The Arizona sentinel., 1888-06-16
A STRANGE VISION.
The Singular Story Told by a
Railroad Man.
An Engineers Uncomfortable Experience
with n Fireman, and What He Saw
on Passing Through Wild
Piece of Woods.

A veteran engineer on the Pennsyl-
vania railroad was speaking the other
day of singular sights and incidents he
had met with inhis long experience on
the rail. The queerest thing l ever
knew" said he. "was the vision that
Bill Sandusky hal few years ago
There are things that you know have
happened and are still reluctant TO
tell about, because you know you II be
laughed at and pooh-poohed for your
pains, and this vision was one of that
kind. Bill Sa ldusky was an engineer
on the Philadelphia & Eric railway,
and is yet think. and lives in Erie.
A better engineer never handled the
throttle.
about ten years ago a young fell
low named George Watkins went to
work on the Philadelphia & Erie as a
brakeman. He was stranger, and
no one knew where he came from.
He was tweEty-one or twenty-five
years old, but he had much older
look He had a very dark complex
ion, and he was tall and lean. His
eyes wara in4Ane-.l--- Ltrrs5s1= lTfd CTeeP-
snnl-o.l. He had but little to say to
any of his ow-trainmen. 1t came
10 be common remark among them
that if at any time Watkins peculiar
eyes were fixed on them for n moment
they underwent curious variations of
color, and that the person upon whom
the gaze was fixed experienced sensa-
sal, ho F0unA II Il iHi nulf fn do
scribe, but which were referred to in
a general way as decidedly uncom-
Portable. Some of the men said that
with Watkins eyes on them they
found it difficult to keep their minds
on their work, and some went so far
as to say that they could remove them
selves from the strange influence of
his presence only by the exercise of
all their will power Those who had
heard of mesmerism decided that the
stranger was possessed of powerful
mesmeric influence, and he was
avoided by timid railroad men as
much as possible.
1T was plain from the bearing of
Watkins that he was either the vic
tim of some great trouble OF haunted
by unpleasant recollections, and also
that he was a man of education and
intelligence. He performed the hard
work of brakeman with faithfulness
and early attracted the attention of
the superintendent Watkins had
been on the road almost three months
when Jimmy Green, Bill Sandusky's
fireman, was killed while saving the
life of a little child that was playing
on the track. The train was
dashing along at the rate
of forty miles IN hour when the child
was discovered BY Bill and his fireman
two OF three hundred yards ahead as
the train rounded a curve Bill
Nhistled for brakes and reversed his
engine, but there was no possible
chance of stopping the train before it
reached the child. which did not seem
to be aware of its danger. Quick as
cat Jimmy Green drew himself
through the cab window and ran out
along the guard rail to the pilot. He
dropped down fiat. and, leaning over
as far as he could, seized the child as
the engine dashed on the spot where
il sat. He caught the little one. and
scooped it clear of the track. The
child was saved, but the brave fireman
lost his hold in making the effort. and
fell across the rail and was cut 10
pieces. George Watkins was taken
from the brake wheel and promoted to
the place which Jimmy Green's death
made vacant He got along with the
work from the very start as handily as
if he had been at the job all his life
but Bill Sandusky said that the at
mosphere of the cab changed the min
ute Watkins set his foot in il. He de-
clared, after the first trip with the new
fireman, that Watkins would hoodoo
him.
{ Il feel so queer when he turns
those sunkeu eyes of his on me, Bill
used to say. that daresen't stand
still under his gaze. If should stand
siili,' B IL said, i believe I'd let my
engine push on, no matter what might
happen, if that fireman said ihe word
"BilPs uneasiness under the mvste-
rious influence of the fireman was
such that he at last told the superin-
tendent that he was sure something
would happen some day, unless the