The Magnolia gazette., 1883-03-01
MIXING Up Time.

Half dozen railroad men were stand
ing by the Union depot lunch counter
the other night, waiting for train.
drinking coffee and telling stories about
their experiences in railroading An
engineer was making camel tracks in
half of pie, and tetween swallows he
was entertaining the boys about fast
run he made one day between Milwau-
kee and La Crosse, when the "old
man was in hurry TO get up there to
see abO the bridge that was beng
built there. As he was describing how
the engine and two cars fairly blistercd
the rails between Portage and Camp
Douglas, frightened looking man
steppedup and asked for cup OF coffee
and some donghnuts, and while he was
soaking doughnut in the colee, h
said they didn't know anything about
fast running unless they had been on the
Pennsylvania Road. The men asked
him what he knew about fast running,
and he turned out some coffee in II
saucer, blew on il, to cool it, swallowed
it, and said:
"Well, | just got here from the East,
and have witnessed railroading that
knocks the socks off of anything that
ever was. We started out OF Jersey
City one night at eight o'clock, and up
this side OF Philadelphia there was y
wreck ahead of us, and we side tracked
for six hours. and when the track was
clear we started Well, sir, that train
few fairly flew. We didn't realize in
the car that we were going fast, by any
jar, for it was Just as smooth as u pair
of skates on smooth ice, but if a man
went out on platform he could not
breathe. The nigger started to bring
lunch from the hotel car into the car
! was in, and while he crossed the plat
lorm the coffee fro as stilf rs ice
cream and man ate it with spoon.
The nigger was afraid to 90 back into his
car, and waited till the train stopped at
a coal place. The conductor told me
the train was going faster than a bullet,
He said the engineer often shot his re.
vol or up the track ahead, and the en-
gine would overtake the bullet and Hat
ten il against the smoke stack. Did
you ever see n passenger train jump
right over freight train, when both
were in motonE' asked the doughnut
man, as he illed his co ee cup up with
milk.
40, what you giving uspn said the
engineer, as he loosened the leather belt
around his greasy overalls, and looked
at the man with disgust.
"We ], you don't have to believe il il
you don't want to, but pledge you my
word orr train jumped right over a long
freight train ahead Of us. We come ur
to il, on straight track, and our en-
gineer signaled to the freight engineer
TO slow up little, and the conductor
told us TO keep our seats. We had
seen the freight train ahead on curve,
and wondered why our train did moi
stop. When the conductor told us tc
keep our seats, | asked him what wa;
the matter, and he said we were going
to jump a freight, and if we moved
around we would jar the cals so they
woudn' be so liable to hit the track
ahead, when we come down. just ther
could feel the train go into the air
and hear the wheels turn with no track
under them, and in less than ten second
we began 10 descend, and | could heal
the wheels on the track aga'n, and
looked back and the freight engineer
was waving his hat at us. Why, there
was no more ar than there is in thii
room now OF course they wouldn'i
attempt to jump freight train on d
curve or in tunnel" and the mar
scratched a mat h ON his pants, and lii
cigar stub he had been keeping. -
PecE's Sun.