The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1877-09-20
The Grim Engineer.


A locomotive engineer from the Balti
more & Ohio Railroad was in Detroi
last week on brief visit to his sister
In some way or other new reporter OF
one of the daily papers came across tn
man and appointed an interviewin orde
to secure the engineers adventure
during the "late war" The brother o
the foot-board was willing to tell hi
story, and without stopping to take oil
wood or water he rang the bell anc
began:
the road-the last train allowed to pas
by the strikers. All the train official
were heavily armed, many of the pas
sengers carried revolvers, and we wer'
all ready for muss. We expected tina
the strikers would displace a rail, let III
through a bridge, or switch us into somt
gravel pit, and just before we left thu
station l kissed my wife and told hei
where she would find the sum of thirty
eight thousand dollars which 1 had
buried in the garden"
Possible!" gasped the new reporter
as he made note Of it.
"And my fireman, feeling certain that
he would not live two hours longer, con
fessed to me that he was the abductor Of
Charlie Ross and that he once murdered
a man in Missouri"
The reporter made his pencil fly for q
minute, and when he Jet up his note
book and read:
"Great Heavens *-coolly con.
fessed-thirty-eight thousand dollars
Charley Ross! ! murdered seven.
teen nickname of fireman Tom Col
Inns! more coming r! ! p
"And the conductor of the train, u
continued the engineer, also prepared
for death. He returned to the company
S2,55S, Sab which he had knocked
down during his connection with the
road, and humbly asked forgiveness.
He was much troubled to think that he
had invested his share of the plunder in
founding an orphan asylum and could
not restore it to the road. He owned
up to having killed an old woman or
two, but forget their names, or whether
they struggled very hard when he was
choking them"
The pale-faced young man wrote
again, and his notebook read:
Further horrors n conductor
with remorse-! restores
up to murder-sees ghosts
of his victims around him ! i! l.
biggest item ever published in Detroit
scoop the Free Press
stone blind-!!!"
"Well, we finally pulled out" said
the grim engineer, ashe wiped his heated
brow on the back of his hand. Z" l had a
deringer on one side of me. a revolver
on the other, bowie-knife down behind
my coat collar, and musket loaded with
one hundred and seventeen buckshot
was strapped to my back. The fireman
had four revolvers and six one-pound
cans of nitro-glycerine. We meant to
give 'em the best we had, you see"
The reporter wrote:
Revolvers muskets = deringers-
nitro-glycerine all ready brave as
lions, but modest as schoolgirls. The
plot thickens-full particulars in this is
other Detroit paper has a line
If itl"
"We Lit out at speed of forty miles
IN hour" the engineer went on, " for l
,easoned that we might as well go down
With flying colors as to crawl like a
mail. We whizzed through cuts, dashed
past farm houses and across highways,
ind everything was running finely when,
ar ahead, in the dim gleam of the head
light | saw men on the track. The mo-
nent had come!"
81 see!' whispered the reporter as he
eized his pencil again" rails torn up
-fiends waiting to wash their hands in
,lood-horrible massacre of innocent
\ *--devils--! ! |! !--a-h-h-h-! /! W
az should have put on all steam and
lashed ahead" resumed the engineer,
but the fireman entreated me to give
lin time to confess that he had been
liding the Bender family in his front
BEDROOM, and l slowed down till the
rain stopped just where / had seen the
rowd. Only one man was now visible"
"The rest were in ambuscade!" ex-
laimed the reporter.
al guess so. This one man ap-
,roached. He had something in his
land."
"Yes, he did "a hand-grenade---a
,ombshellT" shouted the listener.
He came closer and closer, walking
ike man who means murder"
"Hold onw cried the reporter, and
lie wrote:
Ozark figure came nearer--nearer
-nearer-skulking-slying -murderous
purpose displayed in every move--full
ccount in this paper-newspaper enter
rise will tell !--chance for
.raphic writing here's n *--whoop it
lp heavy and make other papers feel
adj"
"Well, he was finally at the STEP"
aid the engineer. "He looked up.
Ie raised his right hand. He held
out toward me, and he spoke"
He did! Great Heavens! but what
moment! What fiend he was! He
anded you something, and he spoke ?"
Yes, he handed me up a flask of
randy, and he wanted to know, being
hat the train had stopped, if I didn't
hink the conductor would let him ride
o the next station, seven miles ahead,
VI dn Ulu JdCh-hlllc dlu Hall d UOGtlt vi
ough medicine! That was the best |
randy l ever tasted, and l shudder now
S l realize how narrowly missed itw
Is--that--all ?" asked the reporter as
is jaw dropped and his ears grew red.
Yes, that's all. Seems to me you
an make a graphic thing of it-some-
hing to travel all over the country"
Yes--ahem--jess So" ceughed the
eporter as he reached for his hat.
"And you'll save me seven copies of |
he paper, won't you?'
Seven yes seven Just exactly |
even!' was the faint reply as pair of |
oots went down the walk.
For further particulars see "the very |
ltest edition"
New YORK World: Gentleman, for |
hose savage breast music hath no
harms, is about to hire fiat.