Wichita eagle., 1888-04-21
BITTER ATONEMENT.
A TELEGRAPHER'S RENORSE BE-
CAUSE OF cAaELESSNESS.
He Was Thinking of His Lady Love and
Forgot an Order-A Terrible Railroad
Accident the ResuIt-A Hermit's Life
on the Mountain Side.

AWAY I'd on the slope Of the Allegheny
mountains four Or five miles from Union
town and only few steps of the line OF Ine
old Cumberland pike, little plain board
cabin stands It isn't much bigger than
good sized dog kennel and it Is set so far bach
among the rocks and trees that IT cannot De
seen more than 100 yards away. But there
is Clearly, homelike air about the piacs
that speaks as positively as words OF the re-
finement of the owner. The owner himself
is somewhat OF mystery to the great major
ity Of the simple minded mountain folks who
live in that vicinity, but to the select lew
who enjoy his confidence he i. friend whose
friendship is as solid as the rocks on which
his little home is built. A reporter ram
bling over the mountains last week
stumbled all unexpectedly upon the
secluded dwelling. The occupant was sitting
in home made hammock just outside the
door adjusting fish line to pretty Jolnted
rod a daily paper lay on the ground at his
feet. He was young man, not more than
50 years of age, but his hair and nlustache
were as white as silver, and there was an ex-
preston of sadness on his face which seemed
to be habitual His clothing was old AID worn,
but it was well kept and neat for all that,
and it was worn with a grace that is not born
in the mountain districts. He welcomed his
visitor as heartily as though he had known
him for years, and his invitation to take a
seat and rest almost amounted to command.
During the course of the two hours CONVEX
sation which followed be told the sad story
of his life and the combination of circum-
stances which led him to leave the habita-
tons Of men and go away into the mountain
by himself
u was raised and educated in Pittsburg, "
he said. II learned telegraphy in the West
ern Union office, and when not twenty years
Of age was put in charge of an Office on q
railroad out in Ohio. It doesn't make any
difference what office it was or what road it
vas on, it was an Office and q rather irnpor-
tant one at that. l hadn't been in my new
position more than six weeks when fell des-
peratefy IN love with a girl who lived only a
block from my office. The attachment was
mutual, and when six weeks had heightened
into six months we were engaged. One
night was in February, 1S77-I had been
to see my sweetheart and about midnight was
sitting in my Office thinking of the coming
wedding and feeling as happy as any young
man with bright prospects ahead Of him
could feel, when word came over the wires
that special freight was coming over the
main track westward. 1t was still thirty
miles away. and after recording the fact that
it was coming my thoughts required TO the
little girl down the street.
Ten minutes later the conductor of the
east bound express came in for orders. 'All
right, Bill said, as glanced up and saw
him, and a minute later he was on his train,
speeding away at a twenty-five mile an hour
gait. The rear lights were scarcely out of
| sight when happened TO look at my desk.
There was nothing there but my instrument
| and BIZ OF paper, but that bit of paper was
enough. There, in plain letters on it. were
the words l had written not more than a
quarter Of an hour before, Extra freight;
| tell Bill 70 sidetrack' The express has to
| sidetrack, you know because the switches
were not long enough for freights NY hair
! fairly stood on end. There was that freight
coming on with full steam, with the express
going to meet it at the rate of twenty-five
miles an hour. fell back in my chair, and
| the cold Precipitation broke out all over me.
Then grasped the key to my instrument and
called In succession all the Offices intervening
between the two trains. They were all day
offices. and the operators had gone home
hours before The clicking Of the instrument
sounded to my excited imagination as loud
as the discharge of cannons For five min
utes called In the desperate hope that some
one would hear me IN tins to stop the ex-
| press. But it was no use. Every Office was
closed.
Il dropped the key and ran down the stairs
and out onto the track think l had wild
hope that could overtake the express, but as
soon as go. into the open air realized the
| folly OF any such attempt, and with the feel
ing Of the most utter despair returned TO
the office and dropped into the chair. But I
couldn't sit still. TIE instrument on the desk
seemed to mock me and the air in the Office
seemed sitting. / walked out on the track
again and walked back and forth along the
cross ties, waiting for the result l knew it
must come, and / instinctively stayed within
hearing distance of the instrument
ut seemed an age, but in reality it wasn't
| more than half an hour, till the sounder
! clicked and l ran up stairs, hoping beyond
| hope that some lucky circumstance had
averted disaster. was so nervous that
could scarcely hold the key to the answer
| Then laid back and waited as the instru-
! ment clicked what seemed to me to be IL 2
death sentence: Express end freight collided.
| Nineteen killed; many injured
| Two weeks later | regained nv senses
had been lowering around between life and
| death during the interval and / was still sc
weak that I could scarcely move a finger.
! But / recovered rapidly and then they told
me the awful details Both engineers and
! the conductor Of the passenger train as wen
as sixteen passengers had been killed. The
| list of killed ran up TO nearly fifty. The
| trains had met on curve, and the passenger
| had been thrown over an ernbankment thirty
! feet high. The corouer's jury had heard all
! the details and had exoTerated me- although
| | tell Won now I would rather at that tine
| they had hanged me. Ali through my sick
| ness my sweetheart watched over me and
| nursed me- and when I recovered she was
| kindness and consideration itself But | was
in no mood for love making
| AS soon as I was able % leave the hospital
/ went to Pittsburg, and from there cane
| out here, intending TO stay month OF SO, I'll
| my nerves would get stronger. l stayed al
! summer, and then il was so quiet and Sc
| Guided here that ! built me this little cabin
and I've been here ever since.
How do livei Well had little money
| in the bank and ii don't cost much to live ap
here. When the moneys all gone. / reckon
III be ready 70 go myself. l 60 TO Union
town or Connellsville once IN a while, but
outside OF these places have not been away
from here for ten years " Iit.tsb5Irg Dispatch
The Princes Newest Triple.