LITERATURE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 4614, 10 April 1893, Page 1

LITERATURE.

THE LITTLE WOMAN AT LONE PSNE STATION. (New Yorfc Sun.) c In the building of the first great trunk line of railroad across the American continent upwards of 10,000 men were killed by the Indians, or met death through sickness or accident. Daring the fleet three or four years of train service trampa and tougha and terrors ma.de. life a burden for all train conductors, and the small stations were entirely at their mercy. There were plenty of telegraph operators ouf. of a job who could nob be induced -to take a; lone station. at any salary, and sometimes the company had to Bend three men to a station where there waa little or nothing lot one to do. Lone Pino station was up in the mountains, just at tho east end of a long stretch of snow ahe.dß. It was thirteen -miles from Bad Creek to the weßt, and eleven from Big Book to the east. The names of these stations, together with dozens of others, have dnce been changed. At the dato 1 writeof a man named Clark had the Big Bock station. I had Bad Creek, and a new agent and operator had jußfc taken possession of Lone Pine. That station had been vaoant for a week. It had been held by a young man named Heed for about three monthe, but one night he was found dead and robbed— the work of the. lawless element then: over* running the West. The first news I got from the new agent came from herself over the wire one day, and this -is what •she Baid:: " Allow me to introduce myself as Mrs Hadley, the new agent at Lone Pine. I am just out from Chicago. 'Charming place thiß, and I know I shall like it. Hope to become better acquainted." I found out later -on that Bhe was a widow about twenty-six years old, goodlooking', well educated, and possessed plenty of courage and common sense. Just why she didn't do as most other .young widows do waß no one's business but her own. Finding that she must earn her own living, she learned telegraphy, and came down the road in search of a place. They didn't want to give her the station at Lone Pine, but she was bo persistent that she was finally installed. As at many other stations, she (had to gather hex own firewood and cook her own provisions, and there were many annoyances to be encountered. Clark and I were both knocked out to find that a woman had been sent to Lone Pine. Had it been a man we should have expected him to take care of himself, but aa it waa we couldn't help but worry. There was hardly a day that we didn't have to drive some tough out of our houses at the muzzle of a shotgun, and both of us had twice been held >up and oleaned out by ,gangs. Her station was even more isolated, and though her sex might, be respected by some, there were men abroad as wicked as the old-time pirates. In response to our inquiries she assured us that she had been ;.proyided with the regular out/fit of weapons by the Company and that she should not beßitate to shoot if Bhe found it meoessary. It was in May when the little woman 'took possession. In describing her I did >not say that she was little, but such was the fact. Her weight waa not over one •hundred pounds, and she looked more like a girl of sixteen, 'than a J wbman of twentyb'\x. I got a chance to ran up and see her one afternoon in the month, and found her nicely Bettled. She-bad been more or lesß >annoyed by roughs, but there had been no occasion to test her nerves as yet. I found her double-barrelled shot-gun loaded with buckshot and her navy revolver ready for ■business, and she assorted me that she should not hesitate to fire npon any man who menaced her safety. I went home much relieved in mind. sOutaide of the fraternal feeling so strong among the brotherhood of the key, there was something in the thought of that little woman being perched up there alone among the grim hills and wild forests calculated to keep a man awake when he should have been sound asleep on liia cot. The first alarm came one night early in July. In the forenoon of that day two very _ rough-look* ing men had come. up. the track from the west. They halted at my Btation, sized me up, and then demanded something to .eat. 1 might have given them a bite had they requested instead of demanded-.; but when I saw that they meant to pick a .quarrel and have an exouse for assaulting .and robbing me I brought out the shotgun and obliged them to walk on. As soon as they were out of sight I notified the little 'woman at Lone Pine to look out for them. She. replied that she would, and up to 10 o'clock, at night I heard from her every hour, -but the tramps had not pub in an appearance, jit was 11.30 o'clock and I was sound asleep when I heard Lone Pine call me over ithe -wire. I rolled off my cot and ran totiiedntrumenfc and asked what 1 was wanted. •* The tramps are. here," was the reply. ' " They are knocking on the. door and tasking for feod and> shelter.'* " But don'fc let them in. Get down your •.ehotguD, lay it acrose the table, with the .muzzles pointed at the door, and if they • break in pull both triggers J" - " They are c&rsing .me and declaring will set the cabin on fire if I don't .open the door !" telegraphed the little \woman a moment later. ".If you i»f>en the door>they will murder you 1 ! "You have & .sliding window to the itaghbflt your door, ii J.. remember right ?" ";YejK" " Take your revolver, elide the sash foftOk, and jSre upon the fallows: 1 ." «♦ Butri ,may kill one of rthenv?" "That^s what you want to do— both, if possible:! &f you show any fear of them they will better tha door ds., -.and, then God helpp.au!!" " It's Wai to shoot— — *• Then <£ame ia break. I knew-tbet the fellows were maiing some <Jefcsonafcc&iions which obliged her to act, and -during tho next sixty seconds I heard e«&ry>bea& of my heart. Then camo the tremulous .message: — " I — l've skot one of them, and what— isrhat— shall I doabo*t it ? " ■" Did you fira from the window ? ** *Yes." .' ■• . : ; -..« Don't do anything 1 except wait and;' watcii. If you've Jb.it one the other will: likely make off. If he tries to get in, however, give him the same dose., Do you hear Jlim about P" "No H think he's caov.ed off, but the one I akot is groaning and taking on awfully;" " Let him groan. You'll fcave a train from the east in thirty-five minutes. Keep me advised." I had two more messages before the train reached her. One was tkat the man had (teased to groan and was probably dead, and ike other was that the tramp had tried to burst open the door, but baa been driven off by her firip g one barrel oi her afoot gun into it from her side. When the train rolled in a dead man was found at the door and a wounded one lying on the ground a few yards away. There wasn't any inquest on the dead, The body was carried a few miles west and dropped into a gulch, and the wounded man, who had half-a--dozen bnckshot in his shoulder, was turned over tc the first oheriff. The|little woman's adventure made her a heroine for many weeks, and I was not mean enough to let on that I had Men obliged to brace her up and direot operations from a distance of thirteen miles. • Everything went well at Lone Fine

