“That was a giant’s feat, gentlemen,” proclaimed Mr. Crocker. “I want to introduce to you these eight men who carried ten miles of rails in one day, without a pause except for nooning. Their names are Michael Shay, Patrick Joyce, Thomas Daily, Michael Kennedy, Fred McNamara, Edward Killeen, George Wyatt, and Michael Sullivan. They’ve moved bodily over a million and a half pounds of iron.”
The crowd cheered.
“An’ sivin of ’em are Irish, an’ the other ought to be,” shouted Pat. “So it’s all in the family, an’ we don’t begrudge yez the job. Faith,” he added, to his rival, Track Boss Minkler, “a trifle over 2,000,000 pounds o’ iron have your gangs handled this day. For hiven’s sake, send your min to bed, or my brain’ll burst wid lookin’ at ’em. B’ dad, an’ wance I thought we could skin yez at the track game. Mebbe we can—I’m not sayin’ we can’t, but we’re lucky to quit before-time.”
“It’s laid and well laid,” Division Superintendent Campbell was remarking, to General Casement. “And to prove the fact, I’ll engage to run a locomotive over the entire distance in forty minutes.”
So he did, on the return to the C. P. camp; but only a few of the visitors remained, to witness. The sun had set, soon the darkness would gather, and the bulk of the crowd commenced to stream eastward, for Promontory, the U. P. camp, Blue Creek, and even beyond by wagon and train.
General Dodge and General Casement and Mr. Reed stayed, to be the guests of Governor Stanford at supper.
“What do you reckon Pat meant by his 2,000,000 pounds?” George queried, as he and Terry cantered on their way to camp. “All those figures sound like heap talk.”
“Let’s ask Major Hurd.”
They dropped back to Major Hurd, the U. P. assistant superintendent of construction.
“Crocker knows, and Pat made a shrewd guess,” said Major Hurd. “It’s quickly figured. I have the items right here.” And he consulted his pocket memorandum book. “The C. P. are using thirty-foot rails, weighing fifty-six pounds to the yard. In one mile there should be 352 rails, each weighing 560 pounds, and the total weight for ten miles sums 1,971,200 pounds, in rails alone. The ten miles calls for 55,000 spikes, 7,040 fish-plate fasteners, 14,080 bolts; and while they may not bring the total quite to the 2,100,000 pounds, we’ll call it that in round numbers. And every pound of the iron had to be handled—and handled several times.”