The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1860-10-26

5ioutll $ department.
Running of the Track.

Ao-"oI, ei'h'''S''' "'ii s-ui!lS W Ecii you d
bout railroad. accident. You have all seen
the cars 8 by. On sonle Of the railroads
The! run fast trains We call these fast trains
the lightning expresses because they travel
SO very fast. The lightning express does not
stop at all the stations 81 the road Ii drives
right through, oi,iy stopping about once in
two hours, to put fresh supplies of water i'll
to the boiler OF the engine, and to pile the
tender full of wood for the furnace. At ali
the other stations the engineer rings the bell
and blows the whistle, as they approach but
the train whrls through the town at a ire
mendous speed, without stopping tor any
body. So they call these the lightning ex-
presses. am going to tell you of an acct
dent that happened to one of these lightning
expresses.
There were two men who lived by the rail
road. The lightning train went by their
house every night. 1t came rafting along
the valley towards their house they could
see it coming from great distance. 1t
whirled by their house in cloud of dust !;
and in an instant it Numbered on, past the
station which was just beyond their house,
and along the bank of the river, until it was
out of sight, ana then, in moment more,
out of hearing said it ran along the bank
of the river The bank was at this place
very steep and rocky. The track of the
railroad ran along close to the brink where
it was twenty feet down to the wafer ; anu
up. on the other side of the track, the rocky
bank rose steeply for thirty or forty feet. 1t
was dangerous looking place to cash thro'
in the lightning express.
These two men that told you ofwere very
good sort Of men their neighbors thought
but in the corner Of the heart, hid away in i,
very little space. as said, there was a Yer!
great wickedntss. They had a quarrel with
the engineer of the lightning express, and
they resolved they would revenge themselves
upon him. They went out one rainy night,
a little while before it was time for the train
to Come by, and they climbed up the steep
bank that overhung the track. They carried
two crowbars. When they reached the tor
of the rock they first looked all around to
see that they We're not observed, and then.
they began pryInS over huge boulder thai
stood on the HILL side. A boulder is a great
stone, usually rounding in its shape. Th,!
pried it up ill it oesan to roll. 1t started
slowly but rolled faster and faster till it CAM.
down with tremendous crash right upo,
the track Then these two wicked men took
up their bars and went home. They had no.
been long III the house before they heard tn,
rattling of the lightning train away up th'
valley. They looked at each other, but the,
did not SAY word They iclt terrib y gull
ty.
All this time the engineer was riding OF
his locomotive. 10 you or me, riding Oh
that locomotive would be Il terrifying thing
Bat that engineer had grown used to it, ant
he enjoyed it. He seemed never 50 happ.
as whcn he was dashing along the country a
forty miles an hour, with Just as much as hi
could do all the tine to keep good look on
and manage his engine. SO he came roarln:
down the valley this dark rainy night soini
forward every nov and then to look out d
head. The wind and rain almost BLINDED
him, but he always kept sharp lookout 4
head, rain OF no rain. o.: the fro Mt Of tn
eng inc he had an enormous lantern tXet
with reflector as large round as a barrel
1t was set so as to throw all the light to
ward on the track at a great distance. ii
watched everything by this light. Sudden
as they were whirling towards the ste,
bank, he thought he caught glimpse OF
dark object at great distance on the trac
He did not know what it was, whether it W
a COW, or man, or only shadow, but
was afraid. Instantly he stopped the engi
and reversed its motion as soon as he cou
he blew the whistle long and loud the brah
men sprang to the br .kes to check the trai
and the passengers i'll the cars started
wondering what was the matter. The ira
was very heavy and went grinding on al
or, but it went slower and slower. The c
gineer was watching intently all the time
see what it was upon the track, and befc
they reached it he saw by the aid of the gre
reHector-lantern, that it was huge rou
rock.
The passengers got out as the train ste
ped Just before the rock, to see what was I
trouble. II thank God" said the engine
"that saw the rock in time" He was star
ing in the rain out on the front Of his eng
as he said it, but he took of his hat revere
", for he was grateful to his heavenly Fat
for such an escape. "lf had been thu
seconds later" he said, lit would have be
the end of u.s..
Then all assisted with levers and roll
the stone off the track down into the ri,
on the other side, and then the train mo,
on.
They did not know how the rock ca
there. Some of them thought the rain
loosened the soil on the bank and let it
down. The engineer did not say much,
he silently resolved in future tokeep sha
er lookout than ever.