Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1884-05-16


incident, liable in % moments time 70
develop into dangerous and thr,llin, eN-
pcrirnccs than that Ut To- Iiu tive Ell
gincrr; nud M death is - sudden. or.
~ NAV Dc. even. 80 rtltrartci and ho--
rihlr IN sulicrnr. 81, that which often
falls 10 the lot nf these hrror of tLr
thruttlc and the lover.
me incident which am about To r.
latc viii serve Ia illustrate some Of the
dar gers 10 which have referred
u was n sultry day. and tired If my
long rifle westward. and thu heat aud
confinement Of the ears. | took the 0ppOr-
tunity. while the train waited for con
hcctl"ns, To walk along the road To re-
fresh myself ~ was strollinr by the
engine IN unusually fine one. | stopped
70 admire u, and presently began n con
1ton WITH the engineer, who seemed
EoS-humorcd and friend v. and whom
\ perceived To be avery intelligent man.
seeing my interest in his engine. he
presently invited me To- take n seat in
the cab; and during the half hour we
were compelled to wait al thr station he
gave me many practical points of his
vocation, concluding with the following
narrative Of an experience. without n
parallel. 81 FAR as I know. in the annals
Oi lie ON The ra lie said.
In The summer of - / was pro-
mSted to passenger engine %. tho same
Ne are in now. II was. and is still. one
of the finest and fastest engines ON this
line. The road hal then been built only
hye or six years, hut was already doing
large freight and passenger business.
Tho division that ran over was "a
long one-a hundred and twenty miles
The boys called IL the ridge be-
cause u was ufp-gradr from both ends
u nearly the middle The grade was
pretty heavy for part uf the way. so
wnen there happened To be LONG train.
an extra engine, called n helper was
was ordered out 10 help the regular en-
CINE up The grade AZ the top was n
tank aud sidctrack where 'hclpcrs'
uncouplcd. II was the duty uf 10 To
take the wcst-bound express over this
division.
"Onc evening there happened {, be
several coaches Of eVcursiOnists beside
the regular train. and consequently an
extra engine. but not the REGULAR 'hclp.
Ur, rs IL happened. had been ordered
zap To help mo over the grade. I felt
rather uneasy when I saw No 10 back
down and couple ON in front of me.
No. 10 was very good engine. as
good rs any on the road for power.
weight aud speed. hut she was in charge
OF an engineer whom / distru,t ted. Dick
Rogers, n large. heavy-built aud head
strong man, much too fond Of liquor.
lie went ON his 'sprccs' when oil duty.
and sO had been allowed to keen his
place; but u was whispered among the
boys that he had had touches of trc-
mems already.
lou eau never quite trust man
with an appetite for liquor; put that
down in black aad white.
II became more uneasy when
mounted Dicks engine tn talk with him
minute and compare watches. for /
detected the smell Of whisky i'm his
breath, and saw that his face was rcd
and his eyes bloodshot.
AT length All aboauly was given.
The gong struck, and we pulled out
Sido-tracks, streets, houses and signal
lights were soon passed. As We rot out
ON the main line, we quickoncd speed
AMI soon were going mp the grade at a
rate 81 about thirty miles an hour.
The wcst-bOund express made but
two stops I'm the entire distance To the
summit We made these all right and
ON time. Everything was working as
well rs usual II had grown dark: and
a. the forward engine prevented my
seeing The track ahead. leaned back
after time on my cushion. Nv own
son. Johnny, was iiring for me. then.
Poor boy! lie was only nineteen. I
didn want him to 20 on the road. but
hc begged So hard, that / took him ON
To IRE for me. Well. I sat WATCHING
him rs he now and then rcplcnishcI the
IRE, and listening To the drum-like
sound Of the exhaust. You know that
noise, So UNMARRIED and continuous.
tends 10 quiet and bcnumb the senses. 1
must have sat ~ for minute or two.
suddenly. Johnny ca,led out To me.
Amt YOU running faster than usual,
fathcrG he shouted.
81 started aud looked out The en-
CINE was swaying violently; and though
could see but little in the darkness. I
knew that we were on the level stretch
and getting near the side track. az the
summit where No. 10 was to UNLOCK
from US.
What did Dick mean by not slowing
upv nj once shut OH steam aud then
SpIony on the AIR brake.
There was rapid slackcning Of
speed tur few mOments-then n sharp
snap and Shrill hiss!
The rubber hose had burst: the va
cuum brakes were useless. and. the
speed ut once quickening again. we went
tearing past the side track and entered
on the long stretch Of dOwn-grade be-
yond, where with the patent brake
burst, the efforts of both engines would
be needed 10 stop or hold the train.
Angry and astonished that Rogers
could be So utterly careless. 1 babe
Johnny set the tender brakes. and
opened the front window If the cab. To
shout TO the foolhardv man ahead.
Meantime the train-conductor. or some
one else, was pulling fur.ously nc the
bell cord from the rear Of the train.
The instant had opened the sash |
knew by the sound OF the forward en-.
CINE that she was plunging ahead un-
der full pressure of steam. Twice |
shouted. at the top OF my lungs.
but the roar was too heavy. Then
lwhiStled down brakes As II in re-
spouse. wild laugh rose from the
front engine; then Jar seemed % 90
through the train; aud I fc;t we were
going faster than ever. blew Igain-
louder aud longer than before. This
time Il was answered by three shrieks
from tho other whistle. followed by a
number Of the most awful wells that
ever came out Of human throatl
II knew then what was the cause of
the reckless speed. Rogers was drunk.
crazy drunk. and was running away
with Us down n scventy-foot grade,
And we were powerless To stop hint
nWhat y situation Yet this was not