Tales of Open Road |
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I arrived in Redding, California, at midday and I felt very sick and dizzy so, having some cash on hand, which was not usual, I found a rooming house and, while I was registering, I told the lady at the desk just how I felt and she told me to check at the county hospital which was just up the street.
I went immediately and after the doctor checked me out he said I had either sun-stroke or appendicitis and to go to bed for three days and to eat nothing until he came to check on me, three days hence. Along about noontime, the gate attendant told me a train called the Portland Hotshot would slow down but not stop to pick up mail. I know I'm not the brighest kid on the block and it was only later run at a boxcar ladder, but, too late, I realized I had misjudged the target, which was the ladder, and I bounced off the side of the moving train and went head-over-heels in the street. Several people who were waiting for the train to pass rushed over to pick me up but I regained my footing and grabbed the next ladder that passed. Only the help of several angels could have made such a stupid action turn out safely. I climbed that ladder and, as I neared the top, a man who was twice my size reached down and pulled me up to safety. Then he gave me a 'talking to' that I still remember. He had been a brakeman all of his adult life and he assured me he had never seen such astupid action before. What can I say? All's well that ends well.
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