St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1868-10-16
A 1HidHight Ride on u CO,c-
Catcher.
A writer in the Oaeida Circular de.


''The train was TO start at l:i5, and
it wanted hut few minutes OF the time
As stood there in the d&rkncss. within
few feet of the kissing monster, my
heart began to fail me. and | almost re-
solved to abandon my hazardous under
taking. What if should lose my hold
and be thrown off in trent of that crash
!ng mass of machinery? What if there
should be something on the track
Such thoughts kept whirling through my
mind, and ] hesitated. Suddenly the
bell rang. Hardly realizing what l did,
| hastily left the dark recess and stepped
on the heavy framework in front of the
engine. by means of q stout leather
strap, l bound myself on by passing it
round my body and under one OF the
strong bars of-lhe cow-catcher Viii
| was thus engaged, the train had lel,
the depot. and with rapidly increasing
speed was passing through the city.
| had some fears lest some of the flag
men at the street crossing should discover
me and signal to the engineer; for well
knew that i. Ii. should become aware Of
my perilOus situation he would step the
train and take me Oft. My fears were
groundless. The strong glare OF the
headlight directly over me made my po-
~ition, by contrast, almost invisible to
any one in front.
| Passing the last crossing with a rush
and roar, We sped on through the sub
urbs, and into the open country. The
city lights disappeared one by one in the
| distance, and we were fairly on our way.
1t was wild night. The light of the
moon struggled with difficulty through
he dark clouds which were driven be-
lore Il strong wind from the southwest
Now and then, an opening would Hume
the landscape with Il sudden burst OF
silvery light, TO be Immediately followed
by almost total darkness as the heavy
rumuii rolled up in masses of inky black
ness The cone of light from the daz-
zling lens above me would then cut tie
darkness in It's onward rush with start
in. clearness. Now flashing up the
rocky sides OF some mountain gorge, IL
Illuminating rock, tree, and shrub with
t~@li in tie sutrounIin" darkness as We
emergcd INTO the open country beyond ::
tLen shooting along the rails aile;A, max
ing them Look like glsteni 70 threads un-
III they disappeared in the darkness be-
yond.
Mile after mile we sped along. haC
become somewhat used 10 my strange pu.
olrion, bat ii required constant atIentior
10 prevent my feet from slipping iron
the lower bar OF ihe frame on which
vas stan ling. A. best had but Il par
mai toothUtd, anu the constant jar o: th'
Z engine on tue short curves would almo~
,hrow ne oil. la passing through tn
y. mountains the road wal Very rouLt
and crooked. Tae pondcroI- rngrn,
bounded along, with now and then
=. -nLden SIDE lurch iii its seemingly ma,
,fiort 10 plunge inro the bi"tA cha,p
which yawnc;. "n every side. IL one q
:; these sudden movements the buckle u
NY strap broke, and | was only save
- rom instant deaIh by we'd 9in9 my hann
,eIween the bars OF the cow-c;ttChcr an,
= clasping them underneath. | must hOl,
rn now for dear life. Once | openet
my mouth to scream, in the hope tina
IL. would hear me. A second though
- convinced me OF the utter u>cle>-ne>S q
attempting TO make my voice heard a
:. hat distance above the roar Ot the Ell
: sinc Even when standing on the 'tuu
Doard,' it was with difficulty that W
- could hear each other. My only hop
was that my s!itfening fingers would no.
on for the remaining ten miles. An DC
- rasional glimpse OF the country Shove
me that we had gone two-thirds of on
distance, and had also most Fortunate!
- passed the toughest points 1w"nt
minutes more, and | should be safe,
We had now passed the mountains
- and the road became stIaich cr an
smoother As we emerged from II
,unnel on the spur of the mountains,
caught sight, tar down the line, OF II
headlight of the c. express. The roa
is there perfectly straight tor three mile
- and had an unobStructed view. Brigh
er and brighter grew the headlight, TIL
.,, seemed to glare with demoniac tiercenes
Although | knew there was no DANCE
vet the sight Of that ponderous cn9li
laundering toward me, sent through II
"A momentary thrill of horror, and /
- voluntarily clung closer and closed II
ewes as the train rushed past. A lol
whistle from our own engine announc
NN' ,nr approach to E.'s. and assure YOU
. was music to my ears. | could not h;l
heli ON fifteen minutes longer. As t
train stopped, | unciasped my benumb
ilasl;; ial; fingers and stepped to the ground, b
'yti could not walk three steps, my les W.
81 50 siilf from being so long III Il cramp
yn uosition. At last | reached the side
'N ne road and sat down. Tne NOON IA
- long been olscured. and a few he;,
drops betokeued the coming storm.
- On YES "I;IE4 I,E ALL FOR 81
s MoUR.''-Our democratic friends h.
40, heaitated to claim the votes oil
soldiers for Seymour, absurd As 1t III
appear. Incidents are occurring eve
dly to show how false and slandCrou-
he charge that the men who fought
IT, The Union have deserted their great le;
er TO support rebel sympathizer. Th
70 was one such at Tic reunion OF the II
Es' Connecticut regiment at Sav!n Ru
sd s;d Wednesday afternoon. About seven
i've officers aud men were present, A
Ss dinner several of them were compeic'
A tl,,rn ty,lr, | L r.,