The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1879-08-19
NY MURDER.
By AN OPERATOR.


After all. We may state that tele-
graph operators are not without a
little bit of romance occasionally, and
I think can show that we are not
entirely without q certain amount OF
responsibility but it il seldom If ever
recognized. unless one Of our number
by carelessness suddenly plunges n
train into destruction BY failing to
deliver or understand orders.
The time Of which I write WAS one
pleasant afternoon in early autumn.
the 22d day Of September, 1876. and
as the occurrence has made a deep
and vivid impression ON my mind.
I can not forget the day, which was
Friday.
At that time had been an agent
and operator on the - railroad a
little while over two months. The
line was directly through parts Of
Indiana and Illinois. and some Of the
stations had no telegraph Office con-
sequenAy the order distance was some
what lengthy, and there WAS hut one
Office between mine and COwans,
twelve miles west.
On this day | Was quietly putting
INV meerschaum in the large hay
window Of my Office. and wishing for
to relieve the monotony.
when the operator at Cowans called
the train dispatcher and said am
engine had sprung her throttle with
one hundred and forty pounds cf
steam. and gone east. while the 6rema"
had gone t. lunch, and the engineer.
who WAS oiling around, had ND time
to get on.
All was still as death for a minute.
when the dispatcher began tn call
the only office between mime
and Cowans; for fully Eve minutes
he called him, using the signal ''23"
which means death. but still mn
answer, and the monotonous click Of
the amature presently he answered in
q dazed, hurried manner, and when
asked about the engine. ssid it hasi
passed there at q fearful rate Of speed
at fourteen minutes past four. with no
person visible.
II was only six miles more to me.
and an excursion was on its way west
with heavy load of tired picnickers,
and had actually left a station only
eight miles east Of me. the first tele'
graph Office, at two minutes past four.
The dispatcher called me furiously.
and being at hand ana expectant.
answered him Immediately. When
he said Turn your switch and
wreck engine No. IL. going cas-,
wild" I replied quickly: 81 canno!
without and indemnity order" and
after a hasty consultation with the
superintendent. - / afterwsrd learned,
he vent ahead with an order, whose
unusual form and wording reused
many q lazy ''brass soundtr" from d
doze. 1t WAS like this
ITO Operator-Wreck wild engine
No. IL at your eastern switch gate tO
save collision. Company will defend
and uphold you. ID. X. B."
l Immediately returned my "13' Oh
Understanding" received my "cor
rect at 4:18 p. m" and turned n
look for the engine, when. although
the conversation between myself and
and the dispatcher had consumed hu,
four minutes, l saw her coming at the
grandest rate of speed l ever witness
ed and snatching my order ! ran to
the switch gate, about one hundred
and fifty feet, and when l had un.
locked and drawn the rail, the roaring
monster was only about one hundred
feet away. l had my watch in nv
hand. and stepped quickly back out
Of harms way. when ut exactly
twenty minutes past four she went
over, and such IN unearthly crash ]
hope / may never see or hear again
The dirt and stones few City feet
in the air, the engine turned clear over
and stopped on her side, pushing a
splinter of the cab On the whistle
valve, and there she lay . seething,
Kissing, screeching mass Of rubbish.
But above the din and rattle /
heard one wild. despairing shrek for
help. and, when ! could get close
enough to hear anything. | found
what, hsd it not been for the face.
would never have been recognized rs
a man. in the crushed and bleeding
mass of flesh that lay under enc huge
driver but the face Vas without q
scar. and by that WAS recognized Is an
escaped mailman. who, it seems. had
climbed on the engine at COwans
unobserved and pulling the throttle
open. had started on Wild. awful
ride to the gate Of death.
When the excursion train came up.
ten minutes later. they said they
found me standing by the engine.
gazing alternately at the bloody driver
and my written order, still tightly
clasped in my hand.
/ Was unconscious Of everything
save the fact that / had obeyed orders