The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1886-12-03
BILL SAEDUSKY'S VISION.

speaking of queer things happening,
and things that you know have happened,
but which you are afraid TO tel any one
about because You know youl be laughed
at and pooh poohed if you do the queer
est that ever knew was the vision that
old Bill Sandusky had a few years ago,
to say nothing of its extraordinary Sc
quel"
The speaker was veteran locomotive
engineer. who had been talking OF sIngu-
lar sights and incidents be had met with
in his long experience on the rails.
Bill Sandusky ia an engineer on the
Philadelphia x Erie railroad, ana mas
been for twenty i've years He lives in
Erie and YOU may happen to run across
him in some OF your travels II you 90
don't be afraid to ask him II what am
going TO tell you is true or not. In facJ,
ri take it as a favor if you should, for the
auces are that you won't believe the
tory. and if you speak to him about II
I'll make good every word l say, then
rou'I see at once that l kept right plumb
sr time to every fact on the schedule 4
.. tfer engineer never grabbed throttle
aI Bill Srndusky, and his word is as
cod "a a S1O-gOld piece wherever he's
e.wn.
E. CHIT years or so ago young fellow
the name of George Watkins got job
rdkemau on the Z. & +. He was a
niger. and no one knew where he came
.,p. He wasn't more thaR 20, but he
..esl older. He had a very dark com
Nion, and he was tail and lean. His
IS were intensely black. ald deep
luicn He had but little to say to any
mis- fellow trainmen 1t came to De
,mmon remark among them that If at
~ time Watkins peculiar eyes were
sd on them for a moment they under
lat curious variations of color, and that
}r person upon whom his gaze was fixed
experienced sensations which he found 1t
!fIicult to describe, but which were re
erred to in a general way as 'uncOmtort-
able Some of the men said that with
Watkins eyes on them they found 1t dit
ficult to keep their minds on their work,
and some went so far as to say that they
could only remove themselves from the
strange influence of his presence by the
exercise of all their will power. Those
who had heard of mes merism decided
that the stranger was possessed OF power
full mesmeric influence, and he was
avoided by timid railroaders as much as
possible
st was plain from the bearing Of Wat
kinS that he was either Il victim of some
great trouble OF haunted by unpleasant
reCOllectiOns and also that he was man
of education and intelligence. He per
formed the hard work of Il brakeman with
faithfulness, and early attracted the at
tentiOn of the superintendent.
watkins had been on the road about
three months when Jimmy Green was
killed. Jimmy was Bill Sandusky's fire
man. One day they were Swimming along
over a straight piece of road, not far from
Kane. when both Bill ana Jimmy saw
little child sitting on the track not more
than 100 feet ahead of them. Bill made
the old girl howl for brakes, but there
wasn't any more hope of stopping that
train in that distance than there was of
booming her along at two miles minute.
The young one never moved nor seemed
to notice the approach of the train.
Jimmy Green drew himself through the
cab-window good deal quicker than l
am telling you, and ran out along the
boiler to the pilot. He dropped down
fiat and, hanging over as far as he could,
grabbed the child as the engine dashed
on the spot where it sat. He caught the
little one, and scooped it clear off the
track The child was saved, but Jimmy
lost his hold in making the effort, and ne
fell across the rail Poor Jimmy was
dead before the trainmen got back to
where he lay. Well, Bill Sandusky was
LETT without a fireman, and George Wat
promoted TO the place that poor Jimmy
had filled. He got along with the work
rom the start, just as if it came naturally
o him, but Bill Sandusky said that the
whole atmosphere of the cab changed the
minute Watkins set his foot in it.
bod blame it, Bill used to say-that
vas pet expression of his. That Chap1l
hoodoo me yet. I'feel so queer when he
iurns those sunken black eyes of his on
me that I daresn't stanu 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 this road l will, for if he
runs with me something is bound to hap
zen, and | won't be able to help it
Watkins had fired for Bill a month, and
shen Bill went to the superintendent and
old him that unless the new fireman was
taken off he would have to quit the run
himself; but when asked what the
barge 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 remove Watkins.
Then said Bill, my next trip on that
train oil be my last one. Til leave the
road if l have to run with George
Watkins
,.ibiy wild country in northwestern Penn
-ylvauia One of the widest spots is west
ri Kane The woods are deep and I'M
roken for miles, and Il fellow passing
hr0ugh them feels as if hn was out Of
ue world. From the first sriI that Wat
SINS had made with him, Bill noticed
hat in going through this Wild stretch the
fireman seemed to lie seiz-d with terror
tud at times he would turn pale, and Bill
frequently saw him CrOuchilg al the side
IF the cab and glazing wildly. but his
strange eyes seemed to be gazing into va
-ancy. On the trip that Bill declared to
e he last with Watkins, Bill had not
been paying any attention to the fireman
until they had entered the wild piece Of
woods near Kane, and had run a mile or
80 through it. Then Bill happened to
turn his eyes toward Watkins. The fire
man stood against the side of the cab.
His eyes were staring straight at Bill,
and Bill's eye met the gaze full. In
stantly, Bill said, he felt sort of numb
sensation run through him like a flash
He tried TO take his eyes away from Wat
kins', but he couldn't do it. Sense of the
fact that he was on his engine run
ming the express on the p. and +. rail
road never left him, but there he
stood. entire Y helpless to move his eyes
away from Watkins. Presently the fire
man turned aud looked off into the
woods. Without power to help it, Bill
turned his eyes in the same direction. He
Gays he doesn't believe that Watkins saw
or noticed him. or knew that he was held
g+rsr~ra 3THrauFa look