The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1861-08-10

with every rod of it; so that know exact
~ what I had to encounter; and when /
saw how the engine was moving felt very
little fear of the result.
s.The road, for the first few miles, was
an air line, rnd so smooth that my engine
few along with scarcely perceptble jar.
was SO busy, posting myself up, as to the
amount of wood and water aboard, etc.,
that we danced by the first station almost
before was aware of it, having been FIVE
minutes out, and having five miles accom-
| plished.
".You are losing time i yelled voice
| from the coach. I looked around, and
there stood Roberts with his watch in his
| hand.
81 knew very well that we would have to
increase our speed by some means. if we
carried out our plans of reaching C by
midnight. and looked anxiously around to
see what could do to accomplish that pur-
pose. She was blowing off steam fercely
at one hundred and ten pounds, so turned
down the valve to two hundred, for I knew
she needed it all to make some of the heavy
grades which lay between US and c..
cit was three miles to the next station.
With the exception of a few curves, the
track was as good as the last. AS we dart
|
rather long curve, at the station, but which
was. at our high speed, short enough. 1
looked at my watch, and we had done it in
TWO minutes and half.
.'Gaining,' shouted back to Roberts,
who was standing outside on the platform of
the coach.
"'Look out for the heavy grades he re-
piled, and went inside the car.
"The next six miles rose gradually from
level, the first, to ten and half feet grade,
the last, which lay between US and the next
station. My fireman kept her full; and
now she began to get hot. The furnace
i door was red, aud the steam raised contin-
ually; SO that she keep her speed, and pass
ed the station like a streak of light, in five
/ minutes.
..Now came nine miles like the last; over
which she kept pace with her time and pass
ed the station in seven minutes.
Here, for ten miles, we had a twenty
foot grade to encounter; but the worst of it
all was. at this place we would be obliged
to stop for wood. I was just going to
speak to Roberts about it, when locked
around and saw him filling the tender from
the coach, with wood which had been plac-
ed there before starting, while he wac gone
after me.
Il believe he would have made his ten
miles at the same speed as before; but
through the carelessness of the fireman the
fountain valve, on the left hand side to the
engine, got opened, and the water rose in
the boiler, SO far as to run the steam down
to one hundred points, before / discovered
where the difficulty lay.
''At first Roberts didn't appear to notice
the decrease of speed, and kept at work at
the wood as if for dear life. But presently
he looked up, and seeing that the speed had
decreased, he shouted:
Harry, we are stcpping!''
'And then coming over to where was,
he said (:
"Why, here we have been ten minutes
on the last ten miles, and l believe We will
come to dead stand, if something is not
done. The speed is continually slackening.
/ What is the matter 90
81 explained the cause. He was appa-
rently satisfied with my explanation, and
after having tied down the safety, valve, he
! climbed back over the tender, exhorting me
to put her through, for Gods sake, or we
are beggars together
just then we passed the next station, hav
ing taken nine minutes for eight miles. We
were now more than halt over the road and
we had lost nearly ten minutes time, and
had left only twenty-seven minutes to do
thirty -four miles in.
AZ had shut the water off both my pumps
little back, where discovered what was
the matter. and she was now making steam
finely down slight grade. From less than
one hundred, with which we started over
that ten mile stretch, she had two hundred
before we finished it; and as the gage indi-
Gated no higher than that, and the valve
was tied down, could not tell how much
over two hundred pounds she carried, but
she certainly carried none less the rest of
the Journey. And we'll might she carry
such an enormous head of steam; for, af
ter passing over that ten miles in eight
minutes. there lay ten miles OF five feet
up grade. and fourteen miles of twenty-to-
the-mile depression between Us and c., and
it was now eleven o'clock and forty seven
minutes.
show the engine was hot in earnest.
| The furnace door, smoke-arch and CHM
ney, all were red; while she seemed to fly
onward as if the very evil one himself OPP
Grated her machinery.
six minutes carried US over that ten
miles; and we dartsd by the last station
that had lain between US and G. Now we
had fourteen miles to go. and my time
showed eleven O'Clock and ffty-three min
utes.
'.If live said to myself. 4 will
make it, and we plunged down the twenty
feet grade with all steam on. Persons who
saw the train on that wild run, say that it
was so soon after they heard the first sound
of her approach, when the strange object
which looked ss If It was fame of fire,
darted by and then the sound of its travel
ing died away in the distance, and they
could hardly convine themselves that they
had seen anything. 1t seemed more like a
creature of wild dream than sober re-
atty.
''And now let me tell you, that no engi-
neer ever beat the time we made on those
fourteen miles. Those great wheels. eleven
feet in diameter, spun around so swiftly
that you couldn't begin to count the revo-
lutions. Theengine barely seemed to touch |
the track as she flew along; and although |
the track was as true as It could be, she
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