The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1879-12-06
WHOLE No. 1 $50

through the broken end Of their car, and it
seemed to them that they gained at every
turn OF the wheels. The engineer said that
when he struck the sharp curves at the
lightning speed at which he was going, he
expected that his engine would leave the
track and be hurled down the mountain
side. The night was very dark. The en-
CINE thundered along faster than any engine
ever ran in this country before or since,
through woods and deep rock cuts, and OF
the edge of high prscipices. The horses
were stamping and neighin. with terror in
the box car, and only Il few feet in the rear
WAS the flying mass of flame rushing down
the mountain like Il tremendous meteor
The blaze from the thousand gallons of burn
ing oil was more than sixty feet in height,
and lighted up the woods and rocks and
crooked roads for miles. The whole heav-
ems We're illuminated, and from Brocton the
sight OF the great confiagration, apparently
iyin. through the air, now hidden for "a
second by a cut or a piece of woods, and
then leapins out again and up toward the
ohs iiAC a Lusc VI uIS Is ucSCllptu
as having been awful in its grandeur
The idea of Engineer Dawson was to call
for the opening Of the switch for him at
Brocton junction, so that he could run on
to the Lake Shore track, where the grade
was ascending and where he could soon get
out of the way Of the burning cars through
their having lost the propelling power OF
the decline of the Summit grade. 1t hap
pened, however, that the Cincinnati express
on the Lake Shore road would be due at the
junction when Davison's engine reached
there. To add to the terror of the situation
West bound freight train was at that mo
ment running to pass the junction before
the arrival of the express. There was only
one thing to do, and that was to whistle for
the switch, and take the chances of the
freight getting out of the way, and the ex-
press being tagged or late. The engineer
knew that he must have been seen from
Brocton junction, by the light Of the burn
ing OIL in his life or death race down the
mountain, and that the railroad men there
understood the peril OF the situation and
would he prompt TO act He whistled for
open switch He and his fireman then babe
| each other goodbye and awaited tho result
The freight train gained the siding out of
their way. The switch was opened and they
tore OH up the Lake Shore track, past the
| depot and through the village, and were
soon out Of the way of the burning cars
The Latter gradually came 10 STOP The
engine and box car were stopped within =
hundred yards of the Lake Shore express,
which was both late and signaled When
| Dawson and his fireman found they were
out of danger, they tainted on their engine
The horses in the box car We're ruined, and
their keepers were taken from the car I'M
conscious. The oil tanks burned for three
hor.a after they were stopped. The most
fortunate circumstance Of the whole affair
was the uncoupling of the passenger cars
| from the oil ears, at the Summit. They
were filled with passengers, and if they ha 1
remained with the burning tanks would
have been wrapped in flames in very
short time, and there would have been he
escape for the passengers from NEST horri-
bic fate 1t was just o'clock when Davi-
son pulled out from Mayvills Summit
| When he was taken from his engine, six
teen miles from the starting point, it wa,
not twelve minutes past the hour.
James Keenan,, Davison's fireman, wa,
killed about three years ago. He was ON
his engine, when he saw child playing Oh
tho track some distance ahead. He ran out
child and tossed it to one side of the track
He lost his balance, however, and fell in
front of the locomotive and was crushed te
| death