Page:Hine (1904) Letters from an old railway official.djvu/29

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Letters From A Railway Official

for orders. In either case let the right man take hold and in a few minutes the men involved will tell you who it is has assumed charge. Without realizing it and without knowing why, they redouble their efforts; things begin to move, and the incident goes down in the legends of the division to be the talk of the caboose and the roundhouse for years to come. To the man whose cool head and earnestness are bringing it all about comes the almost unconscious exhilaration that there is in leading reinforcements to the firing line. He feels with the Count of Monte Cristo, “The world is mine,” I have the switches set to head it in.

Get out of your head the young brakeman’s idea that yard jobs are for old women and hasbeens.

Affectionately, your own

D. A. D.

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