Litchfield enquirer., 1861-09-19

the station, but which was at our high speed short enough, looked at my watch, and We hat done it in two minutes and half. ''Ganing,' l shouted back to Roberts, wht was standing outside, on the platform of th coach.
 $. Look out for the heavy grades he replied and went into the car.
 ''The next six miles rose gradually from level, tho. first, to ten and half feet grade, tn, last, which lay between us and the next tation Ny fireman kept her full and now she began to get hot, The furnace door was red, and the stsa. raised continually so that she kept he speed, and passed the station like q steak o i i;,,iit, in five minutes.
 Now came nine miles like the last owe which she kept pace with her time ani passed the station ln seven minutes,
 Here, for ten miles, we had twenty foo grade to encounter; but the worst of it ali was at this place we would be obliged to stop fo wood. l was just going to speak to Roberts about it, when 1 looked around and saw him fill ing the tender from the coach, with wood whicl had been placed before starting, while he wa gone after me.
 T believe he would have made his ten mile: at the same speed as before but through the careessness of the fireman the fountain valve Oil tie left hand side of the engine, got open and the water rose in the boiler 50 far as to TUT the steam down to one hundred pounds before discovered where the difficulty lay. At first Roberts didn't appear to notice the decrease of speed, and kept at work at the wooc as if for dear life. But presently he looked up and seeing that the speed had decreased, he shouted:
 ''' Harry, we are stoppingv
 And then coming over to where I was, he said:
 "' Why, here we have been ten minutes or a dead stand, if something is not done. The speed is continually slackening. What is the matter?'
 I explained the cause. He was apparently 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, 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
 l had shut the water off both my pumps a little back, where discovered what was the mat ter. and she was now making steam finely down a 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 indicated no higher than that, and the valve was tied down, I could not tell how much over two hundred pounds she carried, but she certainly carried none less the rest of the journey. And well might she carry such an en- ol1neus head of steam for after passing over that ten miles in eight minutes, there lay ten miles ofa five feet up grade, and fourteen miles of twenty to-tho-mile depression between us and t'--- and # vr,- now nIayap ,,.!fnl- ,nd seven minutes.
 Now the engine was hot in earnest. The furnace door, smo,,,-arcA and chimney all Were red while she seemed to fly onward as if tile Very evil one himself operated her machinery.
 t5lN minutes carried us over that ten miles and we dartei by the last station that had lain between Us and C--. Now we had fourteen miles to go. and my time showed eleven cIocs, and fiji fjy-threc minutes
 If live, said to myself. : 1 will make it,, and we plunged down the twenty feet grade with all steam oM. Persons who saw the train on that wld run, say that it W IS 50 soon after they heard the sound of her approach, when the strange object which looked as if it was flame of fire, dartel by, and then the sound of its travelling died away in the distance, and they could hardly convince themselves that they had seen anything. It seemed more like a creature of 8 wild dream than a sober reality.
 And now let me tell you that no engineer ever beat the time We made on those fourteen miles. Those great wheels, eleven feet in diam et'r spun around so swiftly that you could not begin to count the revolutions. The engine bare ly seemed to touch the track as she flew along and although the track was ss true as it could be she swayed ealfully, and sometimes made such prodgious jolts that it required considerable skill for one to keep his feet. No engine would hold together if crowded to greater speed.
 Well, just as l came to stand at the depot in C., the big clock boomed out twelve and the steamboat was getting her steam on. Ro- berts got on board in time and nothing to spare
 And he saved the money, dld he ?" I asked when l saw that my friend had finished his story
 Yes; he found it hid away in some old boxes, as Aldrch had directed"
 If you are passenger for c. said a waiter, the bus is ready
 So thanked my friend for his story, and bade him good bye.