Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1885-10-15

ever, l set my wits to work now To de
wise o way to get control of the engine.
Had [ had a pistol | think I should
have shot him dead where he sat and
felt justified in so doing, as many lives
were at stake besides my own. But
weapons, ] had none, except the coal
hammer, and whenever using it the
maniac watched me SO closely that I
saw he was suspicious, and, with the
limited space of the cab and terrific
lurching of the engine, would give me
no chance to give him stunning
blow. Shut off the steam, apply the
airbrakes, or reverse the engine | could
not, for throttle, air cock and reverse
lever were right at his hand, and be-
sides I did not know what would be
the consequence of SO audacious an
act So I began gradually to cut steam
on him byimproper firing, but he was
too good an engineer not to soon 40
tice that, ana, turning upon me
countenance perfectly hideous IN its
demOniacal expression, informed me
that if I sighted my duties again IN
any particular, he would heave me III
the fire box. Physically he was able
to do it, and there was nothing to do
but to trust to luck and take advan-
tage of any chance that might offer.
7 observed with satisfaction that our
supply of coal was light, and the tank
and boiler both nearly full Of water,
else I was afraid he would run dry,
and add tho danger Of explosion to
that of collision Or derailment. Over
the devide we dashed and went rush.
ing down the other side at q speed
that was truly frightful. Heaven
grant that I may never again expert,
ence the wild terror Of the next forty
miles ride. AS you know, we rail-
road men face danger in q thousand
FERNS with scarcely thought, but
death IN such a form, with that thing,
man Or devil, for a companion! The
horrid idea made my flesh creep" Crhe
writer's friend is no coward, but he
has that superstitious horror of the in
sane which is not uncommon). "With
wild, shrieking, terrible laughter, the
engineer sat on his box, giving her
EVERY OUNCE OF STEAM
up grade and down, around the
curves and bridges, any place How
we ever kept the track is mystery.
With the utmost difficulty [ kept my
feet when putting in a fire.
''The rush of the train, the exhausts
of the engine blending into almost a
continuous roar, the darkness of the
night, the glare of the furnace when
the fre-do0r was open, the distorted
features of the maniac seen by the
dim lig hit of the gauge lamps, together
with the devilish yells and gestures
of delight, combined to make scene
of terror never to be forgottea. At
times [ thought my own reason would
forsake me, and almost believe [ was
In tie Internal regions and ought to
take a hand In the wild orgies myself.
Even the whistle seemed to have lost
its natural tone and sent forth
strange, unearthly sound. Stations
where we should have stopped having
been passed, they knew something
was wrong, and the line had been
cleared, but of course l could not know
that, and I expected collision any
minute. l had kept the boiler well
filled in order to have as much as
possible when the tank should fail.
At length the pumps ceased working,
and | knew that all the water we had
to go on was in the boiler. Yet on
we sped, and [ anxiously watched the
column of water in the glass as it
lowered. Ny coal was nearly gone,
but whether [ could burn it ali before
water was too low was the question.
The boxes of some Of the truck wheels
were blazing, and owing to the speed
and neglect of fabrication the crank<
pins had become hot and thrown"
(H1elted) the Rabbit lining of the rod
brasses. Only a few miles more
and we would have to run a
long section Of track built on
trestle work higher than the
tops of tall trees in the creek bottom
below. Owing to the unsteadlness of
the structure I was sure we would
jump the track there, and to do so was
certain death. It was a race between
coal and miles now, and the distance
was rapidly lessening. directed the
engineers attention to the few inches
Of water still showing in the glass,
but he pointed to the steam guage
and gave me to understand that as
long as it indicated 1876 pounds he did
not care for water. It now occurred
to me to appear to agree with him, SO
[ assented, and, pointing to the few
remaining bushels of coal, told him
we were nearly TO the next coal chute.
He accordingly directed me to get
bsck and prepare to take on a supply.
I did so. watching my chance, climb
ed down from the back of the tender
on to the platform of the mail car just
as he shut off. This gave me the
slack, enabling me
TO PULL THE ROUND PIN
and uncouple him from the train. He
OWNED my intention, and again open
ed the throttle to prevent it, but just
maniac laughter and a long blast of
do fyo,,o bo ~