The Warner weekly sun. (Warner, Brown Co., Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1885, 1884-12-26
row With Presence Of Mina.
Ter Journal.

Crom the LOUISVILLE SouAi
" conversation With a prominent
.Lusician the other day the subject OF
s,;Iroad accidents and escapes came up.
nOno Of the most remarkable instances
fnrosence OF nine of which I have
.rar heard" said he, "was related to
bv Colonel John D.. Wickliffe not
I.,o ooo, It was on the Louisville and
vosbville Railroad, near the MUD
.orob's Hill tunnel. At that time the
science of running trains was in a very
Elementary state. The practice was to
nm them all one way at a time. In the
morning the trains would be started
t,om Nashville to Louisville and in the
ayenipg they would be run back. They
-ont IN sections. Colonel .Wickliffe
onn evening was n of a party of
Ulcers and others who made up
y train to Nashville. They were
preceded by another train at a distance
IF ahout q mile o third one followed.
Tbpv pulled out from the depot at a
ioto hour and made as good time as pos
sibIe when fairly on the road. Every
thing went smoothly enough till the
tnnneI was reached, when the first train
was halted by q signal just before On
tering. Upon investigation it was
found that a freight train had broken
down in the passage.
"Every one who has been ever the
road knows how steep is the grade of
Muldraugh's Hill. To climb it the en-.
pIpeers put on every ounce of steam and
take off the brakes till the friction is re-
duced to a minimum. The summit is
but a short distance from the tunneland
deep curve in the track hides an APP.
proaching train till within a few hun.
Ared wards. Up this incline, but hid.
den by the curve, was heard the putting
Of the third train. The ponderous IN.
zine was Iaboring ~gallantly and drawing
Ehe long string of cars behind her as
easily as a trotter the light sulky of his
driver. The summit was reached and
with a wild shrek of delight,
the train sprang around the
first curve and darted upon the
trestlework. The momentum gained
in the upward struggle carried it
across wiz race-horse speed and the
track quivered and stretched beneath
its eager tread. The cold night air vi
brateG with the putting of the engine
and the hills echoed and re-echoed the
shrieks of the whistle. The train was
not two minutes distance from the
second section when first heard. The
horror stricken passengers in front
were caught in a trap. The rear train
had been totally forgotten and it was
now bearing down upon them, bringing
death and torture nearer and nearer.
Eat that awful moment a newsboy,
with a great bundle of papers, dashed
like mad through the car to the rear.
The men yielded an instant passage and
he was but q moment in reaching the
rear platform. How he managed it NO
one knew, but he had whipped out a
match and had a bundle of papers in
James just as the headlight Of the adj
vancing engine appeared around the
curve. His entire stock famed up, and
he waved and shouted, his face and
form lit up as perhaps was Casabianca's
On that fatal day at Trafalgar. The
engineer saw him just in time. He re-
verSed his engine and put on breaks so
rapidly that his train simply'bumped
against the n In front. The pluck
and presence of mind of the boy had
saved scores of lives.
About five minutes after the pas.
sengers realized that they were saved,
collection was taken up among the
officers and the newsboy was made
richer by $500. / wish / could remem-
Der his name, but it is doubtful if ii
will ever be known"