Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1871-12-19
A Ride With the Engineer.
The Sensation Of Riding on LOcamosiue
--R0U IL Feels.


riding on an engine is one contributed to the
Independent by the Rev. Dewitt Talmadge,
who tried the experiment while journeying
in the Rocky Mountains. HO says:
",luy get on with yOu?" Iusked an en-.
giucsr On the Pacific railroad at a station six
or seven thousand feet above the level of the
sea. "Cert.inIy," he said "but hold fast
tight, or you may fall Of"
"Ioot tuvt!" : the whistle. and the
long anaconda Of .4IIrOad train first went
crawling along the rocks, but soon took on
fearful momentum. Sitting in "Pullmau's
Paace Car" looking out Of the window, the
passenger gets no idea Of the speed Of tho
train bu, close By the engineer, and feeling
the nervous quiver and jump Of the iron
courser, you see the mountains skip like lams,
aud the hills like lambs.
The door OF the locomotive furnace claugs
open and the fumes rave as il they would
leap out 10 devOur, aud the fireman jams the
coal iutO the rigging jaws Of the mUuster--
The engineer hus his hand Ou the iron bit
that controls the speed, aud seems t. use no
exeriion mUte than doctor feeling tho pulse
Of child. Indeed, the locomotive TO the
engineer is not mcre machine, but an aui.
mate. lie talks to il, aud seems to put it IOv.
ingly on the neck. lie is proud Of it,
There'is warm understanding between the
two, and in occasional spurts OF steam the To-
cOmOtiyC seems to tako voice aud answer its
rider. An enginge never hut, its master
save in tho effort to throw tho passengers.
But the engineer, though sitting SO placid,
is wide awake. He is Kept ou duty OuIy four
hours in the day, and all the energies Of body
aud soul cluster in his vigllant eye and quick
thumb. Two hundred lives hung ou his wrist,
We pung intD snOw.shcd with iufuitc
clutter, every board and beam beating back
the dualeniug roar Of the Pacific Express
As we rush on, the prairie dogs skuIk into
their holes, or sit on their hiudquarters, with
fore.feet lifted, as to say, "What ncxt?"-
The antelopcs Scampur over the plains We
ride unimpedOd where less than two years ago
the buEfalOes stopped the train as the herd
scampered across the track and along here
the savages entered on their ponies. YOn
see here aud there groups Of redmen, with
long hair and cheeks dashed with war paiut,
ringcd cars, and supcrluity of dirt that
buries your last romantic notion about tho
"uobIo red men of tho Forest" The air is
laden with the breath Of cedar, madrona, nan.
zanita, and buckeye. Here We aro passing
through what seem the ruins Of castles and
temples and cities, and calling up to mind
Petra aud pompOii, aud Nineveh aud Thebcs;
but these ruins, on either Sido Of our track,
must have been vaster abodes, where giants
might have lived till the Titans began here to
play leap-irog and to turn summersaults.-
Now the whistles let's OF wild screan-a
COW and calf on the track. The COW wc
cut in halves. and the calf, with broken legs,
tuulbes over into the ditch. wonder il that
man just ahead will get Olf in timo. Perhaps
he is deaf, perhaps he is crazy, and wants to
be run over. 10 tmc to snve himself, he
switches of und robs tho coroner.
Hold your breath! Ravine thousand feet
deep on this side. EmbanEmcnt thousand
feet up tho other. As wc turn the curve the
engineer pulls the steam valve, and the s>
lence that chiefly reigned hero for 5000
years lets slip all its sounds Of echo and re-
vcrberatiOn.
Whew! how we fy. If bolt break, or
truck fall. or rock dislOdse we arc in etern
ity. Innumerablc variety of flowers break
their alahaster ut the feet Of the cliffs; but
yonder tho mOuntain>tops are blooming iuto
the white lily of everlasting snow. Bridges.
high, and narrow. tremendous. that crack and
tremble under the pressure OF the train. A
tunnel! Ink black, midnight doubled, damp.
ness that never saw the sun (; while far ahead
is hint Of sunlight peering through hole
that looks about the size of tho urch Of
mouse trap, but which wIdens till at last it is
large enough to let whole train escape into
the golden day.
OUT there Is tho old emigrant rond, with
occasionally skeleton Of COW or horse, or
the wreck of a wagon that lIopelessly broke
down on the way, aud here a small mound
and rough stone at the head Of it, that shows
where some worn traveller finished his journey
in those days when in one year across those
heights went 5000 wagons, pulled by 1000
mules and 10000 yoke Of oxen.
And now the night begins to fall, and the
train goes pIoughing through the darkness.
The great burning eye of the locomotive peers
through aud flashes far ahead upon the wild
scene.
The grizzly bear, the panther, the night.
hawk tho cormorant, the pelican, the grOsbeck,
the eagle, that kept uOOf while the day shone,
may venture nearer now If they dare. Oh
how We ay! The rush Of the wind, the
jnmmiug Of the car couplings, the Nluuging
Of tho wheels, tho steam hiss, the fierce show.
er of sparks that set the nigh. on FIRE, the
shooting past Of rocks Eve hundred feet high,
followed by preciplce a thousand feet deep,
make the breath short, and the heart thump,
uud the very scalp lift.
How the shadows shuffle How the crags
shiver! How tho echoes rave An express
train at night on the Rocky Mountains The
irresistible trampling the imulovablo Yet
/ the way is smoothOd down by human engineer,
ing. Then it will not be SO difficult to pre-
pare tho way for grandcr coming then tho
mountains shall bc made low, and the crooked
straight, and rough places plain aud tho glory
Of the Lord shall be revealed aud all flesh
shall see as together
Mas. LINCoLN.-Nlrs. Abraham Lincoln