Connecticut western news., 1880-08-18

money on Monday morning, to make some payments with, the road goes into other hands; and if you put me down in C. at the right time, so that i save the money, you shall have 5000. Un- derstand it, Harry. Five thousand dol lars p
 Of course understood it. saw now the reason why the wages had been cut down; I understood it all and my blood boiled. I felt that I would save the road if lived, and told Roberts so.
 "See that you do it, Harry l" he re- piled, as he climbed up on the steps of the coach, which was coupled to my en- zine.
 I sprang up into the footboard, got up the switch tender to help my fireman, opened the throttle, and just as she con- menced moving looked at my watch-it was just eleven o'clock, so that I had one hour to make my seventy-fve miles in.
 From V to C. there were few curves on the road; but there were sev- eral heavy grades. I was perfectly ac- quainted with every rod of it; so that I knew exactly what had to encounter; and when saw how the engine moved I felt very little fear for the result. The road, for the first miles was an air line, and so smooth that my engine flew along with scarcely percepible jar. l was so busy, posting myself up as to the amount of wood and water aboard, etc., that we danced by the first station almost before I was aware of it, having been five minutes out and having five miles accomplished.
 "You are losing time p yelled voice from the coach. looked around, and there stood Roberts with his watch in his hand.
 I knew very well that we would have to increase our speed by some means if we carried out our plans of reaching C. by midnight, and looked anxious ly around to see what could do to ac- complish that purpose. She was blow ing off steam fercely at no pounds; so I 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..
 It was three miles to the next station. With the exception of few curves the track was as good as the last. As we darted around what commonly seemed to be a rather long curve, at the station, but which was, at our high speed, short enough, I looked at my watch, and we had done it in two minutes and half.
 "Gaining," I shouted back to Roberts, who was yet standing 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 ten and half feet grade the last, which lay between usand the next station. My fireman kept her full and now she began to get hot. The furnace door was red and the steam raised continually, so that she kept her speed and passed the station like 8 streak of light in five minutes.
 Now came nine miles like the last over which she kept pace with her time, | and passed the station in seven and | half minutes.
 Here, for ten miles, we had twenty foot grade to encounter; but the worst of it all was at this place we would be obliged to stop for wood. was just go- ing to speak to Roberts about it when I looked around and saw him filling the tender from the coach with wood which had been placed there before starting, while he was gone after me. l I believe we would have made this ten miles with the same speed as before, but through the carelessness of the fireman the fountain valve on the left-hand side of the engine got opened, and the water rose in the boiler so fast as to run the steam down to 100 pounds before I dis covered where the difficulty was.
 At first Roberts didn't appear 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 decreased, he shouted {: "Harry, we are stopping!" and then, coming over to where I was, he said |: "Why, here we have been ten minutes on the last ten miles, and I believe we will come to dead stand if something is not done. The speed is continually stacking. What is the matter p
 I explained the cause. He was ap- parently satisfied with my explanation, and, after having tied down the safety valve, he climbed back over the tender, exhorting me to "put her through, for Gods sake, or we are all beggars to- gether p
 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 nearly ten minutes time, and had left only twenty-seven minutes to do thirty-four miles in.
 had shut the water off from both my pumps a little distance back, when l discovered what was the matter, and she was now making steam finely down g slight grade. From less than one hun dred with which we started over that ten-mile stretch, sine had two hundred pounds before we finished it; and, 8: the gauge indicated no higher than that and the valve was tied down, could no tell how much over two hundred pounds
 she carried, but she certainly carried none less the rest of the journey. And
 we'll might she carry such an enormous , head of steam, for, after passing ove