A TRUE HERD.

Evening Post, Volume XLVIII, Issue 66, 15 September 1894, Page 2 (Supplement)

A TRUE HERD.

" Bill, the Banker" was a poor navvy, whose work, when he was engaged in the construction of railway embankments, lay amongst the "tip" waggons. At the time to which my narrative refers, he was " tip man " over a shaft in one of the many tunnels found necessary on the Manchester and Leeds Railway. The shaft was about 200 feet deep with sides and bottom of solid rock. His duty was to raise the trucks filled below, and run them to the top, returning them empty to his mates at the bottom. If a cnain broke away, or a great boulder slipped off a track, Bill had to shout " Waur out!" and the miners below crept further into their " drives," allowing the dangerous article to come down harmlessly. One unhappy day Bill's foot slipped hopelessly, and he knew that he must be hurled from side to side of the narrow shaft, until he lay, a crushed thing, at the bottom. But his mates ? If he screamed, the unusual noise would call them all out together to ascertain the cause. Never losing his presence of mind, he gave the usual signal with an unfaltering voice, " Waur out below!" And his mates heard, in their safe retreat, the dreadful thud, thud, and final crash of the hero's mangled remains.