Connecticut western news., 1874-03-06


 man pursues dangerous occupation he must grow so used to the presence of death as not only to lose his fear of it, but event ually to trif1e with it. Locomotive engl- neers, therefore, are popularly supposed to be, without exception, set of reckless, foolhardY, death-defying persons. who have decided upon a date for smashing their tralns, and are enjoying life mean while. Those few who are acquainted with the men in question are aware how falla- cious this inference is. Their avocation is attended with unusual danger, and they gradually lose their fear of it; but it is safe to say that nine out of ten among them are married men, with families 10 care for and to love: and this responsibility, even if they thought nothing of the passengers in their charge, would suffice to make them watchful, diigent, and careful. Care lessness on their part is almost inevitably attended with disgrace and loss of employ ment, and in cases of accidents they rarely escape injury so that, as they are not mere mechanical figures, it is reasonable to suppose that they are aware of the risks they run in the disregard of caution and care. Wm.- Guile, the engineer of the Shore line train which met with the Rich mond switch disaster in Rhode Island last spring, showed his affection for his family in the salute which he whistled as his en- zine dashed past his home every day. One dark night passed. and the loving wife lis- tened in vain for her husbands greeting. He was dead The next morning they re- moved his stiffened hand from the lever of his engine, and carried him from his post, where he had remained even after death overlook him. Thus he refuted the gen. sral imputation of carelessness upon the profession, for he was neither reckless nor untrustworthy' In the majority of serious railway disasters the engineers have been either fatally injured or killed outright i; therefore few incidents where they have escaped would not be inappropriate.
 In the spring of 1870, when Engineer Mestayer was running the Philadelphia ex- press, he was occasionally detained at Trenton, and was obliged to make up lost time on the latter end of his trip. His train made no stops between Trenton and Cam den, and such freight or accommodation trains as might be en route in either direc- ton were switched into turnouts, leaving supreme right of way for the express. One evening, when Mestayer's train had been delayed longer than usual, the engineer opened throttle-valve, ard left Trenton at the rate of thirty five miles an hour. A few miles further on there was long switch, and as his train approached it Mestayer saw that the signals were 'all right, and that freight train, bound for New York, was waiting on the switch for him to pass. When within 8 few rods of the switch the watchful engineer saw that it was open, al though the signal light notified him to keep on. He seized his lever and used every effort to bring the train to stop, but the distance was too short. The train left the main track and dashed down the siding to the freight At the last moment Mestay- CT sprang from his cab, and striking on his feet witnessed the collision. The damage was dreadful. Both trains were telescoped and several lives were lost-among them the engineer of the freight train and the iremen of both engines. Mestayer's assist ant was scalded and burnt to crisp; and had not the engineer jumped when he did his fate would doubtless have been the same.
 The engineers of both colliding trains in 8 more recent disaster on the New York & oswego Midland railway escaped death in a similar manner. Both their firemen were killed.
 David Van Buskirk, who is now the Master Mechanic of the New York, Boston & Montreal railway, tells of an interesting incident that occurred while he was an en- gineer on Western railroad. He had col fded with passenger train, and one or two coaches were smashed and his own engine was injured to great extent. He feared the displeasure of his superintend- ent, and was breeding oyer his misfortune as he neared the end of his trip, when 8 singular opportunity to retrieve his reputa- ton presented itself. The round house in Winona, Minn., whither he was bound, took fire in the roof, and when Van Bus kirk arrived with his engine he found that the efforts which had been exerted towards quenching the flames had been of but little avail, and the fire bade far to burn down the building and destroy number of new engines which were nearly ready for ser vice. Without a second thought Van Bus kirk ran his engine into the burning house, and pulling down the escape valve with all his strength, let the steam, at one hundred pounds pressure, escape Tn a rushing, screaming volume. whose force carried it up to the burning roof. The effect was in stantaneous and wonderful, for in less than five minutes the fire was extinguished. Van Buskirk was carried out of his cab in an al- most suffocated condition, but he had the satisfaction of gaining not only approval but immediate promotion.
 An engineer on the Hudson River rail- road told the writer of a narrow escape he experienced only short time ago. After twenty-four hours continuous service, be was ordered out with through freight from New York to Albany. He protested against the assignment, as both the fireman and himself had done double duty, and were in danger of falling asleep. The foreman of the yard, however, had no one else to send, and insisted that the engineer should run the train. So he started. After . run of two hours he yielded to his over powering exhaustation and-as his fireman had done sozne moments before-fell asleep! He knew no more until awak- ened by the conductor, who had come for ward to discover what had caused the stop page of the train. and found both men