The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1877-02-23
THE BR4REu4N,s sTORY.

les sir said the brakeman, as lie
stood by the st"ve Warming his numbed
hands. after cOtiiiDg from braking. Pee
pie think, they sat in their warm seats
and hear us call out the different stations:
That ~e have nice, soft. easy times But
We know better. Imagine Yourself ,5ut on
fiat car ali night, with the snow da.hin.s
INTO your face, your hands on "a cold iron
brake. aud think &c that's easy, or up on
top of a freight caI, running along. the
wind cutting like a knifr, ds dark as pitch.
and wal ching for fear you may rush sud
denly under "a bridge and be swept of, aad
perhaps he left To die in the sn1w. Is liat
easy? Does that look like soft job d? To
be sure, when we are transferred to paSsen-
gel cars the work is nice enough, but the
dangers we have to 90 through (for we gen
elaiiy have 10 go ON freight cars fiisj)
entitle us to something better on a paSsen-
ger car, and We amt sorry when we get
orders to take the head end OF such Iegu
lar train.
There are very few brakemen who can't
teltnever-to-be forgotten incidents connect-
ed with their life on the rail. To explain,
let me tell you story from my own ex-
perlence. | remember one night, it was
icarfully cold, right in the middle of winter
and showing hand. | was breaking in tie
middle of IA freight tiain. Il was running
along on SLOW time that night, and We were
about three miles from the station. | MAS
stand ng by the brake Of a fiat car. trying
to get warm 10y stamping, wishing that We
were al the depot, 50 thai cnulC go back
to the cabOose out of the bitter cold, when
suddenly | felt the train humping and
jumping like as If a wheel had broken, and
| knew something was wrong. Tie whiS-
lie Glew for brakes. and in a mighty short
) time We had the train stopped.
Nv it'll the rest of the men 1 weut back
! To see what WAS tle matter, thinking Jh at
{ | might get a chance AT the stove. for vas
nearly frozen. Going back three huudued
| feet, we found one Of the rails had got
. loose and VAS out of place, but as We bad
been going slowly, we had mn over the
! spot safely. Our conductor looked up and
seeing me said
Jim. get back aud signal the passenger
! train. She viii be along in a short time !;
ana take this he said, handing me red
1 light lantern 'we' II go on. y GU can come
along with the other train"
with that all hands got on board. and
s"on thee was nothing but me and the
lantern left,
"A cold gust brought me to myself with
quick turn, aud then remembered what
| had to do. Holding the lantern up !
saw hat the light was fiickering, and slIak-
my 1t, found 1t almost empty. Then | be-
gan To feel the responsibility of my posi-
ton; a lamp with 10 oil in it, the Train due
in ten minutes with the chances of il Je-
ing thrown from The track. aud no telling
how many poor people killed OF wounded.
In a case of thai aud, sill, even "a brakeman
Will do his best 10 save human life, although
lac sometimes iuses his own in the attempt /;
and all he gets for it is having his mare in
the paper and being called "A brave fellow.
Quicker than | can tell, | made up my
mind that the train must be sigualied,
| lamp or no lamp. But how to do it was
the question. IL / ran ahead 1;thont a
/ light the engineer might think ] wanted To
stop the train FOR robbery. for such things
! nave been d0ue, you know, and would not
/ only dash right on ftster than beioIe but
(may bel try ca scalp me as the locomotive
rushed 10y. | tell you | felt like praying
just then but brdkemen are not selected
for their religious feelings, 50 / didu pray
much bat looked around and saw a light
shining iii a window some distance off. |
laid down my lantern carefully on the
track, made IA bee line for the house, aud
soon brought a woman 10 the door, who
locked more frightened than / was, at my
excIted appearance. It was useless TO ask
for sperm OH (ti,e only kind We use, So /
cIied out:
",'For Gods sake get me some straw.
''She seemed TO realize the position. and
quickly brought bundle. Feeling ia nay
pocket, | found three matches. aud grab
bing the straw L made my way back 10 the
track.
Laying the straw between two rails, /
struck a match aud showed 1t into the bun
die. 1t flickered an instant, aud then went
out. felt aud found the straw damp.
just then a dull, faint, Tumbling sound
came doNn ON the wind, and / knew she
WAS coming: the train would be there.
Il struck the second match and touched
off the straw blaze, little smoke, and
III.
saw the head light away in the distance.
But trains don't crawl, and a buzzimg along
the rail told me tc be lively. The red light
was burning but family live minutes moie
aud It would 20 out. Fer an instant
stood paralyzed, when a shIill whistle from
the engine brought me 10 Iny senses, aud
saw that inside of two minutes she would
be there.
'-Se,zing the lantern With one hand I
! stuck the last match, and bending down
laid it carefully inside the straw and then
dashed forward, waving the red light. The
glare from the headlight shoue down the
track aud the engineer saw me, but did not
notice the red light-the suddCn waving
had put IL out-ouly Scleechiug, he canse
straight on. When the train was almost
upon me | jumped to side, aud s!iag-
lug the lantern over my head dashed ii into
the cab The engineer saw the lamp as it
bruke en the floor, ANA seeing the red lass
and battered lantern wbistied the danger
signal and tried To check up.
Looking down the track | almost
screamed from excitement. The last match
bad found dry spot, aud the lire " as biaz-
ing mp brightly. The train came To a
stenestill. She was saved that's all re-
member.
The next knew I was IN the baggage
car. They said they bad found me lying
by the train in "a dead faint. and-excuse
ME, We are gpiug 10 step now.
'-Stanford - he sung out. The train
stopped, aud tie writer went home. satisfied
that "a brakeman's life is an exciting one.