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JIM BLAKE'S MESSAGE (A. P. Carter) "Jim Blake, your wife is dying!" went over the wires tonight. The message was brought to the depot by a lad all trembling with fright. He entered the office crying. His face was terribly white. "Send this message to dad and his engine. Mother is dying tonight!" In something less than an hour, Jim's answer back to me flew. "Tell wife I'll be there at midnight. I'm praying for her too." I left my son in the office, took the message to Jim's wife. There found the dying woman was scarce of breath and life. O'er hill and dale and valley thunders the heavy train. Its engine is sobbing and throbbing and under a terrible strain. But Jim hangs on to his throttle guiding her crazy flight, And his voice cries out in the darkness, "God speed the Express tonight!" I telephoned the doctor. "How is Jim's wife?" I ask. "About the hour of midnight is long as she can last!" In something less than an hour, the train will be along, But here I have a message. Oh, God, there is something wrong! The message reads, "Disaster! The train is in the ditch. The engineer is dying, derailed by an open switch." And there's another message. To Jim's wife it is addressed. "I'll meet her at midnight in Heaven. Don't wait for the fast Express!" (c) A. P. Carter, 1938, but the song has been traced to the 1890's. Recorded by the Carter Family, June 17, 1937. A history of the song is given in Norm Cohen's book, "Long Steel Rail: The Railroad in American Folksong." @train @death filename[ BLAKEMES XX |
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