Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1876-04-06

A correspondent of the New \ ork World
recently made trip over an Eastern rail-
road in the engineers cab. He says. AT
| White Haven we had dinner, and engines
| and engineers were changed. / found
myself here on one of the finest locomotives
ever built tor any road, and in the com
| many OF one Of the brightest of engine
| drivers. The ride thenceforward was
one to be remembered through life
| time.
A grea: food had swept through the
valley here not many years ago. The
Lehigh, swollen with its many tributary
streams and reinforced by the giving way
of dam after dam with their vast accumu-
Iation of lumber and debris, soon became
| irresistible; and from White Haven to
Easton the waters, rising thirty feet, raw
aged both banks. Men, women and chill
dren were crushed and drowned without
other warning than the roar Of wave
that rose at the rate Of thirty feet in nine
minutes. The vision of this flood in the
midst of storm and darkness, and the
echoes of despairine cries, were easily
coniured up as the locomotive doomed
along. jangling its bell under the cliffs.
! In little while the road quilted the val
| lev for the mountain and we began the
| long ascent through the heart OF the Penn
sylyania wilderness TO height which over
| looks one OF the historical and typical
scenes of the continent.
The grade was steep; the engineer
opened the valve, regulated his engine in
| all respects, smoked, and asked me to step
over and sit on his side of the locomo-
| live.
"Its all clear sailing for few miles
now" said he; "we shall not meet any
thing. It's tug up hill"
What grader
"From 100 to l48 feet to the mile"
That's The reason, then, that you have
these heavy enginess 7"
Yes"
/" Is this grade thought by railroad men
| to be very steep?"
Weli," said the engineer, slowly,
"pretty steep-yes. You know that in
old times, in England, grades of thirty to
forty feet to the mile were thought to be
heavy. Grades of seventy to eighty feet
were thought TO be impracticable. can
| remember reading all about it. They
| didn't understand then what grip u
heavy iron wheel has got on an iron rail
and how much a good locomotive could
pull If you only gave her fuel and time.
| They found il out afterward. | hear
they've got in England and France grades
| of 1872 10 1876 feet to the mile, and even
the Baltimore 81 Ohio Railroad has grades
of ia feet The grades on the Pacific
| Railroads and on that Rocky Mountain
! Railroad from Denver City to the mines
are worse than any yet. This grade don't
seem very bad, does it? And besides, just
| look at that viewl"
| Away to the south stretched the bleak
| Pennsylvania wilderness, uninhabited
save by few woodmen, the panther, the
deer and the bear. The solitude seemed
| like that of desert, and the straining
| ascending locomotive like gigantic
wheezy pioneer.
There's right-down romance, or
tragedy, or whatever you may call it,"
said the engineer, :" attached TO this hill.
And was the least Of hero in 1t. AS
there was a woman in 1t, though, / must
| tell you that I'm married man."
"All right. Go ahead with the story
Zone night about four years ago, and
just about this month";" the engineer con
tinued, q was coming donn this hill
with considering the season. a pretty
heavy train. AT Wilkesbarre over in the
valley--which you'll soon sea- young
lady had got aboard of my engine. She
| wanted a night ride and was put on by the
| Superintendent. She was perfect lady,
| and her mother was in one of the cars
back. To tell the honest truth, as / have
often said TO my wife, never saw more
beautiful or game-looking girl. She was
very small sized, dressed in what my wife
| calls complete taste, and her figure was
| so good and her hands so small, and her
ways SO frank and artless, that | almost
wished she was my daughter. Her face,
though, was what can't give you an idea
of. IL was the most beautiful face i ever
saw. X had" proceeded the engineer,
warming, all the intelligence Of WON
ans and the simplicity OF a child's. And
she was so sprightly and loveable alto
gether, and asked so many questions, that,
although had never had a woman on the
engine but once before, invited her over
here TO my seat and explained 10 her all
about how locomotive Is run.
showed her how to manipulate the lever
which admits more or less steam to the
cylinders how the reverse lever is
worked; now the tests of water and steam
are inside. showed her how to blow the
whistle and ring the bell, and explained
how the brakes were blown down, and
how warnings were given on the approach
10 crossings. She took il all in, and, I"
said the engineer, stretching his arm
across the boiler and clutching my sleeve,
:" IL was the best lesson | ever gave. Right
up around yonder, about two miles from
here, just rs | was handling the reverse
lever, we struck stone or something on
the track AT nine o'clock at night Twas
bending down at the time (the girl was
sitting where you are, on my cushion),
and quicker than lightning the lever flew
back and struck me In the eye and knocked
Newell, I'll be blamed II knew where.
Anyway, II didn't make much difference
for minute or two, for l was just
stunned As we were ON the down grade,
with no need of fuel, the fireman was back
In the baggage-car, and when | came TO,
this young girl was holding on To my
head, and tanning me with her toy of u
hat. 1t wasn't two seconds before knew
what was TO pay. The engine and the
whole train had started down this hill at
the rate Of sixty miles an hour. tried to
spring up and reach the lever. My right
.rm and side and right leg were numb.
My face, and even my tongue, were so
paralyzed by the blow had received,
that could hardly speak. | WAS 80 des-
perate that more to attract the girls at
tention TO the danger than for anything
else) 1 grabbed her hat with my LETT hand
and threw II outside OF the locomotive,
n