The Greene County Republican. [volume] (Waynesburg, Pa.) 185?-1867, 1867-04-10

call locomotive, must secure OOtn Self-
respect and se,t-conlidanco. l. have
sometimes stood beside the track when
train has come flying along, and have
observed with boundless admiration the
man on whose vigilance, skill, and pluck,
the safety of that train so largely de-
pended. His left hand on the lever, his
right on the reversing lever--if that be
its name-hs body bent forward eager
ly; and his eye keeuly scrutlnizing the
track ahead, lest the tremendous mo-
mentum of his train, meeting with some
obstacle, should dash itself in an instant
iuto horrible wreck. How, now, can
man be weighed down with such res.
possibility and not be a stronger and
more self-relant man?
Some years ago, with party, it was
my fortune to be on the Erie railway
when the engineers engaged in gener-
al strike. 1 sided with the engineers,
believing them to be wronged. At the
Susquehanna station we found large
body of engineers, more than | had ever
seen together at one time. They were
not noisy, nor braggart, nor tipsy; but
| then said, what | now believe, that
they were the finest body Of operatives
1 ever saw. Intelligent. bold, strong,
each the manager of such a wonderful
machine, they found at least one ar.
dent admirer that day
Some Of the most remarkable eXhibi,
Utions of courage lave been made by
men of this class A few days ago my
friend Orsbone, who has driven the To-
comolive for the mail train on the Nor,
ris d Essex railroad for twenty years at
least, with taultless faithlulness, was
once delayed by snow on the track for
several hours, but received explicit Or
ders from the superintendent-not that
splendid officer who has lately resigned
his Office on that road-'to go ahead,
for the road was clear, no other tram
was on the track After satisfying HIM
self that he had not misunderstood the
order, he left the summit on Il steep
| down grade, and, in rounding sharp
curve, came on a train that was ascend.
ing the same grade under full head of
steam In an instant he whisted down
the brakes and reversed his engtGe. The
noble thing, under such IA tremendous
strain, as If fully aware of the danger,
o6eyea, and threw itself back TO avert
the catasIrophe Meanwhile the other
engineer bad done the same thing with
his locomotives; but 1t was impossible
only to modify the shock. Together
rushed those two painting and reluctant
giants, their joint.weight not less than
sixty tons, with the gathered momeu-
tum Of their following trains. They
rose like two furious ANIMALS in fight,
standing on end, aud IN a trice the two
splendid machines were wreck. The
cars behind them were also badly crush
ed. Orsbone did not leap from his en-
gine; but, never moving his hands from
the levers which controlled 1t he stood
as resolute as rock at his post until
the shock came, and then, quick as
thought, adjusted his valves to allow
the steam to escape without an eXplo-
sion. Our war can furnish no clearer
proof Of the finest courage than that.
AT the crossing Of the Morris, & Es.
sex Railway and the Orange turnpike
may be seen a tlagman with one leg
The other he lost In the wreck / have
just described Had he had Orsbone's
nerve to face danger, he would have
escaped also unhurt. Poor fellow the
man who issued the presumptious blum
der that day tried to buy him off from
prosecuting the company for the sum of
one hundred dolars-an offer which
poor 'Bob's' wife met with this query:
'Mr--, would you sell one OF your
legs tor hundred dollars?' '
During the war an incident occur
red on the Pennsylvania Central, which
was related to me by an eye witness -
My informant was with regiment of
soldiers going from Pittsburg to Harris.
burg, in special tram between Johns.
town and the summit they were delayed
by freigh. train off the track, or part
Of its cars off, This they learned at one
OF the stations, and remained there until
they should be- informed that the track
was clear. 1t was IN the night, and
most of the thousand men on the train
were a,leey unconscious Of their danger.
Four heavily loaded coal cars belonging
to the train ahead lad, by accident,
become detached, and began the descent
Of the heavy grade at a speed which
soon became terrible. The engineer OF
the special train heard the roar OF the
descending cars and surmised what was
tho ynattor n m instant ha ordorod