Audubon County Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Audubon Co., Iowa) 1885-1894, 1888-01-19
SAVED BY a BREAKDOWN.


what Made Train Dispatches,
Hair Turn White.
have brother who is now in thu
grocery business in Richmond, Va,
but lic was for eleven years dis
patchcr on Southern road. He is a
sober. qnick-witted and industrious
man, but, although he is only SO Years
old, his hair is almost as white ms
snow. and there are times when the
cold sweat stands on his forehead and
he tremblcs Ike leaf.
When he was dispatcher, one warm
afternoon IN August he was tanning
himself and trying without meeting
with much success. to counterfeit the
effects OF the hot winds, which somc-
times blew in that part of the coun-
try, in addition to the intense heat
from the sun, which shown on an avn
ing overhanging his window. He had
been closely confined to the office for
many months. and the constant strain
had probably wearied both body and
mind. AT any rate he had sent an Or
der Tor an express train to meet a
special. on which were number of
officers OF the road, at a certain sta
ton; then. by one OF those unaccounta.
BILE slips made by tho most well-trained
and careful minds, ordered the spec al
to q station by the meeting point. He
TOOK his finger from the key and his
eyes from the train sheet, and again
began to fan himself vigorously and
allowed his mind to wander at will.
A few minutes afterward. more from
force OF habit than from any other
reason. his eyes were cast over the
train sheet. Like flash of lightning.
almost at the instant he saw his mis-
take. He seized the key and was
about to correct it, when he realized
to his horror that it was too late.
Both trains had been reported as hav-
ing passed their stations several min
utes before and were now fast making
toward each other at not less than
forty miles an hour. When the GER
tain result of his fearful blunder dawn
ed upon him he tried to get up. but
his knees were numb and refused to
fulfill their functions. As he ex-
pressed it, he saw the two trains as |
they were rapidly approaching each
other; saw them but mile apart with |
their prcc Gus loads of human freight !
He knew every inch of the road, and |
knew that where they must meet Their |
was high wall of rock on one side |
and deep ravine on the other; knew
that horrible death awaited in anoth- |
er instant almost two-thirds of the pas.
sengers of both trains. for it was on a
curve where the engineers could not |
see each other until it would be too
late. Then mist came before his |
eyes, and, rs he almost tainted, he saw
in his minds eye the crash of the two
engines, the telescOpad cars roll over
the cmbankment and piled in great
heap. Loud above the Kissing stea m
he heard the cries of the dying. He
tainted away.
When ne recovered consciousness he
heard his call on the line. With al |
most n supernatural effort he arose and |
answered The operator at the stat on
to which he sent the order to the spe
cial then told him that the engine of
the special had broken down rs it was
pulling out and he wanted further Or
ders. Hold i'll! he flashed back, and
rolled off his mind. In an
other moment, when he had time te
collect his thoughts. he attempted to 90
to n window. and found that his limbs
were numb and the cold sweat was
standing upon his hands and forehead.
There was also strange singing SEN
saLion ut the roots of Ii hair. rs
though someone was pricking him on
the head with some needles. That
night when he left the Office and with
a great effort walked home his wife
jokingly asked him what he had put on
his hair Upon looking into the glass
he was Mortified to see that it had in
those few moments become almost as
white rs snow.
He resigned his position next day
without giving cause for SO doing.
Often since then he has told me that
m oncy could not Ii re him to again ac-
cept II position as Il train dispatcher. -
Ne105.