Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1883-10-05
Why They Lose Nerve.


ooh, yes, engineers do lose Their
| one who has a night run all the time.
on see, In the n ght time an engineers
eyes, thoughts and all are confined to o
very small space; it's nearly or quite
dark inside the cab, and if his engine i:
workin' all right, carryin' her water.
good lots of steam, and the fireman
wide-awake and lively, that engineer
don't have muci to do with his eyes,
only to look out ahead over the little
space made bright by the head-lightaD
his though are naturally confined tc
what his eyes take in. In the daytime
/ it's different; he can look around anc
see lots goin' on. He notices thai
this field of ta.ers looks good, and won
ders if his little patch at home will turn
out as well; he sees Teller fishin', anC
remembers the last mess of trout he
caught in the Shohola; he sees a woman
and baby in the little white house neal
the big curve. and his thoughts fly back
TO his home and his wife and children
and he wonders what they are doing
| Just now.
"And this he can take in. and be
'tendin' to business strictly, but in the
nighttime all is changed, and his vision
and thoughts, as | said, are confined to
the small spot made visible and distinct
by the headlight, and his ideas natural
ly follow the rails. He remembers thai
the culvert just ahead is the very spot
| that was washed out last spring, anC
nothing left under the ties and rails fol
ten or fifteen feet; true, his engine
jumped the chasm, and only five cars
! loaded with express matter and baggage
went down and were smashed and pileC
on top of each other, but it might have
been the ten cars of emigrants that
were coupled in the rear, and it isn't
pleasant to think of what might have
been.
Just around the curve is the place
where his engine struck draw-heac
some careless brakeman had left lying
on the track; his engine only turned
over on her side, and fortunately tho
air-brakes had so stopped the train thai
no further damage was done; but he
shudders as he recalls the sensations lie
experienced while the engine was turn.
ing over and crushing its mad way
through the ties, and 'tisn't pleasant to
| think of. He flies over huge embank.
ment at a pace of forty miles an hour
and thinks of the feelings that were bis
on a certain trip last winter when 2
side-rod came crashing through the
side of the cab, while passing over the
same embankment.
I'm the cut just ahead is where, or
the last trip, Waterman, intent or
watching train on the opposite track.
| hah fOrrrnffor, tha
the horror and agony depicted on his face
as the pilot threw him high in the air will
never be forgotten, neither will bis
mangled and stained body, picked UP
and cared for as soon as the train could
be stopped. And so on every mile of the
road something of this kind is brought
to mind, as his thoughts follow the cir.
Gle of light ahead, which flashes and
changes constantly, now shining on o
bridge. now showing an embankmert.
flashing its rays now on house and now
through trees and foliage, and if ta,
man is easily worried or bothered h,
| gets very nervous, indeed, and wishes
he was at the end of the trip-anywhere
off the rail.
"Why, I've known men to give up the
best trains on the road and big pay be-.
cause they had to run in the nighttime
and take trains that were much harder
to run and poorer pay, simply becarse
the latter run in daylight. Yes, enSi-
neers do sometimes get frightened aud
lose nerve, and it is not to be wen
dered at when we think of his standing
one hand on the throttle and the otf ell
on the reverse lever, with his thoughts
going back TO incident and accident OF
his busy and hazardous life on each
curve and straight line of the road, as
revealed by the headlight of his en-
CINE. Port JertiS Gazette.