The daily press. (Cincinnati [Ohio) 1859-1859, 1859-05-27

4 . Aiic VI u AuSOmOuNo SihooHs
I To whom to credit the following we know
not. 1t seems person had quit the business
Of engineering locomotives: Pa.
Upon making bold to ask him his reasons
he gave mo the following story, and since then
have found It out to be strictly true:
Give years since was running upon the
N. Y. @. X. r. My run was from B. TO R.,
1t was the Lightning Express train, and II
was what it's name denotes, for it was fast--a
very fast run, and il do soy it, tho old Tor
nado could go. / have seen her throw her
six foot drivers so as to be almost invisible to
the eye. And let me here remark, il is sup.
posed by many that railroad engineers are a
hard d-hearted set of moDj their lives are hard
tits true, but I do claim to have as fine feel
ing, and heart that can sympathize with the
unfortunate as any man that ereathes. Butte
my story; : 10 -
"About half mile from the village of b.
there is a nice little cottage but few feet from
the track At that time a young married
couple lived there. They had one child, q
little boy about four years old, bright, black
eyed, curly y-headed little chap as you ever saw.
had taken a great deal of interest in the little
fellow and had thrown candy and oranges to
him from the train, and l was sure to see him
peoping through the fence when my train
passed.
zone fine sunny afternoon we were behind
time and running fast, nor did we stop at B,
and was making up one hour before reaching
R. We came up at a tremendous speed,
and when sweeping around curve, my eye
following the track, not over two hundred feet
ahead sat the little fellow playing with kitten
which he held in his lap. At the sound of our
approach he looked up and laughed, clapping
his little hands in high glee at the affrig ghted
ran frnf ho troob nu;o |,
lightning that blasts the tall pine from the
mountain top, whistlod "down Breaks" and
reversed my engine, but knew it was impos-
sibe to stop. Nobly did that old engine try to
save him. The awful straining and writhing g
of its iron drivers told but too plainly of the
terrific velocity we had attained. was out of
the cabin window and down on the COW catcher
in flash. The little fellow stood still. l
motioned him of and shouted; his little blue
eyes opened wide with astonishmeIt, and a
merry laugh was upon his lips. / held my
breath as we rushed up to him, and made a
desperate attempt to save him, but missed, and
as his little body passed, l heard a feeble cry
"Motherl" and the forward truck crushed him
to atoms.
Oh, Godl that momentl may live sir, to be
an old man, but the agony of that moment can
never be erased from my memory. The cars
stopped some rods from the spot, and ran
back as soon as possible. His mother saw the
train stop, and a fearful foreboding flashed
upon her at once. She came rushing frantically
to the spot where we stood. Mover shall L for
get the look she gave me as she behed her
first born n shapeless mass. L would have
given my whole existence to have avoided that
momentl l have seen death in all its forms
upon railroads. have seen men, women and
children mangled and killed. have seen all
this, but that innocent boy, as he looked up in
my face, and was killed almost in my arms-it
unnerved me, and from that day / made SOL
emn vow never to run locomotive Rny more.
That young mother is now in the Utica Lu-
natic Asylum. From the hour her boy was
killed reason had left its throne"
He stopped and wiped the tears from his
eyes, and said, "You may think it weak in me
to shed tears, but can not help it." "No,"
l replied, "but think IL noble; and sir, would
to God every man had a heart as large as
yours"
have often thought since, how few are
those who give one passing thought to the man
of strong nerve and stout arm, who guides
them through darkness and storms with the
speed of the wind safely to their journeys end.
They do not for moment turn their attention
to the iron monster that is dragging thcm for
ward with fearful velocity to meet friends and
relations or home and all its loved ones. They
do not realize that the man who gsides the
fiery monster holds all their precious lives at
his command, aud that the least negligence
upon his part would cause sorrow and mourn
ing in thousand homes that are now waiting
the return Of the absent loved.