Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1878-06-27


every second. The sound of our wheels
as they struck the end Of the rails was a
continuous hum.
But, do the best that it might, our en-
CINE with its heavy, train was no match
for the ight-weighted one behind, That
was gaining upon MS, apdssVas not the
eighth of mile off. The glare from its
lantern shone brightly in our faces; I
thought Jake's face looked little pale,
and perhaps mine did too. Now that
our pursuer did not. halt at Jamaica, we
were entirely off out refkopih8s and We
could make no gueaasAa 10. thu causa' of
our chase, nor when it would end. Tue
prospect seemed that we might be driven
to thesend of the road, If we were not
overtaken and smashed before 1t could he
reached.
"'That's the Franklin, sure,' broke out
Jake once more. mo other engine on
the road could overhaul US as we are go.
ing now. What can that fool of Simp-
son mean by driving her at such a rate?
He must be drunk - H. the boss:- don't
break him tomorrow. he won't get his
deserts. He will be into us in two min
utes..'' Z ) "a - :; 49,.
4''.You right, Jake said L Go for
ward and see if you cannot get up a lit
tie more Roadway. Empty few of those
! petroleum cans on the wood, and pitch it
in, and see what eau be done.' -,
! "While Jake was forward on his er-
rend thought over the situation. Here
I was with a.hundred jor two passengers
under my care. all ignorant of the danger
which / knew. they were in. If we
should be overtaken and crushed. in the
rear, the disaster would be d serious one,
and would probably cause the death or
injury Of: some Of the passengers. If we
were not smashed in this way, there was
another snd perhaps greater danger be-
! fore us. The train of which I 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 eleven o'clock. 1t was, not
half-past ten, and we were close to Lake.
land already, and would pass there long
before the arrival of the Greenport train,
which ordinarily got there first: The re-
suit would be that we should met that
train beyond Lakeland without warning
| of our approach, and collision in front
as we'll as the rear would be the conse-
quence. . s' 80
1--WE reached and flew through the
Lakeport depot nearly half an hour
ahead of time. Of course the Greenpcrt
train was not there yet, but was coming
down the road. Our speed->was now a
little ahead of any ever, before made up.
on the Long Island road: The telegraph
poles fairly danced behind. us, and the
bushes on either side of the track SEEM
| ed continuous wall of fire as they were
lighted up by the flame which was pour.
ing out OF our smoke. stack. But danger
ous as it was for Us to keep on, 1t was
Just as dangerous TO slacken speed, and
so on we went" x -. * FIR. -.
The conductor rolled his -quid from
one cheek to the other, raised the win
| dow. by, his side and Sxpectorated into
the outer darkness, and became silent for
several moments as if bprde1ed by. the
recollection ofhis. formeg slkrib... After
waiting areeseaable length be lime for
him to resume his story, I said, "When
the collision occurred, was it with the
train in front or in the rear, or with
20, the collision " said til; conductor.
? swell, now you come 70 the ridiculous
['part of the story. The collision did not
take place at ALL. he said. in an apollo
getic tene, as if there ought to have been
serious accident; after SO much prepare
ton. ''While was standing on the plat
form, thinking whether had better warn
the passengers to hold themselves ready
for q shock j AXE came from forward drag
ging after him, two large petroleum cans,
each Of which would he!d:a; quarter: of a
barrel Of oil: II ''~''~- ~'~ "'-'- $3.50
".Now, sthen} said Jake 10 he 'tif you
will oil one side Of the track, 1 will try
the other =
II saw at once what his plan was. We
each brought the mouth of an oil.canf <as
near to the polished surface of the rail as
possible and commenced pouring on it
the kerosene. In less than minute
half-mile Of the iron rails on both sides
was nicely oiled, and as slippery as the
tongue ola Hebrew dealer in second
hand cloihes." = ..':,:i .t"A:t:|- i"".::
"You have raised my: expectations of a
catastrophe SO high that you. have been
obliged TO grease the track so: as: to let
hem down again easily" said I, for I
cit little nettied at the unexpected
turn the story had taken, and was in
,olined to believe that the conductor was
drawing largely upon his imagination
10 ~. Tue lacts: So, IYu .1,j;s,.,4 nyuI
"Why, don't you know that an engine
can no more make Roadway on q creased
track than a tom cat can climb steep
roof covered with ice?'' said the conrduc;
! tor, with plying glance at one SO pro-
/ foundry ignerant. Of railroad matters as
myself. &, slapped, Jake on, the back,
and said, IQld, fellow, your .'cuteness has
brought us all out Of a bad scrape.'
I'm few seconds the lantern Of the
train behind us was getting dim ii the
distance. We slackened't speed and
backed down to see, what the matter was
with Simpson, as Jake said. There stood
the old Ben Fryaln 1 putting and snort
ing and paving, like. a mad bull. the
driving wheels buzzing around 81 tie
creased track likesall POSSESSED, but lot
gaining an inch. We sanded the track
and bore d0wnupon< I the koh machine,
Jake was the first aboard, spelling for a
good chance at the engineer Simpson.
But 40 sign Of III engineer fireman or
any other living being. swaasl p ~ found.
The eng1peI had only 4 tender attached,
and although there was still. q full head
ofsteam on, the fires were getting low.
H W. %sSses 9. u tk i s u! back to
We reached the station: and got fairly
upon the switch when the Greenport
train, which u should meet there, cane
| inf1n9 - lifting U III anSe li1lga IA
teen miles out on the road to meet it q
| few minutes before! 4.
"The. telegraph-pperator at Lakeland
Follows: ~ - :, ->@---'- = -
d,sk'2 GsndsscteF ii The il en
reak y q Aas oxen lleees ARD 4tconjng