The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1881-07-08

1
One-hah hour after the start from
Ludlow, No. 2, fifteen minutes behind
time, reached Williamstown, at which
place the standing rule was imperative
that conductors should at all times stop
and inquire for orders. Stopping only
long enough to unload . passenger in
the mud, the conductor, thinking only Of
making up lost time, signaled the engi-
neer, and the train went on.
The Mortified operator saw No. 2
dash northward to what seemed newt
able destruction, as the telegraph line
between his room and Ludlow was UNI
broken by . single instrument, and at
that moment two trains ct high rates OF
speed were rapidly lessening the dis
lance between each other on the single
track. He telegraphed at once to Lud-
low that No. 2 had passed without
stopping for orders" a,lisS
All color left the face of Train-Dis-
patcher Coolidge as he received the
message, and as he communicated the
dire intelligence to Jack Redmond,
Master of Transportation, that individ-
ual's countenance assumed similar hue.
With him to think was to act. Stepping
to the station-door he quietly beckoned
several men to him and c0mposedly gave
instructions to each. One-half dozen Of
them went on the double-quick in differ
ent directions for physicians. The sta
tion-keeper went into the warehouse and
gathered together sponges. baskets,
material for splints and soft muslins for
bandages. Meanwhile other employees
had run up to the engine-house, and
starting fire under an idle locomotive,
had hitched on to q cabo0se and backed
down in front of the station, where the
car was transformed into q hospitals
coach. To all save Redmond and Cool
edge these preparations were mysteri-
GUS. The relief.train was soon in read
mess, but did not start. Redmond,
seated at his desk and estimating the
rate of speed at which the trains were
moving, calculated about where the coll
lision would take place. Some of the
passengers would escape unhurt, and
one of them would hasten at once on
horseback to Williamstown, the nearest
point, for medical cid. Here the ope-
rator would learn the exact locality Of
the accident and send dispatch to
Ludlow. Possessed of this information
Redmond could send his waiting engine
and car, with its corps Of physicians and
nurses, to the spot at the rate of nearlya
mile a minute. The other and slower plan
would be to have let the "relief" start
out and cautiously find its way around
the many curves. He chose the wiser
course. The scene in the train-dis-
patcher's Office was painful. Coolidge,
leaning over the silent instrument,
watched it with feverish eyes as if to
read its secrets before transmission. On
another chair was Redmond, with big
globes of perspiration coming from the
pores of his face and rolling down un-
needed. Neither man spoke. Five. ten.
twenty, thirty minutes that seemed like
ages passed, when came sharp click.
It was Williamstown' calling Ludlow.
Cooledge's hair rose up on end as he
gave the response. Redmond stood up
and placed a hand on the door-knob.
The next moment Coolidge fairly
yelled, "No collision No. has just
backed into Williamstown. The two
men shook hands with the same vigor
as if they were twin brothers and hadn't
met for thousand years.
1t was then ascertained that, by the
most fortunate circumstances, the trains
had simultaneously entered from oppo-
site ends upon the longest piece of
straight track between the two telegraph
stations, and instantaneous applications
of brakes had brought them to stop
within twenty feet of each other. No.
2, recognizing the "special's right Of
way, backed to Williamstown, where it
went on the siding, and Cincinnati's
millionaires and capitalists proceeded
unhurt on their journey.-Cincinnati
Commercial. FIRST