The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1871-11-16
~ 40, oaoriNE.

While loHfse iHg mihc Ro5k muHntails.
ne says
Mas ! gci on with lou} ! a.kcd au
engineer on The Psado Railroad, a s.
station six 81 seven thousand fcct above
the level 5G the sea Ceggiale. De said
bat bold fast or YOU may fan OF
Tooi roet went The whistle and the
long anaconda ofa railroad train first
went crawling along tho rocks, but soon
took on fearful moment No. sitting Ia
"Pulmau's Palace Car looking ont 81
The window, Tie "a -euecr gets no idea
u the speed Of The trains bat close by
the engineer, aud Zee ing thc nervous
quivcr and jump of The irou cour.cr, you
sce the mountains skip like rams aud The
hills like laml.
The door Of The locomotive furnace
clangs open, aud the flames rave as II
they would leap out 10 deyour, aud the
dreman Jars The coal into the raging jaws
Of the monster The engineer has his
hand on the iron biz that controls the
speed, and seems to use no cNcrion more
than q doctor feeling the pnlse ofa child.
Indeed, the locomotive TO the engineer, :.
not mere machine but animate lie
talks TO Il, seems almost to pat II loving
ngly on the neck lie is proud OF Il.
rLavn l. a ,,.a.,,, ,,,.l,r.t.,..l;, b,ttTn,.,
the two, and 10 occasional spnrts Of
steam the locomotive .ecms to take voice
and answer It's rider An engine never
hurts It's master, save in the effort 10 throw
the passengers.
Bot the engineer, though sitting SO
placid, is wide awake. lie Is kept on
duty only four hours IN the day, and all
the energies OF body and soul cluster IL
his viglant eye and quick lhumb. Two
hundred lives hang on his wrist
We plnngc into a snow-shod with indn.
lie clatlcr, every board and beam beating
back the deatening roaro the Pacific TX.
press. As We rush on, the prairie dog.
>kulk into their holes, or sit on theii
hind quarters, with fore feet lifted, as ii
10 say, What next; The antelopes scamp
er over the plains. We ride unmpeded
where less than two years ago the buila-
locs stopped the train as the herds STAN
peded across the track and along here
the savages carcered on their ponies. You
see here and there groups Of Red Men
with long hair, and cheeks dashed will
war paint, ringed cars, and superhuily
Of dirt, that buries your last romantic no
lion about the "noble read men Of The
forest" The air is laden with the breall
Of CEDAR madrona, manzanita and buck
eve. Here we are passing through wha
seems the ruins ofcastles and temples ant
cities, odd eaIii"e er to s-si..a potra anf
Pompeii, aud Nincyah and Thebes; bu
these ruins on either side our track mus
have been vasler abodes, where gianti
might have lived till the Titans begar
here to play leap-frog and to turn somcr
saults Now the whistle lets of wilt
/ scream; COW and calf on the track
The COW we cut IN half, and the calf viii
broken legs tumbles over into the ditch
/ | wonder if that man just ahead will &c
off in time Perhaps he is deaf Per
haps he is crazy, and wants to be run
over. Neither In time to save himsel
he switches of and robs the coroner
Hold your breath Rayine thousaut
feet deep on this side. Embankment
thousand feet up the other AS we tuu
the curve the engineer pulls the steam
valve and the silence that chiefly reignet
here for six thousand years let's slip al
its sounds Of echo and revcrberation.
Whew! how we fly. II a bolt break
or truck fall, or rock dislodge, we ar
in eternity lnnumerablc varieties o
flowers break their alabastcr at the fee
of the cliffs; but yonder the mountain
tops are blooming into the white lily 0
everlasting snow. Bridges, high, narrow
tremendous, that creak and tremble un
der the pressure of the train. A tunnel
luk-black, midnight doubled, dampncs
that never saw the sun; while far ahca
is hint Of sunlight peering through
hole that looks the size Of the arch Of
mouse-uap, but which widens TN At las
1t is large enough to let whole train es
cape into the golden day,
\ Out there is the old cnigrantroad, wit
occasionally a skeleton ofa COW or hor.
or the wreck Of a wagon that hopelessl
broke down on the way; and here a sma
mound, and rough stone at the head {
It, that show where some worn trayee
finished his journey, IN those times whe
in one year across these highs went Gs
thousand wagons, pulled BY seven thou
and mules aud thirty thousand yoke {
, oxen.
And now The night begins TO fall, an
The train goes blowing through the darl
ness Tic great burning eye Of Tie loc.
motive peers through and flashes Fl
+ ahead upon the Wild scene.
! The grizzly bear, the panther, ID
night.bawk, he eagle, that kept aio,
while the day shoue- may venture ncari
Z now, II they dare. on how we u III
{ rush Of the wind, the jtmmiug Of the ca
coupling. the changing Of the wheels q
= steam hiss, the fierce shower 0f sparl
e that SCI the night % FIRE, the shootif
c past Of rocks 600 feet high, followed
| precipice thousand feet deep, nal
: the breath short, and the heart thum
! and The very scalp M