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VOL‘ xxxv-- GASTONIA, N. C.. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 80. 1003.
. . 11- e**g^-'- —1- ■I..I.J..
THOMSON C
SHOES
Listen good peo
ple. Our Shoe
department Is
one we are proud
of. We have giv
en this depart
ment special at
tention. It is
second to none In
this section. We
•ell shoes of solid leather and correct
shape. Men,
women,and chil
dren's. Our pric
es will be so low
that It will be
cruelty to your
feet sot to buy
them.
HATS AND CAPS
Flr»t floor.
Men and boye, you all need new fall head
wear and that being the case, you had bet
ter see about getting a new one right
away. Our stock Is made of the newest
and nobbiest shapes for all. Right this
way for a new Hat.
BIG FALL OPENING!
Oct. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd.
=^==-1' -_
THE NEW HATS FOB AU
TUMN WEAR
The advance styles are here and ready for
your viewing. They are stylish, nobby,
swell. The very cheapest number Is good
style, ahd our prices will be a big saving
to you.
DRESS GOODS AND TRIM
MINGS
All the new Dress Goods and Trimmings
are here. We have searched the Northern
markets. We have bought something of
what we considered best. You will find
old friends, some new weaves, and here
and there new finish. Come and sec, feel,
and lodge for yourself.
THE VOICE of the PEOPLE
It has spoken, and la unmistakable tones,
that Thomson Company Is preeminently
the people's great shopping center. The
style pendulum of this Mg store keeps
correct fashion time all the year round,
regulated by the whims of dame Fashion
and the change of seasons.
OUR GOODS
are away up In quality, away down In price.
This Is why this store does the largest
business of Its kind In the vicinity. Come
and se us; we'll gladly show you through.
CLOTHING DEPARTMENT
On second floor.
Every milt a fitlln
plate,and we have them
In any style you «ke—
and remember ear
clothes ere particular
v*rk-ttey ere correct
In cut sod batterer they
fit, and our prices art
a source of revelation
to all. Wbcn can we
expect you? -
T H OM80N
Phone 46 A ~k
A BIDE ON THE ENGINE.
Dashing 7% Milo# an Hoar ta the
Lay ef Nad Pare*—No Other
Seaaatlea Like il-Wha! the
Seathon'e New Paaeeager Ed*
fine Can Bo.
I. K. Awry la Chvlattc Observer. 13th.
"Come and ride on the enjgine"
said Mr. H. Baker, superinten
teedent of the Charlotte division
of the Southern Railway, a few
days ago. And I rode. Such
travel is a bit more exhilarating
than a trip on Ben Hur's
chariot.
The reporter had found Mr.
Baker examining the engine at
Atlaota. It was attached to the
Washington & Southwestern
vestibule limited, the best and
fastest train on the Southern.
J. M. Costner was engineer, and
be touched his engine as if be
loved it.
"She's been running three
weeks, he said, "and is perfect.
For ten days she was broken in
with a freight train, and since
then she has been in the passen
ger service. She runs as smooth
ly as clock work."
Then he and Mr. Baker who
showed as much pride as Cost
ner, discussed the engine tech
nically, and Costner told the su
perintendent to get on the loco
motive at Gainesville, Ga., and
watch her movements for s while.
Until the train got to Gaines
ville Mr. Baker sat at the end of
the rear car and watched the
track. He studies his division
lust as one would study a map,
and be baa learned to know it
thoroughly. When the train
stopped he bad a hurried word
with station masters. When the
train didn't stop be bowed now
and then to men on other trains
or to men standing at little sta
tions. Everybody seemed to
recognise Baker at a glance and
than is an evident spirit of good
<omrsde*hIp between himself
and Us men.
"And they are all good men,"
he explained. "I never saw a
finer type of employes on any
road, Of course I am dependent
upon them in every sense of the
word, and their hearty co-opera
tion with me is absolutely neces
sary. The man who thinks ha
can ran t division of any railroad
■too# or without the proper snp
port onght to resign and buy a
bank or do something like that."
At Gainesville Mr. Faker and
I climbed into the engine. He
stood by the engineer and put
me on the fireman’s seat. The
fireman, a negro, stood. Not
even for two minutes during the
ride did he stop shoveling cosl
into the engine.
Costner, too, was on his feet
nearly all the time. The small
glass window in front of bis seat
was half open and so arranged
that he didn't get the full force
of the air. He sat or stood in a
half crouching position with his
eyes gazing steadily in front of
him. He is a Scotch type, slen
der, wiry, with a strong face, a
long, fine jaw, with a cleft at the
chin, and keen blue eyes that
were puckered at the corners—
the sign of a man who watches
much. He stood almost against
Mr. Baker, and he showed the
superintendent what engine No
1100 could do.
