A member of the ASTON GUILD send a few words of sympathy with the drivers, firemen, and signalmen, and good wishes to all who work on our railways, written by Elizabeth Manton, Edgbaston. The verses are too long to reproduce altogether, but I quote one or two:—

I stand and watch the train go past,
The snow is falling very fast;
All within is snug and warm,
But two men must face the storm
The snow may fall, the wind may blow,
But those two men must onward go.
No snow nor tempest must they mind
They have a precious charge behind.

Those men have wives and children,
And loving mothers, too ;
Who watch and stand with anxious hearts
If the train. is overdue.
For well they know the danger
To their loved ones on the train,
And wife and children all rejoice
To see them home again.

The men within the signal-box
Must know their duty well,
And always give the signal right,
Or the danger who can tell ?
Each man upon the railway
Has a duty to perform;
But none so dangerous, I think,
As those who face the storm.

Then you who often travel
On the railway to and fro,
Oh, don't forget those hardy men
Who face the storm for you,
Their faces may be grimy
And their hands with honest toil,
It is black work they have to do
For many a weary mile