Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1883-10-17
An AvALANCME OF FLAME.


Mountain Side An Front Of n MIA xtu1
Oil Train.
81 don't expect to live much longer. and amer
am dead want you to put In the papers the
story Of that ride had from Prospect to Broo-
ton In 1869"
The speaker was Duff Brown, an old locomo-
tive engineer. who was lying at his hone in
Portland. dying with consumption. This was
several weeks ago. On the attn of last month he
died. He was nearly 60 years old His story OF
the awful ride In this:
In 1859 was running a mixed train on the
t nu,lalo, CORY Erie railway. The track be-
tween Prospect or Mayyille summit and Broc-
Ton Junctionis so crooked that while the dis
lance is actually only ten miles the Curves by
ran make It fourteen. The grade for the whole
distance Is over seventy feet to the mile
About O'Clock on the night Of Aay IL
1862 we reached the summit with train of two
passenger cars, six oil cars and a box car The
latter contained two valuable trotiing norses
and their keepers with them on their way. I
believe. TO the Cleveland meeting. There we're
fifty or sixty passengers in the two cars. cot
the signal from the conductor TO start and
pulled out. We had got under considerable
Roadway, when. looking back. | saw that oil
car In the middle of the train WAS on fire. L
reversed my engine and whistled tor brakes.
The conductor and brakemen jumped of.
ihey uncoupled the passenger cars and set the
brakes on them. bringing then TO q STOP
oupposng that the brakes on the burning oil
cars would also be put on, | called 90 a brake.
man on tho box car 10 draw the coupling pin
between that car and the head oil tank. backing
SO that he could do IT, Intending to run far
enough away to save the box Car aud Ioco,notIye
AS L ran on down the Hill after the pin had becu
drawn, what was my borrow to see that the
burning cars were following me at speed that
was rapidly increasing. The men had not suc-
ceeded in putting on the brakes. 1 saw that
the only thing to be done was to run for Il to
Brocton, and the chances were that we would
never reach there at the speed which we would
be obliged to make around those sharp reverse
curves, where we had never run over twenty
miles an hour.
''When l saw the flaming cars-for the whole
six were on fire by this time-plunging after
me, and only few feet away pulled the throt-
tie open. The oil cars caught me- though. be-
fore L got away. They came with full force
against the rear Of the box car smashing In one
END and knocking the horses and their keepers
fiat on the floor. The heat was almost unbear-
able. and, do my best. | couldn't place moro
than thirty feet between the pursuing column OF
fire and ourselves. By the light from the fur
mace, as my fireman opened the door TO pile in
the coal caught sight of the face OF one OF the
horsemen In the box car, he having climbed up
to the grated opening in the end Ii was az
pale as death. and he begged me for Gods sake
to give her more steam. 1 was giving her then
all the steam she could carry. and the grade
usSi vas euouSu 10 CdT1y US ucWn RI the rdtp
of fifty miles an hour. We went so fast that the
engine couldn't pump. Every time We struck
one OF those curves the old girl would almost
run on one set of wheels, and why I'm the world
she didn't topple over is something I never
could understand. She seemed TO know that II
was race Of life and death, and worked as II
she were alive
"The night was dark. and the road ran through
woods, deep rock cuts. and along high embank-
ments: There We were. laundering along Mt
md lx- Fam s...t.t.
us, that fiery demon I'm full pursuit. There were
$1,000 gallons of oil In those tanks, at least, aud
II was all iT flame. making a flying avalanche Of
fire 500 feet long. The flames leaped into the
air nearly a hundred feet. Their roar was like
that of some great cataract. Now aud .hen q
tank would explode with q noise like q
cannon when q column of flame and ptchy
smoke would mount high above the body OF the
flames, and showers OF burning oil would be
scattered about In the woods. The whole coun-
try was lighted up for miles around.
well 1t wasn't long going at the rate we
made, before the lights of Brocton came in sight
In the valley. The relief felt when these came
In view was short-liyed for remembered that
train No. s, on the Lake Shore, would be due at
the junction about the time we would reach it.
No. 3 was the Cincinnati express. Our only
hope all along during the race had been that the
switchman at the junction would think far
enough to open the switch there connecting the
crOss-cut track with the Lake Shore track,
and let Us run. in on the latter. where the
grade would be against US, il ANYTHING,
and where We could soon get out Of
the way Of the oil cars. The switch of course
would be closed now for the express, and our
last hope was gone un ess the express was late
or somebody had sense enough to flag IL. While
we were thinking Of this we saw the express
tearing along toward the junction. Could we
reach the junction, get the switch, and the
switch be set back for the express before the
latter got there2 II not, there would be an in
evitable crash, In which not only we but proba-
bly, scores OF Others would be crushed to death.
All this eoniecturing did not occupy two Sec
onds but In that two seconds lived years.
hood Ged." said to my fireman, "what are
We to do now?"
The fireman promptly replied-and he was q
brave little fellow-that should whistle for the
switch and take the chance. 1 did 40. That
whistle was one prolonged yell of agony. II was
shrek that seemed to tell us that our brave
Old engine knew our danger and had her fears.
Neither the fireman nor myself spoke another
word.
Thanks be to Cod The engineer on the ex-
press train. seeing US tearing down that noun
tain with an eighth Of mile of solid fire In close
pursuit OF us, knew In a moment that only one
thing could save us. He whistled for brakes,
and got his train to q stand not ten feet away
from the switch. The switchman now answered
our signal. and We shot in on the Shore track
and whizzed on up by the depot and through
the place like a rocket. The burning cars fol-
lowed us in, of course. but their race was run.
They had no prOpelling power now, and after
chasing US for mile they gave up the pursuit,
and in three hours there was nothing left OF
them but smoking ruins.
my fireman and were SO weak when We
brought our locomotive to a stop that we could
not get out OF the cab. The two horsemen
were unconscious i'm the box car. The horses
were ruined. And how long do you think We
were in making that sixteen mles3 We ran
two miles up the Lake Share track Just
twelve minutes from the Summit to the spot
where w afOnnpdf A plumh eighty miles al
hour. not counting the time lost getting under
Roadway and stopping beyond BrOcton."
Waste Of Food
p I. Simmons in Popular Science Monthly.
The flesh of domestic animals at for food il al
hsfo in o&vSo