Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1877-09-25

about dfteen minutes before we had
jumped the track we met train on a
side track going to Denver. A thought
struck me that there was way out of
the dilemma. turned to the engineer
and asked him if there was any upgrade
toward Greeley. He said that there was
only one-a heavy one about eight miles
back. After that it was all down-grade.
1 called for crowbars instantly, and two
or three train-men ran out thirty or for
ty rods on to the prairie and dug up the
bars. You see the railroad company
have coupling-irons, crowbars, and such
things "catched" in the ground all along
the road, so as to have them ready for
use at any time. They have to keep
them under the ground, because the air
is so rarified that iron and all the coar-
ser metals, when exposed to its action,
very soon lose there density, the parti-
cles separating, and the metal becoming
perfectly worthless. While the boys
our party that believed we could pry
our car loose from the coupling with the
train, and, having down-grade, we
could catch the train we had met. We
soon had the car uncoupled with the aid
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started on the car. She glided along fas-
ter, gathering speed every second.
Not being familiar with the grades,
the only fear had was that our car
would not gain sufficient momentum to
overcome the upgrade, though, of
course, hoped it would. We very soon
struck it, and, assure you, watched
the progress of the car with good deal
of interest. And it just made it and
that was all. We jumped off and push
ed herla little, and down we started
again on twenty five mile down-grade.
I looked ahead and several miles off
could easily see the train we were after,
but it was almost instantly shut out
from sight by our suddenly running in
to dense mass of flying grasshoppers,
evidently seeking to alight on the
ground. We had all been standing on
the platform up to this time, but when
we met these grasshoppers we were dri
ven into the car, as they struck our faces
with the force of hail-stones. Looking
through the windows we could see moth
ing but grasshoppers, SO thick were they,
and only now and then could we get a
glimpse of the ground even. After a
minute or too became little anxious,
as knew we were going very fast, and,
as had engineered tie bake, 4 started
up from my seat, ana Eyii& q heavy
handkerchief about my face, went out
to the platform and seized the brake. For
a minute it wasn't clear in my mind
whether I could hold out against the
pelting Of the 'hoppers or not but sud-
denly, when was about whin6ed, our
car emerged from the swarm and as
soon as realized it tore the banker
ioff yCr,1 70 fOr
the train, with my hands on the brake,
ready to avoid running into it. 1 felt
queer when, in looking, I couldn't see
that train, and when I took one look
around and saw that our car was run
ming on bare ground, with the track
about twenty-five rods off to my left,
tell you the cold shivers ran up and
down my back to a very considerable
extent. If a man ever put "down
brakes" it was me. I laid right back
and frightened that brake-wheel three
more cogs than had ever been done by
the stoutest man on the road. She stop
ped, and as I turned to open the car
door to call out to the crowd, I heard
an engine whistle 'down brakes" l
jumped off to the ground, and, looking
backward toward the sound, saw that
engine slowing up behind us on the
track.
[ hadn't a word to say. I began to
think that / would like to get out of
that country right away, and be tucked
up in my little bed at home until I got
we'll. The other fellows were soon
jumping out on the ground, and they
were as astonished as I was. We star
ted for the train, which had now come
to stand still, the conductor shouting
as we came up, "Well, boys, you did
that pretty WE'LL" Says I, 'St e here,
mister, we're strangers in this country,
and thought we've had some experience
in the East We'll be blamed if we know
what you mean when you say that we
did that pretty WELL" "Why, taking
your car past US, of course. We were
afraid some greenhorn was managing
your car when we saw it coming down
the grade before the 'hoppers struck US.
We knew, however, that we were Ieav.
ing you hard hopper bed to do the
trick on" Well, to come to the point,
the train ahead of us had mashed so ma
ny dead 'hOppers on to the road-bed
that it was filled up full, even with the
rails, so that when our car got along it
slid right off the rails, and the ground
was SO hard and even that it ran close
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brakes and stopped her, and while she
was running those four miles we passed
the train we were trying to overtake,
the dense mass of flying 'hoppers pre-
venting us from seeing it as we went
by.
In conversation with the conductor
afterwards learned it was quite a regu-
lar trick of the engineers on the Union
Pacific road to pass another train. They
will pull their trains off the track, go
by undiscovered by reason of the den
sity of the 'hoppers, pull back on the
track, and when the passed train fetches
up at the next station its engineer has
to 'set 'em up" for all hands. AS it is
suppertime, and to get down to results,
we got our car back on to the track, and
hitched hopper pillow on to the rear
car, and the engine and train backed up
to the wreck, from which we had been
gone just nineteen minutes, in which
time we had travelled eighteen miles
twice.
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