The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1881-05-05


the passengers ever give thought to the
man in front who, with steady eye and
nerve, is safely guiding the iron horse as
| he flies over the steelribbed course It is
enough for them that they are safely
carried through.
A Times reporter recently had pleas
ant chat with Mr.. Edmund B. Gilbert, an
engineer on the Valley road. Not yet
sixty years DID, this man can boast of GO
ing through the Mexican war, besides
being thirty years an engineer, lie was in
Tom" Seymour's regiment, and though a
Republican in politics he has nothing but
the kindest words for Pierce and Seymour.
A ROUND RECORD.
Although serving nearly thirty years as
engineer, Mr. Gilbert can make the proud
boast that no human being ever lost a life
through his carelessness. He never had a
train thrown from the track, never had a
breakdown so serious that he could not
run his own train. He has run over and
killed men women and animals-has met
with other distractions and has encoun-
tered hair breadth escapes, but has never
met with an accident that human foresight
could avert. In abiding to the
COLOR BLIND
enactment and at the same time admitted
if man could not distinguish colors well
enough to separate two distinct colors he
ought not to run train. why, OF
course" he said, "if a man can't tell
black from white, or yellow from red, he
has no business to be on the railroad.
TAKING CHANCES.
In speaking of the runs, he said an engi-
neer is expected to make time, and when
heavy fogs prevail and he cannot see what
| is ahead he has got to shoot along and
take his chances. 1t is like taking a
plunge with ones eyes shut. But after all,
the danger can be but slight when an en-
gineer can tell of thirty years experience
without an accident.
SUICIDES ON THE TRACK.
Mr. Gilbert says he has run over first
and last number of human beings and he
knows that some of them were self immo-
lated. He tells of a neighbOr of his who
lived next door to him, not dozen feet
| from his own house, who allowed his train
to run over him. Gilbert says he saw him
on the track, and saw him look around at
the train and, of course, not dreaming that
he contemplated suicide, supposed that he
would step from the track in time, But, to
| feet or 50 of him, he turned about and
| faced death. The train was too near. The
engineer could not save him, and he turned
his head when the merciless iron horse
struck his neighbor
The latest case he relates was one of at
tempted suicide just below the depot in
Wethersfield which occurred last summer.
! The engineer saw something quite Always
| ahead on the track, but before he could
make out what it was, he was so near that
he had only time to stop the train within
| ten feet of it. 1t proved to be a woman
/ wrapped up in shawl, intent on commit
/ ting suicide. Her name was Mrs. Ann
Hogan, and some time later she accomp-
lished her object by drowning herself in
| the Connecticut river.
CIu4D's ESCAPE.
| Mr.. Gilbert says it is no uncommon Oc-
currenee for children to get into the cattle
guards, and with their heads above the ties
watching the approaching train, and, when
it is close upon them, drop down and let il
| thunder over their heads. Sometime lit
lie fellow may forget to duck his head soon
enough and off it will go. Mr.. g., who
was more than twenty years on the New
York and New Haven road tells of q
thrilling incident which occurred on
the Harlem end of the road d
number of years ago He says
he saw something away ahead on the track
which looked so much like poodle dog as
anything until he got nearer to it, when, tC
his horror, he saw it was little f1axen
haired girl, not more than 4 or 5 years old
playing near the track. He whistled for the
brakes, but had no hope of stopping the
train. The little creature seemed to know
nothing of her danger, and kept on play
ing The train Numbered over her, anC
/ the engineer looked behind expecting tC
see her mangled remains, but he was de
llightfully surprised to see the little girl
with her flowing hair tossed to the breeze
running away from the danger that wa
passed, as fast as her little feet could carry
her. 1t seems she was playing in a LITTLE
gully between two ties, which had beer
washed out by a recent raiu-storm. BY in
stinctively crouching down in this small
channel the train passed over without in
turing a hair of her head, but there was no
much room to spare.
TRAIN wRECKERs.
Not the least of the dangers in railroad
| inr NAV be reckOned as the work o
| train wreckers, who, either for revenge
or desire to plumber, place obstruction
on the track. Nothing more diabolica
4 can scarcely be imagided To risl
the lives of hundreds of people simply
to satisfy feeling of revenge, or to gain al
opportunity to rob, exhibits degree Of
fiendishness hard to believe as existing il
the human heart. And yet train wrecker;
have so often done their work, and SO otter
attempted it and failed, it is not regarded as
| an uncommon occurrence.
Mr. Gilbert says he had two such expe
riences coming close together between Fort
Chester and Rye, on the New York ano
New Haven road. He does no recollect the
year, but he remembers the circumstances
clearly. The first was when he ran plump
against large stone which had been placed
in the middle of the track. 1t weighed
about half ton, and was sufficiently large
to have wrecked the train if it had been an
| ordinary hard stone. But it was soft
enough to crumble under the powerful blow
of the pilot, and the fragments were sent
flving in all directions while the train pass
| ed safely along. The occupants of the
smoking car were quietly whiting their
cigars and making the points in euchre,
and they were not even disturbed.