Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1861-10-17

the station, but which was, at our high speed,
short enough | looked at my watch, and we
had done it in two minutes and half.
Gaining shouted back to Roberts. who
was standing on the platform outside Of the
coach.
Look out for the heavy grades he replied
and went inside of 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 door was red, and the
steam rose continually; so that she kept her
speed, and passed the station like q streak of
lightning in five minutes.
Now came nine miles like the last over which
she kept pace with her time, and passed the sta
ton in seven minutes.
Here, for ten miles we had twenty foot grade
to encounter; but the worst of it all was, at
this place we should have to stop for wood. l
was Just going to speak to Roberts about it,
when looked around and saw him filing the
tender from the coach, with wood which had
been placed there before starting, while he was
gone after me.
/ believe he would have made his ten miles
at the same speed as belore but through the
carelessness Of the fireman the fountain valve
on the left hand side Of the engine got open,
and the water rose in the boiler, so far rs to run
the steam down to one hundred pounds, before
l 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 stoppingp
And then, coming over to where l was, he
said
'Why, here we have been ten minutes on the
| last ten miles, and ! believe we will come to q
dead stand if something is not DONE The speed
is constantly sackcning. What is the mat
| terP
| explained the cause. He was apparently
satisfied with explanation, and after having tied
| down the safety valve, he climbed back over
| the tender, eXhorting me TO put her through fol
Gods sake, or we are all beggars together
Just then we passed the next station, having
taken nine minutes for eight miles. We were
now more than half over the road, and we had
lost nearly ten minutes time, and had left only
twenty seven minutes to do thirty four miles
in.
had shut the water of both my pumps;
little back, when discovered what was the mat
ter, and she was now making steam finely down
a slight grade. From less than one hundred
with which she started over that ten mile stretch
'" u wv o''Vt' w n''"." !. ''',
as the gage lhuic9teu no nSner than that' ahc
the waive was ued down; could not tell now
much over two hundred pounds she carried
but she certainly carried none less the rest o
the journey. And well she might carry sucl
an enormous he9u OF steam ior aiter passing
over that Ten mi'es In eiSht minutes, tnere lay
Yen mlies Oh hve rect up 9raue' ana iourteer
miles Oh .wenty-to-' 'ne-mi'e depression between
us ana -, and 1t was now eleven O'Clock
ana iorty-seVen minutes
NOW the engine was not IN earnest. Int
furnace door, smoke arch' ana chimney all wer'
req whi,e she seemed TO ny onward a. II I'M
very evii one mmsen operated her machinery.
DIX minutes carried us over that ten miles
ana we darted by the last station that had lar
between US ana - NOW we had iour
Teen nlies 10 80, ana my time showed eleVei
O'CLOCK Tc ana hlty three minutes. ., ..
II lNe' sald 10 myselt, 1 VIII make II,
ana we plunged DOWN the twenty ieet grau
win all steam on rerso1s VINO saw the tran
on Una. wlia run say 'nat IL was soon aiter lne'
heard the nrst SOUND OF her approach when tn