Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1878-08-08
A Close Shave.

Bloomington the other night!' re-.
marked Jack Reynolds to a, reporter on
Saturday. The latter acknowledged that he
heard good deal, lately, about the nah
referred to. Jack REYNOLDS ioes the
stocking on one Of the largest locomotives
on the Chicago & Alton Railroad.
"Just wait till toss couple of show
elfuls, cause times nearly up, and we'll
be off soon, and I'll tell you semethin'
about Jim,' said the fireman, as he
pitched seine chunks of coal into the
roaring furnace. "They don make bet
ter engineers" he continued 's',han what
Jim O'Neil was. You see, you folks that
ride back there in them fine coaches and
play poker, an read the newspapers, and
only look ont when bait is made, and
commence readin'aud playin' again when
the train darts away again with a shrek.
roar and and a rattle: you folks. say.
don't know. what danger is No, sir.
Just you come ahead here and stand
where Jim O'Neil stood for >eigh cen
years, and I'll bet your back will raise
up sometimes. But Jim didn't mind it
much. He was the coolest and most
,bravest man what ever see in my life.
He acted all the while just like ne was
ready to die at any minute. And do you
know, he would take to his engine just
like man to woman. He would pet
her, and say sweet, sympathizin' things
to her. When she was leanin' out her
level best, runnin' may be forty miles an
no IT, Jim would look her all over kino
ut aft ctionately and say to himself, with
shake of the head, She amt we'll to-day;I
don't know what ais her, but she amt
feelin' just right"
Jack opened the furnace door again
and dropped in some fresh fuel on the
glowing Goals. ~s.
"You see,' he continued, Jim and me
run an engine tos ether five years, just as
me and nv boss here (pointing to the en-
yineer who had that moment stepped into
the cab) are doing now. He took me on
when I was green hand, and in all the
years We stuck together he never spoke
cross word To- me, and if he'd been mind
to he might have pitched me out of the
window any time, for he WAS powerful
man. I'm got used to runnin' now, and
don't ever bother my head about what's
goin' to happen: but when jim O. Mel
first took me on I was awful scary,
and often wished was one of them tar.
mers what We saw hoidiu' the pillow in the
fields as we passed"
40 Mel had great many narrow es-
capes, did he not2" interrup ed the report.
er.
You are right he had replied Jack,
land the half of them amt been told
about in the newspapers. Jim always
know'd when anything was goin' to
happen. Once>h had nine cars and a big
lot of people, and he was runnin' to make
up lost time. 1t was just little afor.
dark, and, taken his eye from off the
track, Jim turned to me, and says. he:
There's trouble ahead; I feel it in nv
bones At first kinder suspected tina,
ne was tryin' to brighten me, but after
Tit he said to me: I wish could look
round the big curve and see if the
bridge is all right That. scared me
MORN ever. I noticed that Jim had his
eye set right down on the rail, but it was
'ettin' so dark that ne couldn't see far.
The old locomotive was putin in her
best ticks, and presently we shot in
through the deep cut and out on the high
fillin' that ran to the bridge As we made
the curve at the mouth of the cut, right
there in front of us, and not more n two
hundred feet away, was four horses what
was rnnnin' their best down the grade
toward the bridge. I felt my heart thump
agin the root of my mouth.
If Jim hadn t looked so cool, I guess I'd
have tossed myself right through the
window, but thought I'd stay as long
as Jim did. He took in the chance at a
gla1 &c. He know'd if them horses ever
got to that bridge they'd tumble down
twixt the stringers, and when we struck
EN- WEI jump the track, and 60 through
the bridge into the river, and God only
knows whether anybody Of them hundreds
Of people would have lived to tell wh.'
I'm tellin' now. So, quick as tla~h-f;r
with q locomotive runnin' forty miles an
hour you must do your 6gurin' in
hurrry--Jim slapped on all the steam
My God! how she shot. She nearly
jumped out from under me. In three
seconds the old locomotive just picked UP
that bunch of beasts and tossed them
down the banks. They didn't any of 'em
i've to see the hind car pass by 'em.
"Wh u my heart dropped back to lis
place, added Jack, IL ventUred to say to
to Jim, That was close shave, wasn't
'tg bnt Jim aever took is eye from thu
track, aud never said yes or no; and,
though him and me run together for years
and years, he never once spoke of how
he scooped them critters into the ditch,
and saved God only knows how many
lives. "-Muscatine Tribune.