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Show AN OLD WOMAN STOPS TrtE PROGRESS OF A LOCOMOTIVE. LOCOMO-TIVE. The Central .Pacific railroad company com-pany in the construction of their branch line between Oakland and Berkeley have met with a show ot nnnositinn nn t)( nart nt one. nr twn property owners living in the vicinity of the latter place. The objection raised by the land holders has not been to the formation of the line, but to the com pension they have been otlered for right of way. Such overtures over-tures as the company has seen fit to make have been rejected, and the parties in possession have defied the approach of tho iron horse with an obstinacy that was not exceeded in the days when it was a novelty and stage coach drivers laughed at it. An elderly lady is one of the obstructionists; obstruction-ists; The line was laid as far as her property last week, when il was brought to an abrupt termination, 'fn Sunday the track-layers stole a march on tho opposition. They went io work early, and by the afternoon the iron road was laid in approved style over the unpurchasabie properly. pro-perly. The lady was taken at a disadvantage, and ber opinion of the encroachment was not modified by the reflection that the day was not one on which to obtain legal assistance. as-sistance. Sho had the right ou her side, however, wherever the might lay, and had mother wit enough to offjut the trick that had been played ber. In due time the locomotive came puffing along the new line. The eld ludy went puffing out to meet it. tine toot up a position ou the track and faced the monster. The driver touched the whistle and tried to startle the obstructionist by a woful diapason. With her foot upon her native heath, the lady auswered the dbriek with a look that would have aflected anything less impressionable than a locomotive. The mouster howled at her again. Tne lady gave it another withering glance and quietly sat down between the rails. Several men who had come up on the engine went to her and tried to argue that a seat on the outside of the rails, where there was soft verdure, was more comfortable than one inside in-side on hard gravel. Their talk was not more persuasive than the escaping escap-ing steam. Two or three of them at length advance! aa if to assist the lady to a more desirable ?pot of earth, wiien Bbe drew a pistol. The men backed out. So did tho engine. S. F. Cull. |