Costner played with that en
gine. He and Baker may say
that he didn’t, but he did. It
waa a mere detail that he arrived
at Greenville, S. C., the end of
his run, on time. Between
Gainesville and Greenville he
was rejoicing in the knowledge
of what the engine could do and
sported her, slowed her, played
with her as a thoroughbred horse
man handles a thoroughbred
horse.
i ne window in front of the I
fireman’s box, where I sat, waa |
thrown wide open. "If the wind
geta too strong for yon, close the ;
glass,” said Mr. Baker. ”T>nt I
wanted the air. It came In with
a kind of a roar and surcharged
my longs till I gasped, but the
sensation was deliriously sweet.
Here waa the beginning of
thing*; the Cyclopean chargei
here a mad rush in the lap of
titanic force.
Between Gainesville and
Greenville theta are stretches of
road that require careful going.
There are also places that allow
an engine to safely do all she
may. At the curvey points
Costner sent No. 1100 at about
4B miles an hour, but when the
track lay straight ahead he
tnroed the engine loose.
When I sms down In Missis
sippi tsro years ago the railroad
men were laughing at the order
**** P1,h> tnoMeat
of the Illinois Central,gave to an
. ** fish waa on a
special train and he wished to
get somewhere quick. The en
gineer went at a very fast rate,
but Mr. Fish wanted harder go
ing. He *ent word to the engin
eer to:
"Take the bridle off.”
' The term appealed to the en
gineer and he grimly pulled the
throttle wide open.
Costner took the bridle off No.
1100. I was not versed in such
matters, bnt it seemed to uie we
might be trsyeling at about a
couple of hundred miles an hour.
I said as much to Mr. Baker and
he replied that the engine had
not been doing more than a little
over 70 miles an hour.
It is too late in the day to at
tempt to say anything worth
while in describing a ride bn an
engine. Alf Solomons, of this
city, who is an engineer and one
of the beat, has an imagination.
He said:
"You ought to see what I see
when I ride by nigbt with the
big search light shining in the
darkness. It is kind of ghostry
and uncanny at times. If a man
could write what the twine and
1 « feel J«st <Jh night
that would be worth tb?telling."
And an engine rushing into the
blackness of night is a theme
for the gods to consider itn po
tently.
But in all the world there is
no sensation like riding on an
engine at any time. It gives an
uplifted sort of feeling. I under
stand why an engineer is un
afraid. The majesty of his sur
roundings, the clang, the roar,
the tense leaping into space—
these things preclude fear. One
feela that toe engine itself has a
living presence that Would mock
at fright. And such presence!
It is no wonder that the heath
ens exulted and fell under the
Juggernaut car. The sight of
superhuman force mast ever
send the qaick blood coursing
recklessly, and death while the
blood leaps la a good sort of
death.
Take the bridle off and one lives
ter a while. It is remarkable
that the pace doean’t kill with
sheer intoxication or excitement.
Costner is at the throttle only
Ive hours in every twsnty-fonr.
Such service speska for itaelf.
He saves himself and eats and
sleeps most of hit time in order
that he may be strong enough
to let engine No. 1100 have her
way for a few brief hoera.
I never saw Costner look ont
of the window at his side as psa
aengers do, and he sever looked
back at bit train while I was in
the engine. He iutt crouched,
and puckered hit eyes and looked
dead ahead and hurled hit en
gine Into space. He is paid $150
a month a^d more. One may
conjectnre what his service is
worth. _ In the economic world
an engineer on a passenger train
is a class by himself.
Costner, aud only Costner,
handles No 1100. "We are try
ipe as far as possible.” said
Dipt. Baker, "to give every en
gineer his own engine. We get
good results that way. An en
gineer who has bis own locomo
tive develops pride in her. and
the spirit of competition that ia
aroused is beneficial to the ser
vice generally. Since the first
of the year the Southern has pur
chased 75 new engines that cost
from $10,000 to $15,000 apiece.
One thing Baker did not men
tion. Tis about himself. He is
one of the best superintendents
on the Southern, and the fact
that be it sure to be promoted,
as he deserves, is unfotunate for
the people who live along the
line of bit present division. He
is a railroad man all the way
through; he has the backing and
confidence of his superiors, end
of all the men under him and be
loves his work in a way that eyen
an outsider can appreciate and
admire.
A Matter af Skfa.
WllkMfcora Ckraatel*.
At Gotten county court last
week a uewro waa sent to the
roads for ploying "skin." It is up
to Bro. Moran ail, of Tar* Gasto
wia OAurrn. to explain why
be and bia fellow countrymen
are not liable in the Federal
courts for discriminating against
!■}« "P<x>r negro" on account of
bis "skin.”
Administrator’s Notice.
SALE OF VALUABLE LAND.
CtniM. jou’i Sato illui |
Gastonia Banking Co.
■ jCastonla, N. C. — ■
CAPITAL AND SURPLUS, $7S^M40
Slate Beak Incorporated May IS, MR
STATE AND COUNTY DEPOSITORY
OFFICERS
♦ ♦♦
mo. movb.pmMmi
O.C.Q. LOVB, Via* Pra*.
JAO. A. PAOO,
directors
♦ ♦♦ •
»- c. «. LOVB
i. itv*