Being well planned, the operation went along smoothly--that is, until the road was forced to break away from its own scheme. The trainmaster was about to dispatch one of the troop trains from Asheville, its forty-minute meal period having nearly expired, when an assistant informed him that the officers of the regiment it carried were not aboard. The trainmaster hurried downstairs. The officers were having their after-dinner coffee and their cigars and showed no disposition whatsoever to hurry out to the cars. He made up his mind quickly. He knew that if this train was delayed ten minutes the whole operating plan would go to pieces and the entire division become almost hopelessly congested. He went to the commanding officer and quickly explained this to him. The colonel of the volunteers quickly waved him to one side. "This train'll start when I'm good and ready to have it start," he said huskily. The trainmaster stood his ground. "I'll have to send it on in three minutes," he said politely, "and you gentlemen will have to take your chance in getting on another section." The army man (volunteer) swore a great big oath, and added: "You make a move to start this train before I give the word and I will make you a military prisoner." The railroader capitulated, although today he is sorry that he did not stick it out and go to prison. And the operating schedule of his division went to pot. Stalled trains piled up for miles along its main line and its sidings. Incredible delays were the immediate result of one man's tinkering with the delicate operating structure of the railroad. * * * * * But given even a fairly free hand, a measure of authority, and some opportunity for preparation, the railroader will be able to give a good account of himself in the military handling of troops. He has shown that during the past year when he has been called upon to hurriedly move our army toward the south border of the nation. I have told already of the records made on that occasion--how long trains, filled with troops and provisions and munitions of war, were sent down to the border in double-quick time. One thing I have not yet told--the provisions for housing and feeding these troops while they are on the road.