The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1884-03-20

An Engineers Thrilling Story.
DO you know why I gave up my
locomotive? Well, I'll tell you. About
ten years ago was promoted from O
freight to a passenger, and / was as
proud OF my new machine as boy with
ms nrst pair OF copper-toed boots. /
tell you old l25 was daisy. Well. I
had been running her for some eighteen
months when had the experience that
made me throw up my job. The bare
remembrance of that night nearly makes
my hair stand on end. 1t was cold,
dreary night in November, with the
wind blowing regular gale and tho
fog so thick that / couldn't see more
than thirty feet ahead Of tho pilot to
save my life. / had left st. Louis with
an unusually bag load of passengers,
including q distinguished party of gen.
tlemen ON their way to Washington.
believe my train was the fastest one
running East at 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 engineer abandon his trip, but
1 didn't want to seem cowardly and
went ahead. What was it? Why, after
1 got my orders from the train dis
patcher's Office, and was on my way to
my machine, somebody inside called me
back. My fireman was near me and
said: For Gods sake, Jim, don't 60.
You know something awful will happen
it always does when q man goes back
after getting his orders Well, hes
itated moment, and then I thought TO
myself: That's all nonsense-I'm not
superstitious. The fellow only wanted
to give mo some trivial message, and
half an hour later was rocking on my
sea in the cab, dashing through Illinois
at terrific rate and keeping my eyes
fixed on the two bright lines of rail i'll
front of me, until they seemed like
flashes of lightning darling into my
brain. AS / said before. could see
only short distance ahead on account
of the fog, but knew any observation
of those bright lines, any deviation from
their straight course meant terrible
danger, if not death, to my precious load
of human lives. So sat there with
my hand on the throttle, and every
nerve and muscle strained to its utmost
tension.
II forgot to say that we were nearly
an hour late leaving st. Louis, and l
had orders to make up this lost time.
Finally we struck piece of road which
1 knew extended in straight line for
over ten miles. / felt relieved when
we struck this part of the road, and
turning to the fireman 1 shouted:
Good track ahead, Tom; I'm going to
let her out He nodded back at me
and 1 pulled open the valve. I could
feel the engine tremble with new mo-
ton as she leaped forward like a
bounded deer, and in another second it
seemed as if we were not even touching
the rails. About half way down this
stretch of straight road there was a
station and piece of side-track for
switch-of freight cars. There was al
ways from three to dozen cars stand
ing there. AS we approached this
point thought of the siding, and could
not help saying to 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 diverged, and for n
moment looked like four. Great Godp
/ cried, the switch is OPEN There
was sudden swerve of the engine to
the left and loud creaking noise, and
In desperation L reversed the lever,
shut the throttle. and waited with
closed eyes and suspended breath the
shock which l felt was coming. You
cannot conceive the supreme agony of
that awful moment. 1t was too much
for me or any other man to stand. The
last thing remembered was seeing the
sparks fly back from the driving wheels
as the locomotive Numbered on to de-
stxuction. The next instant l fell sense
less on the floor of the cab
"And you escaped?" asked the re-
porter, anxiously.
Escaped Well, 1 should say so.
There wasn't freight car on the siding,
and the reason the switch had been
changed was because section gang
was repairing the main track and had
arranged it so that the siding could be
used until they finished the job. The
result was that we dashed along the
side-track and were soon on the main
line again, and when came to the fire.
man was hanging on to the throttle,
which he had pulled out to the last
notch again, and there he sat laughing
at me. Well, tell you it was no
laughing matter for me. My hair
didn't turn gray, but it was the worst
scare / ever had in my life, and 1
wouldn't go through it again for a
fortune. You can just bet that when L
finished that run L handed in my
resignation, and I've never steered an
engine since.-St. Louis Globe-Demo-
cTdt.