The National tribune., 1885-01-08
THE NATIONAL TRIBUNE WASHINGTON D. c. THURSDAY JANUARY


while Murphy sad Cain both grasped The lever
| ready to use theixeonb:nea weight and strength
i'll reversing the motion if any obstacle should
he deserted. Thsir yi..ilance was soon approved.
They observed the point ut which We had re-
moved rails, aid, bt reversing were able to
arrest their moidn Just on the edge of the break.
But here they found themselves confronted
with terrible obstacle They had no rails to
replace those tlfat had been carried Off Some
instruments for tr,ek k-laying were on board,
and it was suggested to tear up rails behind
and place them in the break. This double
labor required t5o macl time to suit the ardent
temper of Fuller and Murphy. At once they
repeated the old tactics which alone mad given
them any hope of success. They abandoned
their engine and ran ahead oncc more on foot.
The remainer Of their company remained be-
hind, and probably DID, after a time, succeed
in lifting rails behind their engine and laying
them down before as contemporaueous ac-
count asserts bat they had no further real part
in the chase.
Before the two footmen had gone far they
encountered the regular freight train that we
had met at Adairsvile Thus their delay was
reduced to a very small amount 1t seems that
almost soon as Andrews and his party had
left Adairsville for their rapid flight towards
Calhoun, this train, guided either by the de-
cision of the conductor, or by the te!egraphic
message from the management of the road,
a mile or two on their way by the dauntless
pursuers. Great was the amazement of the
men on tho freight train to learn that the fine
looking Confederate officer with whom they
had been talking five minutes before was prob
ably Yankee" engaged in the most daring
exploit of the war. But not much time was
allowed for tho indulgence of any emotion.
Fuller promptly took command of the train
and backed it with all possible speed to Adairs-
vile. Its engine, the "Texas," was known TO
Fuller as one of the largest and best in the
State. While backing and pushing the whole
train of nearly 20 cars it made the most rapid
speed that they had yet attained.
But still greater speed was Necessary, and by
throwing all but one or two cars on the side
track at Adairsville, the noble engine was re-
lieved and enabled to show all its fine qualities.
No turn-table being at hand, it had still to be
run backward; but that position does not ma
terially lessen the power of an engine, though
the risk of accident is somewhat increased
This risk had been taken, however, in SO many
instances by the desperate pursuers, and with
perfect safety, that they were willing to tempt
fortune still further. The engineer of the cap
tured train had been left behind at the last
break, but his place was ably supplied by Peter
Bracken, of the Texas" Starting from Adairs-
vile with full head of steam, the distance
of 10 miles, to Calhoun was run in IL min
utes, and even this tremendous speed would
caused by the ties dropped on the track. When
one of these distractions was seen, Fuller, who
had stationed himself for that purpose on the
end of the tender which ran ahead, would jump
of, remove the tie, and be back to his place
| almost before the engine ceased to move. The
! uniform mode of stopping to clear the track
was by reversing the engine. Aside from the
time lost in these stops, the running must have
exceeded mile per minute. This exceeding
rapidity prevented any loss Of distance in this
stage OF the pursuit.
At Calhoun, Fuller scarcely made full stop
He told his tale in few words and called for
volunteers. number came just as he was
moving on again indeed, after the train was
we'll under way, he secured still more valua-
bic prize. The telegraph managers at Chatta-
nooga had found that the wires were broken,
and were endeayofns to discover the source of
mischief. BY telegrarhing to different stations
and asking for replies they could easily make
an approximate estimate. But the difficulty
was coming nearer: they discovered that one
station after another was being cut off from
communication with headquarters. South of
Calhoun they could get no reply at the time
the passenger train reached Dalton. They had,
therefore, directed the only operator at that
station-a mere boy-to leave his post and go
to Calhoun for the purpose of discovering and
remedying the mischief. Fuller recognized
him on the platform, and reached out his hand,
was lifted on the flying engine,
With No thought of,our deadly peril we had
stopped a short distance above Calhoun to c1t
the telegraph and oil the engine. Several of
us were also engsged in battering out the
spikes preparatory 10 lifting another rail- As
we expected to shend 10 or 10 minutes in
burning the large Bridge which spanned the
Oostenaula River, a little distance from us,
Andrews thought it better thatw should have
a rail up in order to guard against tie posi-
bility of the train we had just passed being
turned back after us in time to interrupt our
work. 1t might have been better, as we were
tempted TO think afterwards, if we had begun
on the bridge directly; but it was absolutely
necessary to cut the wire, and the lifting of the
rail would not take an additional minute.
The engine was Inspected and found to be
still in perfect condition, though both wood
and water werc running low; the wire WAS
severed and eight of us had just taken hold
Of the loose end Of rail, ont of which the
spikes had been battered, and were trying to
pull the other end loose also. But it was too
firmly fixed and we were abont to release it,
and wait the taking out of few more spikes,
when, away in the distance, we heard tho
whistle Of an engine in pursuit! The effect
was magical. With one convulsive effort the
rail was broken asunder, and the whole party
pitched in q heap over the low embankmens
No one was hurt, and We were on Our feet in .
moment.
1t did not require many moments to realize
the situation. Our enemies were upon US az
last! Their train was in plain sight. We
could even see that they We're well armed.
There seemed to be no resource but flight.
But from whence came this train? This
facts with which the reader is already famil-
lar were all unknown TO us, and the appari-
tion of the pursuers all the mora terrible ON
that account. We knew the difficulties
against which we had struggled, and little
thought that our pursuers had encoun-
tered nearly equal obstacles, over which they
had SO far been marvelously victorious.
Greater surprise would not have been created
in our ranks had the locomotive, to whose
scream we unwillingly listened, dropped from
the sky! One plausible conjecture only pre-
sented itself as to the presence of this train
and, If this one was correct, it could be but the
earnest Of speedy defeat and death Possibly
a telegraphic message from the other side OF
Big Shanty had trayersed the wide circuit of
more than 1000 miles past Atlanta, Richmond,
ing the latter place just before the wiro was
cut, and inducing them to start back the train
we had just met at full speed after us. All
this was possble,-at least it seemed so to those
OF us who were not in the secret Of the wide
spread system of military operations,-unless
indeed, the foresight of our Government had
provided at this very time for the seYering of
the telegraph on the Carolina coast. at which
place alone this circuit came within striking
distance of the Union lines.
But we had 10 time for idle conjectures
The fact was patent that train was bearing