New Ulm weekly review. [volume] (New Ulm, Minn.) 1878-1892, 1889-12-11
call a poor wretch TO life only to en-
able him to undergo further torture
till he should be released by death. -
The Edinburgh Review.
Racing With a Flood.

George Davis is one of the oldest
and best-knoWn engineers in Denver,
says the News of that city. He COM
menced i'll 1870 on the old Denver
Pacific, and was firing for Ed Hos
kins on old No 80, when the engine
brought the first passenger train to
Denver in 1870. In 1872 he was
given charge Of an engine, and con-
tinued in active service on that line
until recently, when, owing to sick
ness, he was obliged to lay off; but
the company, approaching his valu-
fable services, have him employed in
the union depot examining train
hands as to their knowledge of train
rules and duties.
George had the reputation of being
one of the fastest runners on the
road, and on Que occasion, when
pulling President Adams s car speed
Indicator in his car indicated seventy
miles an hour for a short distance,
but George thinks the fastest time
he ever made was on the afternoon
of July -, 1875, when he ran a race
with a flood in Sand creek and beat
it by just seventy seconds. George
can tell the story best, however.
1T was during tine time we were
having so many floods, and the
bridge over Sand Creek had been
washed out few days before, and
the track ran down over the sand in
the bottom of the creek, which was
always dry except when there was a
food.
"We were an hour late that after
noon, and when we reached Eaton,
forty-eight miles from Denver, we
were just taking water at the tank,
when DR.. B. Keller, who was the
agent at that place then, came run
ming out to me with Il message,
which read:
make all possible haste to Den
yer. "Water coming down Sand
Creek.
"The message was signed BY Col.
Fisher, the superintendent, and I
knew it meant get there, and the way
1 damned the old machine going
over the track that afternoon was a
caution. We had no air-brakes in
those days, and had six stops to
make, but were only sixty-four min
utes from Eaton to Sand Creek.
"When we reached the bank of the
creek it was nearly dusk, but I could
see the water coming only a few
rods above, foaming and roaring, a
solid wall six feet high full
of timbers and wreckage from
the Kansas Pacific bridge a few
miles above, and [ thought at
first [ would not chance it, but just
as / was about to blow for brakes, I
caught sight of Col. Fisher on the
other side, waving his hat to me to
come on. so l pulled her wide open
and we plunged down in the hole and
wriggied up the other side just seven
ty seconds before the water struck
the track and WHIPPED it out OF exist
ence with a roar.
II stopped as quick as Icould after
we got over, and ifyou ever saw a
delighted set of passengers they were
there. You see, they didn know any
thing about it until we were down in
| oIc ClSch OOUCO1u. Wueu luey saw Ulle
water coming. Scared? Well, you
can bet they were. They had been un-
easy all the way from Eaton, and
had been coaxing Ed Hoskins-he
was the conductor-to make me stop
running SO fast; but when we swung
down into the creek bottom at the
rate of fifty miles an hour they knew
something was up, and when they
caught sight of the food, they saw
right away what the matter was.
They got out on the bank and acted
foolish, cheering me and throwing
their hats in the air and shaking
hands with me and saying God bless
YOU and all that kind Of thing. Oh,
we had a big time there for awhile,
and it was days before we could run
trains across the creek again
A HIGH OfficiaPc TaIoph0ro