, 1888-12-23
THE a
The Engineers Story of How Jack Re-
ceived Notice of His Death.

"You ask if l have ever had an ad-
venture on the railroad that would be
interesting to the readers of The Age.
Well, you shall have it, although it is
something 1 would willingly forget;
but it seems impossible. Fifteen years
ago I was running on the East Ten
nessee road, between Knoxville and
Chattanooga. The scenery between
these twopoints is grand in places, the
mountains being in sight nearly the
entire distance. I had left Knoxville
an hour late one afternoon in Novem-
Der, and at London the telegraph oper-
ator handed me an order to make up
the lost time, as there was a large
southern excursion on board who
wanted to make connection at Chatta-
nooga for Atlanta. 1 had always been
ranked as one of the coolest men on
the road, as a man who never got ex-
cited, and l once ran over a burning
trestle without a muscle changing.
Yet this afternoon l was strangely
nervous. For the first time in my life
1 discovered l had nerves.
"tJack,' l said to the fireman, I
am all In a tremor. 1 am not super
stitious, but 1 feel as if something was
going to happen
"Jack burst into a loud guffaw.
why, cap'n, you nervous; that is too
good" and he laughed again.
II said nothing else, but the uncom-
Portable feeling continued. l did not
know 1t at the time, but l have since
found out that ever the iron nerves of
an engineer must break some time.
Jack, in the meantime, vas piling up
coal in the furnace. 'Cap'n, you are
cold he remarked after a few min
utes' intermission. Well have a bet
ter fire, and well be in Chattanooga
in a jfffy.'
1.-THE grim November twilight hung
over the earth like a pail. We had
passed Athens, and with only fifty-six
miles to go to reach our destination.
For the first time since l mounted an
engine l longed for the trip. l was
looking straight ahead, where the iron
bands far down the track seem to unite
into a single rail, when l was startled
by an exclamation from Jack. 'Cap'n,'
he screamed, look therei my God,
look therep pointing with trembling
hand to the east, where in the
distance the mountains doomed up
grim and bare in their awful
grandeur. The look Of horror on
the poor fellows face was indie
scribable. But the sight 1 witnessed
as l quickly turned my eyes 10 the
east vas enough to freeze the warm
blood which courses through your
veins, for there, above the mountain
tops, with a terrible distinctness, sailed
a phantom engine drawing a phantom
train. The puffs of smoke came re-
gularly from the engine. 1 could see
the glaring headlight, the lights in
the coaches, oil as plain as If the train
was running on the side track by us.
1 stood there watching the strange
sight, too amazed to utter a word, how
long l cannot say, but suddenly it dis
appeared, and / was recalled to myself
by several jerks at the bell rope made
by the conductor. 1 looked out and
say that we were at Cleveland.
whats the matter with your
asked the conductor, coming to the en-
CINE. What do you mean by trying
to u by Cleveland that wayf Why,
man, you look as if you had seer a
ghost, he added aftera moment, catch
ing a glimpse of my face. l looked at
my watch and saw hat it was exactly
6o'clock. We had made up half an
hour, and we pulled into Chattanooga
an hour later, only q few minutes be-
hind time. From the time of the APP
pearance of the apparition TO the time
we pulled into the roundhouse ut Chat
tanooga Jack had o spoken a word,
but there was a fixed look on his face
| did not like. The affair was not dis
cussed between US. Jack was strangely
taciturn, and, to tell the truth, I did
not feel inclined to talk about the
strange sight seen in the clouds.
There is not q great deal more to
tell. The run to Knoxville the next
day was made without anything oc-
curing worthy of comment, but on
the return trip to Chattanooga Friday,
two days after we had seen the appar-
ition, at 5:57 in the afternoon and two
miles east of Cleveland, a wild freight
Numbered into us. Isaw it too late to
do any good, but 1 reversed my en-
gine and then-jumped. 1 happened
to jump on the right side and escaped
with a broken finger. But Jack, poor
boy, had chosen the wrong side, and
the immense locomotive crushed him
to a jelly. ! believe that the acci-
pent happened at the spot where Jack
first saw the phantom engine and at
the minute, although two days later.
Poor Jack, the discoverer of hat won
ucrlul oiSntp lue warning WAS eNlueIU-
ly intended for him.
81 did not make another run on
that fated line. 1 asked to be excused
from duty pending the investigation
made by officials into the accident,
and on the day the investigation was
concluded and 1 was exonerated from
blame / walked into the superinten-
dents office and asked for my time.
"'You needn't feel bad about that
accident remarked the superintend-
emit, kindly.
81 don't I replied, but my nerves
are shattered and l want TO change my
location
II saw a smile on the superintend-
ent's face as 1 mentioned my nerves.
but he gave me my time without q
word. spent five years in the Rock
les in the vain attempt to drive that
picture from my mind. Finally I
came back east, but the photographic
camera could not fix an object more
firmly than did the phantom engine
in mountains of Tennessee fix itself in
my memory. I am only As now, but
you can see how gray 1 am. My hair
was not turned white in a single
night as the novelists tell, but in q
few months after the occurrence the