Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1878-11-28

/ SOiAt itAiSil~hs
You arc losing timev yell
cd a voice from the coach. l
looked around, and there stood
Roberts with his watch in hand.
II knew very well that We
would have TO increase cur speed
by some means, if We carried
out onr plans of reaching c.
by midnight, and looked anx-
iously around to see what /
could do to accomplish that pur-
pose. She was blowing off
steam fercely at 10 pounds; so
/ turned down the valve to 200,
for I knew we should need it all
to make some of the heavy
grades which lay between us
and c..
cit WAS three miles to the
next station. With the excep-
ton of a few curves, the track
was as good as the last. AS
we dartcd around what COM
monty seemed TO be rather
long curve, at the station, but
which was, at our high speed,
short enough, / looked at my
watch; and we had done it in
two minutes and a half.
"Gaining,' | shouted back
to Roberts, who was yet stand
ing on the platform of the coach.
"'Look out for the heavy
grades he replied, and went
inside the car.
"The next six miles rose
gradually from a level the first
to trn-and-a-h half feet grade
the last which lay between us
and the next station. My fire.
man kept her full; and now she
began to get hot. The furnace
door was red, and the steam rails
ed continually; so that she kept
her speed, and passed the sta
ton, like a streak Of light, in
five minutes.
aIIere, for ten miles, we had a
twenty-loot grade to cncoun-
ter; but the worst of it all was,
at this place we would be OBJ
liged to stop for wool. | was
just going to speak to Roberts
about it, when | looked around
and, saw him filing the tender
4 from the coach with wood which
had been placed there before
starting, while he was gone af-
ter me.
/ 81 believe we would have
made this ten miles at the same
speed as before, but, through
| the carelcssness of the fireman,
| the fountain-yalve, on the lett
hand side Of the engine, got
opened, and the water rose in
/ the boiler so fast as 10 run the
steam down 10 one hundred
pounds before / discovered
where the difficulty lay.
"At first Roberts didn't ap-
pear TO notice the decrease OF
speed, and kept at work at the
wood as if for dear life. But
presently he looked up, and,
seeing that the speed had de-
creased, he shouted: "Harry,
we are stopping!" and then,
coming over to where l was, he
said, Why, here We have been
ten minutes Oh the last ten
miles, and ] believe VIC will
come to dead stand if some
thing is not done. The speed
is continually Stacking! What
is the matter?'
81 explained the cause. He
was apparently satisfied with my
explanation, and, after having
tied down rhe safety-valye, he
climbed back over the tender,
exhortiHg meto .puther through,
for.God's sake, or. We are all
beggars .together!'
,"Just then we passed the
next station, having taken nine
minutes for eight miles. We
\
were now more than half over
the road; but we had lost near
llysten minutes time, and had
only twenty-scven minutes to
do thirty-lour, miles in.
s'sI had shut the water off
from, both my pumps, a little
distance back, l1enIdiscovered
what was The matter, and she
was now making steam finely
down a aslight grade. From less
than one hundred, With which
we started over that tcn-nile
stretch. she had Two hundred