Railroad Songs
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Hobo Bill's Last Eide. Riding an east-bound freight trainl Speeding cast through the night Songs of Long Ago Hobo Bill, a railroad bum Was fighting for his life. Vre Been Working on de Railroad. The sadness of him even exercised Oh I was bo'n In Mobile town. The torture of his soul. I'm working on de railroad. He raised a weak and weary band All day I roll de cotton down To drive away the cold. While working on de railroad. Hobo Bill. I've been working on de railroad Then he heard a whistle blowing All de live long day, In a dreamy sort of way. The hobo seemed contented I've been working on the railroad ro<*Ji For he smiled there where he lay To naaa de time away. Doan .yo' hyar de whistle blowln', Hobo Bill. Rise UP so early in de mawn. It was early In the morning Doan' yo- hyar de captain shoutin', When they raised' the hobo's head. Dinah, blow yo' hawnl The smile still lingered on his face, But Hobo Bill was dead. I used to sing de levee song While working on de railroad. I There was no mother's longing It made de day not half so long To soothe his weary soul While working on de railroad. For he was Just a railroad bum ' Who died out in the cold. While working^ on da debrown railroad. corn pone While working'a* on 0" de dat railroad. ham bone While working on de I'drailroad. crawl to bcdl dat I was dead While working on de railroad. jSongs of Long Ago Sent in by Maxson Wood, Geromc, Idaho. Altoona Freight Wreck. She just left the point of Ketanning, The freight No. 1262. I And on down the mountain she traveled 1 And brave were the men In her crew. [The engineer pulled at the whistle For the brakes wouldn't work when i Songs of Long Ago applied. | Hell-Bound Train. And the brakeman climbed out on the j car top — A Texas cowboy lay down'on a har-room For he knew what that whistle had cried. I Having drunk ao much be coul4 drink no; I'A'itn all the strength that God gave him more; . , , I He tightened his brakes with a prayer, < So he fell asleep with a troubled brain |But the train kept right on down the| To dream that he rode on a Hell-bound mountain train. And her whioUe was piercing the air. The engine with murderous blood was I She traveled at sixty an hour. I Gaining speed every foot of the way. And w1»'s'"brllllantly lit with a brimstone I And then with a crash it was over. lamp. And there on the track the freight lay. An Imp, for fuel, was shoveling bones. While the furnace rang with a thousand Ili'.s not the amount of the damage groans. Koikr .Houiitain Express. Or the value of what it all cost. , I m going back to the mountains [But it is the .sad tale that came from tlie| The boiler was filled with lager beer. cabin And the devil himself was the engineer. I Where every scenefi®'ds thatof golden I pass grain. Wliere the lives'of two. brave men wen The passengers were a most motley crew— J Brings me nearer at last. lost. t Church member, atheist, gentile and Jew. IT?1 My de^argirl old who'll home, change 1 know her I'llname toon bg I They were found at their posts In thc| Rich men In broadcloth'.' beggars In rags. wreckage. Handsome young ladies, and withered old They died when the engine fell; hags, r I The engineer still held to the whistle l^erybody will be there to greet And the fireman still clung to the bell. Yellow and black men. red, brown and juie Rocky Mountain express. white, . ^ I This story is told of a freight train All chained together—O God. what s sight! I And should be a warning to all. While the train rushed on at an Jiwful Ildaho' Hendren. Kamlah, f You must be prepared every moment pace. For you can not tell when he'll call. The sulphurous fumes scorched their hands and face: Sent In by Daisy France, Clarkston. Wider and wider the country grew, Iwa.sh. As faster and faster the engine flew. Louder and louder the thunder orated And brighter and brighter the lightning Songs of Long Ag^ flashed; Hotter and hotter the air became Wabasb'' Cannoiiball. Till the clothes were burnt from each Prom the rocky-bound Atlantic Auivering frame. To the wild Pacific shore. From the. coast of Maryland Song5 