Indian chieftain. [volume] (Vinita, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1882-1902, 1884-03-27


do you know whvI gave up my 10
eomotives Well. III tell you. About
ten years ago was promoted from
freight TO a passenger. and l was as
proud of my new machine as n boy with
his first pair Of copper-tOed boots. ]
tell you old l23 was 4 daisy. Well.
had been running her for some eighteen
months when had the experiences that
made me throw dp MY job. The bare
remembrance of that night nearly makes
my hair stand on end. IL was cold;
dreaTy night in November. with the
wind blowing 4 regular gale, and the
fog so thick that ] couldn't see more
than thirty feet ahead of the pilot Ia
save my life. had left 81. Louis with
an unusually big load Of passengers. in
Gliding a distinguished party Of gentle
men on their way TO Washington | be-
lieve my train was the fastest one run
ming East Al that time. My time-card
called for at least forty miles an hour.
Well. sir, Just before | started something
happened that would make many an en-
gineer abandon his trip, but 1 didn't
want 10 seem cOwardly and went ahead
What was il? Why, after got my or
derS from the train dispatcher office.
and was OF my way TO nv machine
somebody inside called me back My
fireman was near me and said For
Gods sake. Jim. don't 20. You know
something awful viii happen-it always
dOes.when a man goes back after get
ting his orders Well. l hesitated a
moment, and then / thought To myself:
That's ali nOnscnsc-Im not super
stitious.' The fellow only wanted Co
give me some trivial message. and half
an hour later ] Was rocking on my seat
in the cab. dashing through Illinois at
a terrific rate and keeping nv eyes fixed
on the two bright lines 0f rail in front
Of me, until they seemed Ike flashes II
lightning dartiBg into my srain- As |
said before. | could see 0niT a short
distance ahead on account of the fog.
but | knew any oi,scuratiOn Of those
bright lines. any deviation from their
straight course meant terrible danger. II
not death. 10 my precious load Of human
lives. So sat there with my hand on
the throttle. and every nerve and mus
Gle strained to its utmost iensiOn-
Il forgot 10 say that we were nearly
an hour late leaving ST Louis. and
Lad orders TO make up this lost time.
Finally we struck piece of road which
| knew extended in a straight line for
over ten miles / felt relieved when
we struck this part of the rad and
turning TO the fireman. | shouted;
Good track ahead. TOm-I'm going TO
let her ont Hs nodded back at me and
pulled open the valve. j could feel
the engine fremble with n new motion
as she leaped forward like a bounded
deer. and in another second il seemed
n II we were not even touching the
rails. About half way down this stretch
Of straight road there was a station and
a piece Of side track for sTitch-Oh
freight ears. There was always from
three 10 n dozen ears standing there.
As we approached this point / thought
Of the siding. and could not help saying
10 myself. What if that switch should
be misplaced. The words were hardly /
formulated in my mind when suddenly /
the two bright lines in front Of me di- |
verged and for a moment lOOssed like /
four. Great God. | cried. the switch /
is open There was n sudden swerve /
of the engine 10 the left. and 4 loud /
noise. and. in desperation | l
reversed the lever. shut the throttle. 1
and waited with closed eycs and sus-
pended breath the shock which | felt 1
was coming. You cannot conceive the /
supreme agony of that awful moment
Il was too much for me or any other
man 10 stand. The last thing / re-
membered was seeing the sparks fly
back from the driving g-wheels ~ the 10
Numbered ON TO destruction
The next instant fell senseless ON the
floor of the cab
'.And YOU escapeds' asked the re-
porter, anxiOusly-
.-Escaped2 Well. / should say so.
There wasn't freight car on the sid
ing. and the reason the switch had heen
was because n section gang
was repairing the main track and had
il 80 that the siding could be
used until they finished the job. The
result was that we dashed along the
side track and We're soon on the main
line again. and when | came 10 the
fireman was hanging on 10 the thrOt-
tie. which he had pulled out to the last
notch again. and there he sat laughing
at me. Well. | tell you it was mo-
laughing matter for me. Nv hair didn't
turn gray. but il was the worst scare
ever had in my life. and ! wouldn't
90 through it again for a fortune You
can juss bet that when finished that
run | handed in my resignation. and
I've never steered an engine since
ST. Louis GiO6c- Democrat.