an allusion to a poem by
American author Strickland Gillilan (1869 - 1954). Strickland once found a story
telling of Finnigin, an Irish railroad
worker who, when reporting on train wrecks, was told to keep it
brief. Strickland turned one of the Irishman's telexes into a poem, which
reads in part / "Off
agin, on
agin, / "Gone
agin.
an allusion to a poem called "Finnigin to Flannigan" by
American poet Strickland Gillilan (1869-1954). Gillilan once ran across a story of an Irish railroad
worker, Finnigin, who when reporting on train wrecks in his
section of the
track was told to keep it
brief. Gillilan wrote a whole poem on this, which became one of his most well known. In the poem, Finnigin has a wreck in his
section of
track and after getting the train back on the tracks and moving on, he writes a ten-
page report to his
superintendent Flannigan. Unable to understand what Finnigin had written, Flannigan requested that in making such reports Finnigin be
brief. Finnigin agrees, and after
handling another train wreck, Finnigin