of Other Days And out of the distance there arose a yell, To the Ice-bound 'Labrador. Ha, ha. said the devil, "We're nearmg There Is a train, -of ..majestic splendor. Only a Tramp. Helll" „ ^ j Jt'i oulte, welh known to all— [I am a broken-down man, without money| Then oh. how the passengers all shrieked It's the moSeim accommodation or credit. with pain , , Called the Wabash Cannonball. My clothes ore all tattered and -torn; And begged the devil to stop the train. Great cities of Importance I Not a friend have I got in this cold.J We reach upon our way, dreary world. But he capered about and danced for glee Chicago and St. Louis. I wish 1 had never been born. And laughed and joked at their misery. Hock Island—so they say; I In vain do I seek for employment. "My faithful friends, you have done the Hpringfield and Decatur, Sleeping out on the ground, cold and| work . , , Peoria—above all. damp; And the devil never can a payday shirk. We reach them by no other II am stared in the fnce by starvation, But the Wabash Cannonball. Oh, pity the fate of a tramp. "You've justice scorned, end corruption This train runs to Quincy, sown. Monroe and Mexico; And trampled the lows of nature down. She runs to Kansas City, CHORDS. You have drunk, rioted, cheated, plun And she is never running slow; I They tell me to work for my living. dered and lied, She runs right into Denver. • And not through the country to .scamp;! And mocked at God In your hellrborn And makes an awful scuall; And yet, when F ask lor employment, pride. When one sees the sign, says; They tell mc I am only a tramp.. "Welcome, for the Wabash Cannonball."| "You have paid full fare so ril cany you There are other cities, pardner. I The rich man at home, by his bright, j through, . , That Jou can easily see— cheery fireside. For it's only right you should have your St. Paul and Minneapolis. With plenty so tempting restored. due. And th'e famous Albert Lea. Would ofttlmes refuse me, and sneer wlthj Why, the laborer always expects his hire, The lake of Mlnnehaha, contempt So I'll land you safe in the lake of fire, Where the laughing waters fall. When I asked for the crumbs from the| Wc reach them by no other board. "Where your flesh will waste in the flames But the Wabash Cannonball. ' I And yet. with the craving with hunger, that rojir. We hear the merry Jingle. I With a loaf I have dared to decamn. And my imps torment you forever more. The rumble and the roar, [They would have once set their dogs loose) Then the cowboy awoke with an anguished As she dashes through the woodland upon me. cry, And cornea creeping on the shore. Because I am only a tramp. His clothes wet with sweat and bis hair We hear the engine's whistle standing high. And the merry hobo's call. As we ride the rods 'knd brake-beaips I But the day yet will come when the rich I Then he prayed as he never hM prayed On the Wabash Cannonball. ' man and I [ til} that hour. j Now. here's to long Slim Perkins. Will be laid beneath each other's earth. To be saved from his sins and the denjon's May his name forever stand; I His Joys and my sorrows will then be for-j power. He'll be honored and respected got, And his prayers and hie vows were pot By the boes through the land. Then I hope better day we'll agree: And when his days are over But. my friend. I mu.st have yoif remember For he never'rode the hell-beund train. And the curtains, round him fall. I That every poor man's not a scamp, We'll ship him off tB*'l«clfer- iFor Ihere is many a true heart .still beat-] Sent in by Dorothy Edson, Kingston, tne Idaho. On the Waba.'ih Cannonball. J5ciir:\ih the nlri coat of a tramp. Songs of Long Ago The Engineer's Child, A tittle child on a sick bed lay ■ ; And deulh was very near. The parents' pride and only child Of a railroad engineer. His duty called him from those ho lovrd' And the liome whose light was diinmeti As the tears he shed to his wife he said, "I will leave two lanterns trimmed. Songs of Long Ago CHORUS. "Just leave a light in the window tonight The East-Bonnd Train. I And turn It high so it can be seen. I The east-bound train was crowded If our baby's dead, then show the red.