Feliciana sentinel. [volume] (St. Francisville, La.) 1877-1892, 1877-08-18
$50 I was, and Ill keep it through
thick and thin, and talk temperance
fr mon ~, ha rood

to every man OH the road.''
'You must have strong reasons 7"
"Well, if you'll walk down to the de-
pot Fll tell you story on the way 1t
HASN'T been in the papers yet, and only Il
few of us know the facts. You know I
run the night express on the B. road.
We always have atleast two sleepers and |
coach, and sometimes we have as many |
as two hundred passengers. It's a good |
road, level as floor, ..and pretty strai ght, |
though there is 8: bad spot or two. The |
night express has the right O way, and |
we make fast time. It's no rare thing !
for us to skim along at the rate of fifty
..~... ~. sii'''J u i"''J ---.---'
and we rarely go below thirty. One
night pulled ont Of Detroit with two
sleepers, two coaches, and the baggage
and mail cars. Nearly all the berths in
both sleepers were full, and most OF the
seats in the coaches were occupied. 1t
was dark night, threatening all the
time to rain, and a lonesome wind whls-
tied around the cab as we left tho city
behind. We were seventeen minutes
late, and that meant fast time all the way
through.
"Well," he continued after Il moment,
"everything ran along all right up to
midnight. The main track was kept
clear for us; the engine was i'll good splr-
it's, and we ranintoD D-as smooth you
please. The express coming east should
meet us fifteen miles west of D., but
the operator at that station had failed to
receive his usual report from below. mat
was strange, and yet it was not, and al
ter IL little consultation the conductor
sent me ahead. We were to keep the
main track, while the other would run
in on the side track. Night after night
our time had been SO close that we did not
keen them waiting over two minutes, and
were generally in sight when they switch
ed in.
nWhen we left D. we went ahead at
a rattling speed, fully believing that the
other train would be on time. Nine miles
from D. is the little village of Parto.
There is a telegraph station there, but
the operator has no night work. He
closed his Office and went home about
| nine o'clock, and any messages on the
| wires for him were held above or below
until next morning. When I sighted
this station saw u red lantern swinging
| between the rails. Greatly astonished, L
pulled up the heavy train and got a bit
| Of news that almost lifted me out of my
boots. 1t was Gods mercy, as plain
| as this big depot. 1t was the operator
| who was swinging the lantern. He had
y y, t1,c1 -1,is ct n n
a locomotive, when there wasn't one
within ten miles of him. He heard the
foot! toot. toot! while he was dressing
and all the way as he ran to tho station
thinking he had been singnaled- Lo'
there was no train there Everything
was as quiet as the grave The mar
heard his instrument clicking away, an'
leaning his ear against the window hi
| caught these words us they went through
to D.:
| "For Gods sake, switch the Eastern
express Oft quick! Engineer on the Yves
tern express crazy drunk, and running ;
mile a minute!
sThe operator s.gnaled at us at once
| We lad left D. nine miles away, an'
the message couldn't have caught us amy
where except at Parto. Six miles furth
er down was the long switch. 1t wa
time we , ere there, lacking one minute
| We lost two or three minutes in under
standing the situation and in consulting
and had just got ready to switch i'll whel
We were when the headlight OF the othc
| train came in view. Great Heavens! bu
how that train was flying. The bell wa
ringing, sparks flying and the whlstl
screaming, and not q man OF us coul
raise a hand. We stood there on I'll
main track, spell-bound as it were. The1
wouldn't have been time. anyhow, elti
cr to have switched in or got the passcl
gers out. 1t wasn't over sixty secon'
before that train was upon us. prayf
to God for q breath or two and then shl
my eyes and waited for death, for hadn
the strength to get out of the cab.
"Wcll, sir, Gods mercy was revealc
again. Forty rods above us that locom
tive jumped the track and was piled in1
the ditch in an awful mass. Some of tt
coaches were considerably smashed, al
some of the people badly bruised, but I
one was killed, and of course our ira
1 escaped entirely. Satan must have car'
for Big Tom, tho other engineer.
nc didn't get bruise, but was up and aero
I'd the fields like a deer, screaming al
,p shriclling like n mad tiger. 1t took fl
a men to bind him after he was run dow
is and to-day he is the worst lunatic in t.
le State.
.'Tom was a good fellow" continu
IL tho engineer, after a pause, 'and he us
to take his glass pretty regularly. ne
!" or saw him drunk, but liquor kept wor
le ing away on his nerves till at last t