Wichita eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1886-1890, 1889-02-07
MAD BOB RIPLEY.
A Fireman's Fierce Encounter With
a Crazed Engineer.
Struggle to the Death in Locomotive Cab
-Maddened by Disaster an Engineer
L. Determined TO Hurl Himself
From His Engine.
IN. Y. SUM-

was IN the second year OF my appren-
| ticeship as fireman on No. So, of the Gin
| cinnati, Hamilton & Dayton road, when
got such back one night as few fire.
men ever lived through. The incident
| happened about fifteen years ago, but
every feature of it comes to my mind as
clear as if the affair occurred last night.
My engineer was named Bob Ripley. He
was a jovial whole souled fellow, never
going behind a glass of beer, and was
known all along the line as e sober and
trusty man.
Well, all of sudden, bad luck struck
him. He had a little home, which was
taken away by land shark. He left Gin
cinnati one night for Toledo on his usual
run, and returned to find his wife dead.
She had some heart trouble, and died
without moments warning. Within a
fortnight his boy baby sickened and died,
and that left Bob without home or family.
l tell you it made an awful change in him.
He was off for two or three weeks, and
when he came back to the cab / could
scarcely recognize him. He had a wild.
queer look to his eyes, strange sound to
his voice, and he was SO sullen and morose
=
matters of business. made two or three
trips with him, and but for the fear OF
hurting his feelings 1 should have made
application to be changed.
1t was the third or fourth trip after he
returned to the road when we left Cincin-
natl one November night for the north
1t was wild, stormy night, and as we got
out into the country caught Bob smiling
and chucklng. The wildness of the night
seemed to strike responsive chord in his
soul. Old 60 seemed to be in uncommon
spirits, too, for she was sliding right along
with a heavy train, and making no fuss
over it. l made some remarks about it,
but Bob had no reply. Indeed, he acted as
if he was alone in the cab l didn't like the
situation bit, for had suspicion that
he wasn't quite right in his head, and he
was also squirting her hey ond schedule
time. We were to pass side-tracked ac-
commodation about thirty miles out of
Cincinnati. She ought to be in eight min
utes ahead of our time, but 63 was over
PREACHING schedule time so fast that ]
feared a collision. The conductor had his
eyes open, however, and at stop about
twenty miles out he came forward and
cautioned Bob to slow her down. We had
overreached five minutes in that short
run. Bob answered surly enough, but as
we pulled out again be obeyed orders and
checked her down to lose the extra min
utes gained.
We had passed the siding all right when
| noticed that his nervousness increased.
He would whistle for crossings where none
existed, and he would toot supposititious
cattle off the track. Once, seeming to ig
more my presence altogether, he opened
the furnace door and piled in the fuel, al
though we were carrying more steam than
had ever seen on.
At Hamilton / was fully resolved to
speak to the conductor if he came forward
and gave me opportunity, but he did not.
1t was when I returned to the cab after
oiling up that Bob looked up at me with
start, as if surprised to see me, and said:
"Jim, Pm thinking of them"
eyes, Bob, but they are better off," l
soothingiy said. "You must bear up like
a man. It's sad enough, God knows, but
you must meet it bravely."
"Did you see"
sWhat?" l asked as he suddenly checked
himself.
lie did not answer. He looked at his
watch. signaled me TO ring the bell, and
in moment more we were off. The nigh.
was growing wilder, and we were not ten
minutes out of Hamilton when 1 made up
my mind that there was trouble close at
hand. Bob turned to look at me now
and then in "a way to prove that he
meditated evil, and from the way he kept
the whistle going the passengers behind
must have supposed the track to be swarm
ing with living Instructions. We were
about half way to Dayton and 1 had just
replenished the fire, when Bob suddenly
gave her all steam. 1t seemed to me as if
old 60 took a clean jump of ten feet as she
felt the extra steam, and | shouted my
alarm. The words were hardly uttered
before he was upon me.
you've got to die with mew he
screamed as he clutched my arms, and
Pm not exagperating a bit when tell you
that his eyes looked like Goals of fire.
l was by far the strongest man of the
two, but in the first rush he dashed me
about in dreadful way, and had almost
pulled me to the steps before | called up
He was bound to go off and l was bound
to prevent and, as we pulled and tugged
at each other, the train was running so
close to a mile a minute that none of the
passengers cared TO reduce the fraction. |
think our struggle lasted about five min
utes. | was gradually drawing him back
into the tender. and was wondering how
l could secure him, when he suddenly shut
his teeth on my right wrist, and bit and
tore like a dog. l had TO let go my clutch,
and as | did so he turned and leaped off,
uttering cry which rang in my ears for
weeks after.
1t was high time that the steam was
shut off. As | afterward learned. every
passenger was hanging on and praying 70
heaven, for the dullest of them knew that
something had happened on the locomo-
tive. l brought her to a standstill as soon
as possible, and when the conductor
reached the cab we backed up to look for
poor Bob's BODY. We found it about two
miles back, and It was a shocking sight
He had struck stump head first. and head
and face were simply a bloody mass of
flesh.
l ran the train into Dayton, and we had
scarcely come 70 a standstnl before was
seized with chill. and had to be helped
to the hotel. / was just clean broken down
under the mental strain. and il was plump
six weeks before / crept out OF my bed.
was determined never TO step foot on an
engine, but when health came back got
my nerve aga ain, and the result was that /
finished my apprenticeship. and took the
other side of the cab