when all at once dad went tum bling down the bank and dove into a low culvert with kaiser right on his heels then they all began to talk at once some standing up on the tender the others crowding around on the flat the thing to do of course was to clean up the wreck so that trains could- get i t inch hawserswhat you want i guess and some of them went for it then i had mcgee start up kind of slow down the track and i sent word for him to stop when the derrick was right over the culvert and make a big slip noose it didnt seem a minute before we were stopped and the exhaust was blowing off and the elephant was snorting right dewn below us to one side and dad was hollering up at us to beat the limit ed as soon as the engine quit making such a racket i leaned out and called down to dad you can get out all right on the other side now mi burns he cant very well climb around the train then he was mad he talked so fast i couldnt get what he was saying until one of the boys that was used to him ran across the car and looked down trie other side its no wonder he said theres a sheep guard here across the culvert there seemed to be nothing for 11 then but for dad to stay right there i the mud until we could take care of kaiser for the old beast was watching the opening like a cat- so i didnt pay any more attention to dads hollering 1 just got to work inow ill tell you said i what weve got to do first is to get him to come up to the culvert for some bread they didnt seem to get me right away so i dropped off the other side of the car and climbed down by the culvert sure enough there there was a strong wire and scantling guard built right across the low archway i saw quick enough that we could rip it off in a jiffy i wondered that the fellow that saw it first hadnt jumped right down there with an axe it just shows how stupid men can be when you get them off their beaten track but just then i thought of something else you aee the scheme hadnt been coming to me all at once when i first began i was more than half bluffing but all the while i had the feeling inside me that i was getting at it in the right way and that if i just pulled a stout face and went right on i could work it through as easy as an exhibit of a new bearing oiler so now i put my face down to the wire and said mr bums he turned quick i had to wait a couple of minutes before i could get a word in then i went right oh as if i was the general manager and i had him on the carpet for a hearttoheart tauc ij if youll take a few loaves of bread and put them outside the culvert so hell kind of get used to coming up then well rig our noose and catch him he was a little taken aback maybe he thought i was talking too glib for a hostlers kid i had the boys hand down the bread baskets and then i pushed the loaves in between the wires one at a time he never said a wordi he just 4 loan 1932 the minister of finance offers for public subscription 80000000 dominion of canada 4 bonds bearing interest from 15th october 1932 and offered in two maturities as follows 25000000 3 year 4 bonds due 15th october 1935 5500000020 year 4 bonds due 15th october 1952 fjrdlirgjfrradfmrripiutjgrj 15th october 1947 principal payable without charge in lawful money of canada at the bmce of thoj minister of finance and receiver general of canada at ottawa or at the office of the assistant receiver general at halifax saint john chaxiottetown montreal toronto winnipeg reglnacalgary and victoria interest payable halfyearly 15th april and 13th october in lawful money ojf canada without charge at any branch in canada of any chartered banlci denominations 3 year bonds i000 20 year bonds 500 and 1000 the proceed of this loan will be used to retire 34 of bonds maturing 1st novem ber 1932 and to provide for the general purposes of the government and the ganadian national railways i the loan is authoribted under act of the parliament of canada and both principal and interest are a charge on the consolidated revenue fund of canada the amount of this issue is 80 000000 thepmiriister of finance however reserves the right to allot or reject the whole or any part ofisubscriprions received provided such allot ments do not increase the principal amount of the issue by more than 25000000 applications will not be valid on forms other than those printed by the kings printer issue price 3 yealt boilds 9920 and interest yielding to maturity 428 20 year bonds 9345 and interest yielding to maturity 450 payment to he made in full at time of application tr in the case qf the 3yer honds n alutment subscription lists will open on 31st october 1932 and will dose on or before l6ch november 1932 with or without noticej at the discretion of the minister of finance sub jcriptmjji will be received by any branch in canada of any chartered bank and by recognised dealers from whom official application forms may be obtained dbpaktmint of ftnanci ottawa 31st october 1932 v- mmm