The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1882-03-12

the story. The afidavits of the partic.
concerned are appended. and II read
crs are at liberty to draw their own con
illusions.
1t will be remembered that the west
bound express on the N. W. and A
Road providentially escaped OBSTRUCTION
at Elkhorn Creek, the trrstlc bridge
having been wrecked by the storm. Tho
train was due at the bridge ut twcnt,
minutes past twelve. Al ten minute.
past twelve the eastern freight trair
passed over it in safety. Thus the bridg,
must lave been wrecked during the in
teryal of ten minutes, with 81 little warn
ing that the track walker had not vel
discovered the catastrophe yyllen thC
midnight express passed his c; 5oose.
The brakeman SwearS that when thu
tramp assed his house, whichis q quartz
OF a mile down the road, the bridge ligh'
was burning white, which was the safe,
ty signal. The next instant. hearing tht
engineer blow down brakes" he ran
up the track and saw the rcd ligh'
showing.
The light is set upon an iron frame
INT the mechanism which turns it j.
secured in u box at the foot. which i,
kept locked. There is no possible way
" "hASs AANt AiSii NsiAl Ut u llNAl tNCCDi
by the machinery, and the trackmar
states upon oath that the box was fas.
tened and the key in his pocket at the
time.
He further states that when he reach
ed the signal, which he did in less thar
two minutes, the light was her show.
ing white rs before, the door still locked
and exhibiting no trace of tampering.
In these statements he is borne out BY
the affidavits of the conductor, the en-.
gineer and the fireman.
The story which the two last named
tell is SO remarkable that it is appended
below in full. The incident has occas-
Toned much excitement, and our CORES.
pondent did his utmost to get at tho
truth of tho matter, He was unable to
interview the engineer, who was absent
on his wedding trip, having, since his
fortunate escape, resigned his position
for n safer occupation, and married the
woman Of his choice. The fireman,
however, was found, and was induced
TO make n statement which we print IL
nearly his own words, as follows,
'If 1t wasn't that people have beef
doing Pave Garnet gross injustice u
their reports Of his action in this matter,
] should refuse to utter n word. l am n
plain man, and don't care to be thought
a fool or a liar. But l am not the one
to hear a friend slandercd without say
ing n word in his defense.
On the night of the 2Sth it was Storm
ing hard when we pulled out of the de-
pot. The rain froze fast TO everything
Il touched. Old heads like Dave and l
know VII t that means. At every start
and up every hard grade. your wheels
are going 10 slide around on the icy
tracks and the engine is going to rack
herself all 10 picces-that is, if YOU DOM
sand hm veil. Sand, you sec, gives the
-n-s n grip on the rails, and after
the old siri gets started she can general
ly take care of herself. / filed the sand
box before we started, and put an extra
bag in the cab in case of emergency.
at was just after the holidays, and
the sixteen cars behind us were packed
full. The road was in 4 bad state; such
n storm ] hope never to see again. The
wind roarci around us so that we could
scarcely here our WI whistle. The rain
poured down in n flood and became q
sheet o! ice ~ il fell.
I'VE could not keep tho front win
dows Of tie cab shut for = moment. for
the ice made dense curtain over them.
We lad 10 let it rain and blow in upon
us Is il would; for we had 10 keep a
bright cyc upon the signal lights, most
Of Will / looked like pale blots on the
mist.
'Wc rcT; the first twenty miles with
ont speaking TO each other. An engi-
nccr may run an engine his lifetime, and
yet lie never opens his valves without a
| feeling Of anxiety. What with the storm
| and tho heavy train neither of us cared
to think Of much besides our own duties.
'But Dave was unnaturally solemn,
oven for such q time. l could see his
face in the light of the steam-gauge
lamp. 1t was pale and anxious as ]
never saw ii before.
whats the matter, Dave?" I said.
"'He turned and looked at me like n
mar in n dream.
1T is a fearful night" he answered,
after a while. Hear the old machine
gronn and complain like u sick nj
She knows she's in danger, l verify be-
lievc. wish the trip was over, Jimr'
''Why, so do l." l said, for to tell the
truth, l was unaccountab!y depressed
myself. ''But SO far, everything is all
right"
YES" he answered, $50 far. But i
have n kind of presentiment that we arc
going to have trouble before WI are
done with it. l have been thinking Of
Mary, too, for the past half-hour."
"a very good subject to think Of" i
said, laughing.
Don't joke, jim" he replied. sol
emily. ''It's a serious thing 10 think
that with the fulfllmcnt OF n mans
hopes of happiness only two days off, he
is liabe to be hurled into eternity any
minute"
ats q reaction 1 said. You have
been too happ; and excited with think.
ing of your %eiling and all that, and
now, what with the cold and the rain!
you are looking at the darker side OF
the matter" P.
MAY be-" he said, her he uttered 0
loud cry. "Great God! Look! look!'
ale was pointing out of the window
with a trembling finger, his face as
ton in which he pointed, and-hoH
shall / describe what l sawP
II was well acquainted with Mary
Warren, the girl Dave was going tomar-
nv in two DAYS. She and l were old
friends, and if it had not becn for Dawes
better education and fine figure, we
might-but that is nothing to the point.
As surely as / see you before me now, :
saw Mary Warren then.
THE steam was pouring in a thicl
white cloud out Of the stack, sometimes
shutting out our view Of the track ahead,
The headlight made a sort OF reflection
upon it like tho sun In a fog, and there,
right in the confer Of the misty glow, ]
saw the figure Of Mary Warren.
.sWe were going at top speed, but the
shape glided along like a shadow. al