Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1854-03-09

lily breeze, from a comfortable cpnla
with his better hall, and put him o
the engine oil a mail train, "devoul
ing the darkness" 5" ut rate Of forty
five miles an hour, and if he recover
from the shock in six months, h
will have considerable more iron /
his nerves than most slow coaches
have known.
Il "But in the evening in question
LIVE had fair weather, and dayligh
sufficient to last US a good way down
I'D first rate engine, and clear run I,
Worcester, so Ear MS we knew.
"a fair prospect for good "trip
Hsaid | to the engineer, before start
ling.
/ i" 1T looks well enough now, wa;
ibis reply. And little enough time
Ito do. in. | only wish tho mer-
Fchantsf Of Boston had to run these
mail trains for themselves, and take
the beggarly wages ] get for the
business. I'll be bound they would
not scrape their pr eclous bones over
the road more than once, and .hen
twenty-five miles an hour would
take the breath out of their bodies.
Thompson, the engineer on this
trip, | had rode with before. He
was a tall, black haired man, from
the State of Connecticut, a great
driver, and silent as death on the
road, He kept his eye fixed steadily
on tho truck, except when he was
timing his speed, That he possessed
the unscrupulous presence Of mind,
some persons may call it recklessness,
possibly demanded by tho driver ofa
fast train, will be shown by the Incl
dent that follows.
We had come along very well,
and were some way past New Wind
sor. | think might have been
going at the rate Of thnty-fve miles
IN hour, common running time.---
There was here a slight curve in the
rald, aud on getting round it, III
heard Thompson cry out at the ut
most power of his / ungs, mot Of much
account to be sure in the din of the
engine:)
There is something on the road. |
Hold on for your Ives.
"A nd as he said this, he put the
whole force on tho engine, and lot of
the full power of the whistle in al
shrek of such concentrated agony,
that il appeared as if the entire cho-
rus of. pandemohium had been let
loose, and then, ID another second,
there was a tremendous crash, a.
mighty jag; TINT threw me flat on the
floor of the engine, and an univer-
sal crashing of timHer, rattling of
wheels, and something like the DEATH |
shrek Of man or beast.
"ln another second all this agony /
was over, the engine was reversed,
the brakes put on, and Thompson
exclaimed; We have run down Il
train, Mr.. Collins, and though our
time is short, believe it is but q
duty to- run back and see if any
body is killed ThomEIson and |
ihcr@upon jumped off AM ] ran buck
about twenty-five yards when wei
saw d an instant, the teri ible danger
we had just passed, and the nature
of the accident. A par ~ OF Irish
laboters were now stand ling by the
side of the read, and thd engineer OF
the train we had run d own, red-I
headed, Lowland Scott, by the name
Of Mctnlies, told us hoW it had all
happened, You see, moI,' said Mac,
i had come along down to back up
into a gravel-pit, with about thirty |
men on board the dirt ears, aud a
car with two horses iI it; ! knew
you would be along al ID 4 believed |
had time enough to set the switch,
back OH my train, and put every
thing in order before 'ou would be
here. But Us true as live Mt this
moment, ] hadn't run down more
than far enough to get my last car
TO the gravel, trick, anh as for the
switch, | had not seen it before |
heard you. / }belieye considered u
second about it, and said to my
SELF il this switch is BET now, both
trains will be altogether broken up;
If | leave the train, my men will at
| east be safe, and he will have some
chance Of running ove er or through
it. Jump men--jump for your lives
was all | said; and We did, and cleared
ourselves, and that b just it; and
swhat will the Gov be spanking
e -. 8.