Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1877-09-01
Story of the Engineer.

AS Tue l4DIu lOohs hOnH biSH ~f
never touch liquor again y. b.,
"Have you been a hard drinker?" querled
a man who walked beside the engineer.
"No. Fact is, was never drunk in my
life. I've swallowed considerable whiskey
but never went far enough to get drunk. l
shouldn't miss il or be the worse of for an
hour if all the intoxicating drink in the world
was drained into the ocean,"
But you seemed eager to sign the pledge"
$50 was, and I'll keep it through thick
and thin, and talk temperance to every man
on the road"
/" You must have strong reasons = g..
"Well if you'll walk down to the depot
III tell you a story on the way. 1t hasn't
been in the paper, and only few of US know
the facts. You know | run the night express
on the B. Road. We always have two
sleepers and coach, and sometimes we have
as many as two hundred passengers. It's C.
good road, level as a floor and pretty straight,
though there is IA 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 miles an hour for thirty or
forty miles, and we rarely go below thirty
One night pulled out Of Detroit with two
sleepers, two coaches, and the baggage and
mail cars. Nearly all the births in both
sleepcrs were full, and most of the seats in
the coaches were occupied. II was dark
night, threatening all the time to rain, and a
lonesome wind whistled around the cab as we
left the city behind. We were seventeen min
utcs late. and that meant fast time all the
way thsoush.
" Well" he continued after a moment,
everything ran along all right up to midnight.
The main track was kept clear for us, the en-
CINE was in good spirits, and we ran into D.
as smooth as 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. That
was strange, and yet it was not, and after
little consultation the conductor sent me a.
head. We were to keep the main track, while
the other train would run on the side-track.-
Night after night our time had been so close
that VIC did not keep them waiting over two
minutes, and were generally in sight when
they switched 10.
When we left Dive went on ahead at
rattlins speed, fully believing that the other
train would be in on time. Nine miles from
D. is the little village of Parto. There is a
telegraph station there, but the operator has
no nieht work. He closed bis Office aud went
home about o'clock, and any messages on
the wires Tor him were held above or below
until next morning When ] sighted this
stotion | saw a red lantern swinging between
the rails Greatly astonisbed, pulled up the
heavy train and got bit Of news that almost
lifted me out OF my boots. 1t was Gods mer-
cy as plain as this big depot. 1t was the opc-
rator who was swinging the lantern. lie bad
been reused from sleep by the whistles Of o
( locomotive, when there wasn't one within ten
I miles of him. lie heard the toot ! toot! toot
/ while he was dressing, and all the way as be
ran TO the station, thinking be bad been sig
nailed. Lo! there was no train there. Every
thing was as quiet as the grave. The man
heard his instrument clicking away, and lean
ing his ear against the window be caught these
words as they went through to D.:
a For Gods sake. switch the Eastern ex-
press of quick Engineer on the Western
express crazy drunk, and running a mile a
minute"
"Thc operator signaled US at once. Wehad
left D., nine miles away, and the message
couldn't have caught us anywhere except at
/ Parto. Six miles further down was the long
switch. 1t was time we were there, lacking one
minute. Welost two or three.muutes in under
standing the situation and in consulting, and
had just got ready to switch in where we were,
when the headlight Of the other train came
into view. Great Heavens but how that
train was flying The bell was ringing, sparks
were flying aud the whistle screaming, aud not
man of US could raise a hand. We stood
there on the main track, spell-bound, as it
were. There wouldn't have been time, any
how. to have switched in or got the passengers
out. 1t wasn't over sixty seconds before tha,
train was upon Us. | prayed to God for Z
breath or two, and then shut my eyes and
waited for death, for / hadn't the strength to
get out OF the cab.
We'll, sir, God s mercy was revealed again.
Forty rods above US that locomotive jumped
the track, aud was piled into the ditch in an
awful mass. Some Of the coaches were con-
siderably smashed, and some Of the people
badly bruised, but no one was killed, and Of
course our train escaped entirely. Satan must
have cared for Big Tom, the other engineer
He didn't get bruise, but was mp and across
the fields like deer, screaming and shrieking
ike mad tiger. 1, took FIVE men to bind him
after he vas run down, aud to-day he Is tie
worst luna.ic in the State.
TON was a good fellow" continued the
engineer after pause, "and he used to take
bis glass pretty regularly. never saw him
drunk, but liquor kept working away on bis
nerves till at last the tremeps caught him
when be bad one hundred aud fifty lives be-
hind bis engine. lie broke out al! Of sud-
aen The fireman was thrown off the engine,