The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1878-07-12
us, there can't be much of a train be

| US, tnere can't De mucn OF train be
hind her."
'I did not know but that Jake NIGH
be right, for l had seen the Franklin
standing in the depot when we left
| The engine was just as fast as our own
and if it was without a train attached
as Jake supposed, might easily gain on
US, as it seemed to be doing. AT any
rate, we shall see when we pass ia.
maica station whether Jake's theory
is correct" thought, and said to him
''By this time the fireman, acting
as engineer, had given our engine all
the steam she could take, and we were
slashing along at a lively rate, tell
you," said the conductor. "The good
| people along the road who were out OF
| their beds must have thought that q
railroad Gilpin was riding another
race according to the new style. /
was angry enough to have sent q bull
let at the crazy engineer following us,
and determined that my first busi-
ness the next day would be to COM
plain to the superintendent of his fool
hardness. l thought that possibly,
being for the moment his own master
and not under the immediate orders of
conductor, he was indulging in a
kind of railroad spree, and, for a
lark, was driving us to the top of our
speed, expecting to end the race and
his days work at the same time at
jamaica.
"Well, we tore through that Sleep
ing village without stopping long for
refreshment, | can assure you, and
then Jake and 1 looked to see our
comical friend in the race pull up at
the station and take lodgings for the
night, But we were mistaken in our
guess. Not a whistle was given by
our pursuer as signal that he inten.
ded to stop; not a sign of Stacking was
shown; but on the contrary he was
gaining upon us when we were doing
our very best. Sometimes a curve in
the road would shut him a moment
from our view, but he would round it
in an instant, and every new turn
brought him more closely upon u.s.
Jamaica had been left far behind, and
we were out on the wide Hampstead
plain. The old Constitution was on
her muscle. Our train was actually
swaying and rocking with speed like
a yacht on the waves. The telegraph
poles, upon which the light from our
windows would CLINT in the dense
darkness, were flying behind us at
every second. The sound Ofwheels as
lIlO,N bI1C SlAu vi llAC IeNiAo " do a
continuous hum. But, do the best
that it might, our engine with its
heavy train was no match for the
light-weighted one behind. That was
gaining upon us, and was not the
eighth of ii mile off. The glare from
its lantern shone brightly in our faces;
| thought Jake's face looked little
pale, and perhaps mine did, too. Now
that our pursuerdid not halt at Jamai-
ca, we were entirely off our reckon~
ings, and we could make no guess as
to the cause of our chase, nor when it
would end. The prospect seemed that
we might be driven to the end of the
road, if we were not Overtaken and
smashed before it could be reached.
""That's the Franklin, sure,' broke
out Jake once more. NO other en-
gine on the road could overhaul us as
we are going now. What can that
fool of a Simpson mean by driving
her at such a rate? He must be drunk.
If the boss don't break him tomorrow
he won't get his deserts. He will be
into us in two minutes
'''YOu are right, Jake" SAID l.
Go forwar and see if you cannot get
up little more headway. Empty a
few of those petroleum cans on the
wood, and pitch it in, and see what
can be dona.'
"\Vhile Jake went forward on his
erTand / thought over the situation.
Here / was with a hundred or two
passengers under my care, all ignO-
rant of the danger / knew they were
in. If we should be overtaken and
crushed i'll the rear, the disaster would
be a serious one, and would probably
cause the death or injury at least of
some of the passengers. If we were
not smashed in this way, there was
another and, perhaps, a greater dam
ger before us. The train of which l
have spoken, which left Greenport
when we left Brooklyn, was on its
way to meet US on the same track
1t should switch off at Lakeland, in
the middle of the island, and allow US
to pass an hour after we started, or at
IL o'clock. 1t was now half-past 10,
and we were close to Lakeland al
ready, and would pass there long be-
fore the arrival of the GreenpHrt train,
which ordinarily got there first. The
result would be that we should meet
the train beyond Lakeland without
warning of our approach, and collis-
ion in front of us as well as the rear
would be the consequence.
1--WE reached and flew through
Lakeland depot nearly half an hour
ahead of time. Of course, the Green
port train was not there yet, but was
coming down the road. Our speed
was now ahead of any ever made up
on the Long Island road. The tele-
graph poles fairly danced behind us,
and the bushes on either side of the
track seemed a continuous wall of fire
as they were lighted up by the flame
which was pouring out of our smoke
stack. But, dangerous as it was to
keep on, it vas just as dangerous to
slacken speed, and so we went on.
The conductor rolled his quid from
one cheek to the other, raised the win
dow by his side and eXpectorated into
the outer darkness, and became silent
for several moments, as if burdeued
hy the recollection Of his fQEMeF per-
lis. After waiting q reasonable length
OF time for him to resume his story, |
said, "When the collision occurred,
was it with the train III front or III the
rear, or with both%"
go, the co'lisionw said the conduc-
tor. "Well, now you come to the ri
diculOus part of the story. The coils
sion did not take place at ALL" he
said, il an apOlGgetfp tane, as if there
ought to have been serious accident
after so much preparation. "While l
was standing on the platform, think
ing whether | lSad better warn the
passengers to hold themselves ready
for Il shock, Jack came forward drag
ging after him two large petroleum
cans, each AZ which would hntd
quarter of a barrel of oil.
"NOw, them" said Jake to me, off
you will oil one side of the track /
will the other
~ saw at once what his plan was.
We each brought the mouth of an oil
Gan as near to the polished surface of
the rail as possible and commenced
pouring on kerosine. In less than a
minute half-mlle of the iron rails on
both sides was nicely oiled, and as
slippery as the tongue of a Hebrew
dealer in secondhand Clothes"
"You have raised my expectations
of catastrophe so high that you have
been obliged to grease the track so as
to let them down again easily" said |,
for / felt little nettled at the uneX-
pe1ted Iurn EAe st9rE Aaq taken, AUD
was inclined to believe that the cons
ductQr was drawing largely on his i'm
agination for the facts,
"Why, don't you know that an en-
zine can no more make headway on