The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1886-09-12
Bulls VISION.

nened. but you are afraid to tell any one
ohont because you know you'll be
Laughed at and pooh-hoohed if you do,
The oueerest that I ever knew was the
vision that Bill Sandusky had a few
years ago, to say nothing of its extraor
binary sequel
The speaker was veteran locomotive
engineer, who had been talking of sin
enIar sights and incidents he had met in
his long experience on the rail.
"BilI Sandusky is an engineer on the
Philadelphia and Erie Railroad, and has
been for twenty-five years. He lives in
Erie, and you may happen to run across
him in some OF your travels. If you do,
don't be afraid to ask him if what am
going 10 ell you is true or not In fact, I'd
take it as favor if you should, for the
chances are that you won't believe the
story. and if you speak to him about it
he'll make good every word | say, and
then You'll see at once that | kept right
DIumb Cd time to every fact en- the
schedule. A better engineer never
grabbed a throttle han Bill Sandusky,
and his word is as good as a ten-dolIar
gold piece wherever he's known.
Eight years or so ago a young fellow
nv the name of George Watkins go:
lob as brakeman on the 2. & E. He
was a stranger, and no one knew where
he came from. He wasn't more than
twenty, but he looked older. He had
very dark complexion, and he was tall
and lean. His eyes were intensely black.
and deep sunken. He had but little to
say to any Of his trainmen. 1t came to
be a common remark among them that
if at any time Watkins peculiar eyes
we're fixed on them for a moment they
underwent curious variations Of color,
and that the person upon whom his
gaze was fixed experienced sensations
which he found IL difficult to descr be.
but which was referred to in a general
way as uncomfortable Those who
had heard of mesmerism decided that
the stranger was possessed OF powerful
mesmeric influence, and he was avoided
by tinid railrOadeTS as much as posi-
bic.
1T was plain from the bearing of Wat
kins that he was either victim OF some
great trouble or haunted by unpleasant
recOiiections, and also that he was a
man IF education and intelligence. He
performed tue hard work of brakeman
with faithfuIness, and early attracted
the attention of the upeTiu;endent.
Watkins had been on the road about
three months when Jimmy Green was
killed. Jimmy was Billy Sandusky'S
fireman. George Watkins was taken
from the brake wheel and promoted to
the place that poor Jimmy had filled
q NOT al = h.
start, just as it came naturally TO him
bat Billy Sandusky sail that the whole
atmosphere of the cab changed the
minute George Watkins set his foot in
it.
bod blame it, Bill used to say-that
was a pet expression Of his That
Chapll hoO-dOo me yet feel so queer
when he turns those sunken black eyes
of his on me that [ daresn t stand still
under EN-, for if [ did [ believe I'd let
my old engine pile right on through, no
matter what happened, if that fireman
gave the word. Unless he quits the
road / will, for if he runs with me
something is bound to happen, and
won't be able to nelp it.
"Watkins had fred or Bill month,
and then Bill went TO the superinten
dent and told him that unless the new
fireman was taken off he would have to
quit the run himself; but when asked
what the charge against Watkins was
Bill couldn't give any answer that had
weight, for the fireman performed his
duties better than the best of them. So
the superintendent said he COuldn't re-
move Watkins.
Then, said Bill, my next trip o.
that train will be my last one. I'll leaYe
4 n -11V1 nit fAnnTUn
Watkins
The P. & E. runs through some ter
rible wild country in Penn
syivania. One of the widest spots is
vest Of Kane. The woods are deep and
unbrOken for miles, and fellow passing
through them feels as if he was out of
the world. From the first trip that
Watkins had made with him, he had
noticed that IN going through this wild
stretch the fireman seemed to be seized
with terror, and at times he would turn
pale, and Bill frequently saw him
crouching at the side of the cab and
glarlng wildly. but his strange eyes
seemed to be gazing into vacancy. On
The trip that Bill declared to the super
lntendent was TO be bis last with Wat
HhS, Bill hadn't been paying any atten-
aon to the fireman. until they bad
entered Wlld tiece OF woods near Kane,
ana mad ran 8 pafie or so through it.
Ihen Bill happened to turn his eyes
coward Watkin8e The fireman stood
agAnSt the cab. Hts eyes were stating
straight at Bill. and Bills eyes met the
gaze t9H. tRstsaty, Bill said, he felt
S SGLs Q, oi = nnIae selsa ton run throuKh
I'm IKE lash. Abe tried 10, take his
eyes away tfen gst Fms, BUS he
couIun' DO 1t. Sense of the fact that be
was on ms snEi9s, running the. expTss7-
IN Sn, ' ts. ~ f9jireilfSAa never LEFT him J
U Tno- shere' he STOOD, entirely helpless to
Pove bis eyes away from watkins.
PRESENTLY the fireman tutned and
IoOsed Of into the ,SoodS. Without
power ES0 to hsle i, BIZ tu4Rgd his eyes In
~ -e same e. direction, He SAYS he doesn't
tD.9 watkins saw or noticed him, or
Et-oU lhst be vas held. under that
-suse lnnuenee. The look of terror
oa a5ie % the 6reman's face as he gazed, ,
cbo ~ suddenly the entire scene wss
Seo ang a. as Bill gszed. Instead of the
t5eo name woods the train was gliding
~ oOogn delightful valley. Presently
v;Tot tlSln passed q tOWn-a beautiful
v-;iIIiase, With remarkable groWths of
~ ioHs where the site sloped down to
NC river. Sitting far hack in terraced