River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1877-08-02
Story Of the Engineer.

| Dulu. pam manu-, litn ftu iibDou III
his b0ttOn-hoIc, and as he left the hall he
said:
As the Lord looks down upon me, Iii
never touch liquor again
. Have YOU been a hard drinker.
queried a man who walked beside the
engineer.
NO Fact is, was never drunk in
my life. I've swallowed considerable
/ whisky. but never went far enough to
! get drunk | shouldn't miss il or be the
worse off for an hour if all the intOxicat-
/ ing 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
I thick and thin, and talk temperance TO
/ every man on the road"
"You must have strong reasOnsI
"Well, if you'll walk down to the de-
pot I'll tell you a story on the way. 1t
hasn't been in the papers yet, and only a
/ few of us know the fccts. You know |
run the night express on the B-TOad.
/ We always have at least two sleepers and
a coach, and sometimes we have as many
as two hundred passengers. Its a good
there is a bad spot or two. The night
express has the right, O. way, and We
make fast time Its 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 TN; 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,
I and a lonesome wind whistled around the
cab as we left the city behind We were
seventeen minutes late, and that meant
/ fast time all the way through.
'Well," he continued after a moment,
everything ran along all right up TO
midnight The main track was kept
clear fer us; the engine was in good spir-
( It's, and we ran iutO 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 a little consultation the conductor
sent me ahead. 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 we did
not keep them waiting Utef two minutes.
and were generally in sight when they
switched in.
When We left D. we went ahead
al q rattIing speed, fully believing that
the other train would be on time. Nine
miles from D is the little village OF
Fartc. There is a telegraph station there,
but the operator has no night work. lie
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 | sighted
this station saw a red lantern swinging
between the rails Greatly astonished.
pulled NJ tile heavy train and got a bit of
news that almost lifted me ont of my
boots. 1t was Gods mercy. as plain a.
this big depot II was the operator who
was swinging the lantern. lie had been
roused from sleep hv the whistles of a
locomotive. when there wasn't one within
ten miles &c HIM He head the toot
toot loot. while he was dressing, ard all
the way as he ran to the station, thinking
he had been signaled. LO. there was no
train there. Everything was as
quiet as the grave. The man heard his
instrument clicking away, and leaning
his car against the window he caught
these words as they went through TO
D:
For Gods sake, switch the Eastern
express off quick. Engineer on the
Western express crazy drunk. and run
ming a mile a minute
THE operator signalled Us at once.
We had 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. Ii
was time we were there, lacking one min
ute. We lost two or three minutes in
understanding the situation and in con-
sulting. and Just got ready to switch
in where we were when the headlight OF
the other train came in view. Great
Heavens but how that train was flying.
The bell was ringing, sparks flying and
the whistle screaming, and not man OF
us could .aise hand. We stood there
on the main track. spell-bound as it were,
There wouldn't have been time, anyhow
either to have switched in or get the pas
HEuAEES OAL. II WISH OHNA ~
Ou9s before that train was upon US.
praved To God for a breath or two and
then shut my eyes and waited for death
for hadn't the strength 10 get out of the
cali
"Well. sir. Gods mercy was revealed
again. Forty rods above It's that loco
motive jumped the track and was piled
into the ditch in an awful mass. Some OF
the coaches were considerably smashed
and some Of the people badly bruised
but no one was killed. and of course oul
+ tram escaped entirely. Satan must have
cared for Big Tom. the other engineer
He didn't get a bruise, but was up and
across the fields like a deer, screaming
and shrieking like a mad tiger. 1t took
FIVE men TO bind him after he was rur
down. and to-day he Is the worst lunatlC
in the State.
tom was a good fellow" continued
the engineer, after a pause, and he used
tn take his glass pretty regularly. | never
saw him drunk. but liquor kept working
away on his nerves till at last the tretReB,
canght him when he had a hundred and
fifty lives behind his engine. He broke
out all of a sudden. The fireman was
thrown off the engine. all steam turned on
and then Tim danced and screamed and
carried on like iiend. He'd have made
awful work. sir. but for Gods mercy
I'm trembling yet over the way he came
down for us, and I'll never think of i
without my heart jumping for my throat
Nobody asked me 10 sign the pledge, but
I wanted my name there. One such night
on the road has turned me against intoxi
eating drinks, and nov that I've got tins
red ribbon on can talk to the boys with
4 better face. Tom Is raving, as | telC
you. and the doctors say he'll never sc
his reason again. Goodnight, sir-m!
train goes in ten minutes"
Pity the Old Maids.
sympathy writes from Boston 4