The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1886-09-01
ALEXANDRIA, LOUISIANA, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER
ON A LOCOMOTIVE.

ON A LOCOMOTIVE.
Experience of Travelling Man
While Riding With the Engineer.
II suppose" said reporter to .
Chambers street hardware salesman, a
modest man Of about thirty-eight sum-
mers, ''that in the course of your career
as travelling man you have narrowly
escaped instant death several hundred
times"
"No, SIR he continued, emphatic
ally, although I have been twenty
years on the road, of serious accidents
I have known very. few. had one
rather thrilling experience coming out
of Chicago once in long train Of four
teen cars filled with sufferers after the
second fire. We were sweeping across
the prairie at the rate of thirty-five
miles an hour, when coupling broke
between the second baggage car and
the smoker. The engineer felt the
shock, and looking back, saw the
trouble He gave wilk shrek on his
whistle for down brakes, threw wide
open the throttle, and sped away down
the track as if the furies were after
him. The conductor happened to be
sitting just in front of me at the time.
He opened the window at the locomo-
tive's screech, looked out, but Instantly
drew IN his head, and, dropping his
lighted lantern Git, was at night,
stood up in the aisle, brae-
ing himself between two OPP
posite seats. l tell you the chalky white
ness of his face was reflected in every
countenance in the car. There was no
cutlery, but everybody clutched some
thing and waited for the shock. It
never came. We ran along for two or
three minutes, which seemed intermina-
BILE, and then the train began to
answer the steady pull on the brakes
and finally came to a halt. Every man
was out of the car while the wheels were
still spinning at a lively gait. 1t was
bright moonlight, and we could see the
track stretching ahead in straight line
for a long distance, but of the engine
and forward cars there was not trace.
They were miles ahead, and the engineer
was in no hurry to slacken speed. You
see, it was down grade, and you can't
blame man for wanting to keep well
out of the way of dozen loaded cars
laundering after him. We had time to
see aboutall there was of that particular
moon-lit prairie landscape before our
engine took us in tow again, but no.
body complained, you can guess. That
engineers quick judgment and prompt
action averted big wreck.
| .AnotI,er time when my hair refused
to retain its normal position and rose
at right angles with my scalp was an
occurrence on the Erie road. had
menaged to get on the engine as q novel
experience. | first discovered that the
mot on was really appalling. The en-.
| CINE throbbed and trembled as it rar
rocking and plunging on the rails as i
every moment it would leave them
The din. too, was frightful. The fire
man and engineer yelled at each othel
whenever they attempted to speak.
VIII CHI was not often, and [ simply could
not gather my voice in sufficient vol
5une to overcome that pandemonium o
sound.
.It was dark, about six o'clock of .
late November evening. We wer'
4 climbing the mountain, and the grad,
was heavy and the curves many. Al
we thundered along SLOW
could see huge rocks towering clos
to the track on one side, while from thu
other dark chasms, their depths bidder
in gloom, yawned away. 1t WASH
cheerful, and the outlook forwar.
wasn't much better. The first time
strained my eyes ahead I drew bacl
with sudden start and clutched tn
window frame with both hands, expect
ing my hour had come. To my unini
tiated eyes there lay apparently between
the rails huge bowlder of whitish roc
against VIII Oh we must instantl
crash, but we didn't, and afte
waiting to discover that W
were only thrashing around in tn
usual way / took courage to look again
The fireman was stolidly feeding tn
insatiate furnace with tons of coal!
| looked at the engineer: he was out o.
the engine with his oil-can steppin
along as composedly and easily as it h
were walking a country turnpike; the
/ looked ahead. We had just rounded
curve, and at the end of the stretch {
track before us | saw 3 lot of lights
some on the track and some movin
alongside. The sight startled me, AM
touched the fireman, pointing throug
the window. He looked quickly, the
seized the rope, and blew short, shar
blast on the whistle. The enginee
heard, glanced down the track, the
sprang inside to the lever, which b
? reversed with all his might H5
d Meantime the fireman on one Sid
and [ on the other were on the lowe
step ready to swing off at the last mt
ment. The engineer seized my shouldt
and tried to pull me back, but / jumpe
Just as the engine crushed into tt
caboose of a freight train, which, tc
long for the siding, had tailed over q
the main track. My extra second {
two of warning had been of immen
value; our tram had slowed up enoue
to make the shock q slight one. Fl
passengers got nothing more than
good shaking up, and only the caboo
was smashed on the freight train. ~
Y Times.
KING AlAkAuA.