until Sept 13. That fall there waß a, tegular army of trampa headed for the weßt, and the employees of every passenger and freight train bad to be armed to the teeth. In some instances the gangs took possession of freight trains and ran them to suit their own convenience. The number of trainmen killed or wounded every week was something astonishing. On the 13th, a gang of twenty tramps seized a freight train at a water tank twenty miles east of Big Rook and ran it to that Btation. There happened to be a big construction gang at Big Book, and they turned out and overpowered the tramps and scattered them in every direction. It began raining at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, and -when night fell it "was as dark as pitch. At eight o'clock a train loaded with bridge material and accompanied by twelve mechanics reached my station from the weat on its way to Big ■Hook. Just as it came in, I got word from Clark over the wire that a landslide had occurred between him and Lone Pine, and no trains would be able to pass it before nesfc day. This you will observe, cut Lone Pine off on the east, and it held the bridge train at my station. I turaed : in about 11 o'clock, with the rain coming down as if everything was to be drowned out, and it was .jußt half-an-hour after midnight when I was called by the little woman at Lone (Pine. "I'm sorry to disturb you," she" said, " but I fear I'm going to have trouble.'* " What's wrong P" "A number of those tramps who were bounced at Big Bock to-day have reached here and taken possession of two empty freight oars on the siding. The whole •crowd fa half drunk and raising Cain." "If they have shelter and something to drink they won't be apt to bother you tonight. However, I'll flit np with you for a while for company's sake. Are your firearms loaded?" " Yes. The gang appara to have four or five revolvers, and two ballets have been fired through the window." j " Well, don't show any light, and you had better bunk down on your cot. The fellows will get over their hilarity pretty soon." It was five minutes before I heard from her again. The engine of the freight train was standing almost opposite the door, and during the interval I went out and roused the sleeping engineer and fireman and told them what was going on at Lone Fine. If things got desperate with the little woman, I proposed to take half a dozen of the mechanics and go up to her relief. When she called me again, she said; "One of the gang has routed me up and demanded whisky and something to eat. When I orcUred him away, he made threats of what they would do." "Don't get shaky," I replied. "It's probably a bluff. Construction No. Bis lying here, and in case you need help a lot of us will come up on the engine. We'll have a clear road, and can make it in fifteen minutes." It was seven minutes before she called again. The locomotive had been fired, up, and the fireman had gone back to the caboose and routed out six men who had revolvers, and they were ready to make a dash with ns. "You remember the old caboose ear at the end of the side track ?" queried the little woman at Lone Pine. ■'.'.".Yes.". . '.' - ■ •.;,.;'. :. ■ ' " Well, they have made a bon-fire of it, and it's blazing away even in this rain. There are fourteen of the fellows,, and . the toughest lot I've ever seen. I think they mean, to attack the house. Hidn'b you better come up ?" " I don't want to take the responsibility unless it is positively necessary. You are expected to stand them off if yon can. No one will blame you if you wipe otifc the whole gang. Talk right up to them if they come up to the house." Three or four minutes slipped away, and then she announced that they had given her -fire minutes in which to surrender, and that one of the empty freight cars had been fired. " They can't set fire to the house with the water falling like this," I replied. " You have a stout shutter at the window, and they can only . attack by way of the door, if at all. They can't shoulder it in with two bars across it, and if they bring up a battering ram you want to fire on them through the lower panels." What was to be the last message came about ten minutes later. " They've brought upabeam/'telegraphed the little woman, "and I gave them the buckshot through the lower panels. I think I hit three or four. Some of them are cow firing into the house, while others ase bringing up firebrands to burn me out." " Coming — don't give up !" I rattled off to her, and thirty seconds later the engine was moving away with our crowd. We had a wet track, but a clear run, and after the first two .miles we simply flew. We had some tear that the fellows might have turned the b witch or pushed a freight car down on the main track, but no such idea had occurred to them. We went through two miles of snow shedding like a rocket shooting along a tube, and when we popped out at the eastern end we were among the tramps. The two cars were blazing away, and a fire had just been started in a third. Firebrands were piled up against the house at three different places, and three or four fellows with revolvers were blazing away at the door and window. Before the engine had ■come to a stop, we dropped off, and 'began shooting to kill, and in five minutes we had cleaned out the gang. Perhaps you remember the way that certain newspapers pitched into me about that affair, calling it a massacre, and howling for our arrest. There were four killed and seven wounded. - Three men were hit whea the little woman fired through the door. I kriow what became of the killed, for I helped to bury them, but the wounded were taken east j tfcati afternoon., , [ Wo-en the lifcfcle woman opened the door to us she bad her revolve? in her left hand, because one of the stray bullets had passed I through the palm of her right. She had also been grazed on the shoulder, and two bullets had passed through her clothing. She had fired tooth barrels of the shotgun and eleven bullets from the revolver, and was doing bravely well whenwe turned the scales. And (did she continue at Lone Pine P Oh, no ! A division superintendent fell in love with her, re-aroused the tender passion tin her breast, and .away she went to settle down on the Pacific slope and become a nobody — that is, she wouldn't be a hecoine ;anj more. __^____