"We do not ride on the railroad; it rides upon us. Did you ever think what those sleepers [wooden ties] are that underlie the railroad? Each one is a man, an Irishman or Yankee man. The rails are laid on them, and they are covered with sand, and the cars run smoothly over them. They are sound sleepers, I assure you. And every few years a new lot is laid down and run over; so that, if some have the pleasure of riding on a rail, others have the misfortune to be ridden upon. And when they run over a man that is walking in his sleep, a supernumerary sleeper in an upright position, and wake him up, they suddenly stop the cars, and make a hue and cry about it, as if this were an exception. I am glad to hear that it takes a gang of men for every five miles to keep the sleepers down and level in their beds as it is, for this a sign that they may sometime get up again." - Thoreau, Walden
Posted on: Tue, 25 Jun 2013 05:05:32 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015