The Dickinson press., 1889-06-15
ON THE NARROW ESCAPE.
STRANGE AND PECULIAR FEATURES
OF RAILRoADlNG IN OREGON.

STRANGE AND PECULIAR FEATURES
OF RAILRoADlNG IN OREGON.
Cunning for Grouse and Other Game Out
of the baggage Car Doors-A Wild Chase
After scrossins' HoG-Now the Engineer
Struck and Tied Up the Whole System.
"If you ever so up to Oregon" said Col. j..
NJ. Scutcr at the Baldwin, ''you don't want
to miss a trip over tho Narrow Escape rail
way that run from an indefinite point out
side of Portland to wherever night overtakes
the train.
"A MAJ who likes excitement and advent
ure would enjoy the ride. The road has
been in the hands of a receiver for some years.
and has fallen into a state of picturesque do
cay.
NC two rails on the entire system are ON
the ann level. and there is an absence Of
straight lines and regularity that gives a
charming variety and waviness to the per-
spective of the track. The coldly practical
theory that the rails should he supported by
the tics does not find favor with tho section
men OF the Narrow Escape line.
THE ties hang from tho rails by the spike
heads. but for the sake of variety an occa-
sional tie is permitted to touch the roadbcd.
which is largely composed Of loose cobbles.
DESCRIPTION OF THE
Talk about riding horseback for exercised
1t doesn't compare with r%ailroading over the
Narrow Escape. You get q greater variety
and amount of motion to the mile than you
could get anywhere else in the world, except
Oh the hack OF Il camel with n peg leg"
Sometimes, when the track is a little too
wavy. they run the train of the rails and
take n short cut over tho prairie for a quar-"
ter of a mile or so. and then run back upon
the rails when they strike n good placeo on the
grade. When they come to a ~trestle, md
there are several high. spider legged struc-
lures of that sort, the engineer slows up,
leaving just enough steam on to give head
way
They are very careful about crossing tres
ties. luvo seen them so cautious that tho
engineer, conductor and whole train crew
would get OFT and walk over and wait for the
train on the other side. They never alarm
the passengers. however, by saying anything
to them about getting Off and walking.
''Thc line is about forty miles long, count
in, the Twists i'll the rails, and the trains that
leave the lower end carly in the morning gen
orally get up to ono of the other ends by
night There arc two or three upper ends to
the line.
Tho mon who built it had n notion to run
it over to tho coast, but when they got near
the mountains they changed their minds,
went bac!: Il few miles and branched off to
the southwark. They changed their minds
several times, and the result was n lot of
ragged ends of track running out into tho
prairie and stopping nowhere i'll particular.
Sometimes the train runs up one spur and
sometimes up another-just depends on how
the section men cave the switches. When
the sea breeze draws down through the gap
in the Coast range and blows right hard, they
don't 20 up the west spur ut all, but switch
Off to the east and scud before the wind. You
see tho prairie is so soft up the west spur that
they cant run off the rails and tack very well.
III remember one evening when tho train
got up to Sheridan before dark, and the in.
hahitants all rushed over to tho station to SEQ
what was the matter. 1t turned out that one
of old man ScrogSins' hogs had wandered
down tho valley, and when the engineer saw
him on the track ho just clapped on steam
and went for him.
"The Sheridan switch happened to DO
open, and the train followed the hog up the
west spur and chased him into town ahead of
time. The engineer cane pretty near being
discharged for reckless running, but the ex-
citenlcut of the chase was considered as an
eXtenuating circumstance
IT WAS FINE SPORT.
You ought to go up and nave q hunt on
that railroad some time. There's some of tho
best grouse shooting on tho line that | ever
saw. The conductor is L good shot and the
engineer is no SLOUGH. had q aunt with
them a few weeks ago.
AS the early morning is the best time to
find birds. tho train pulled out about an hour
before tho usual time of starting. The con.
ductor and | wero in the baggage car with
our guns, and the engineer had a gun in the
cab.
1--WE had gone about a milo when the train
slowed down and tho conductor told me to
watch out. He took ono of tho wide doorsin
the sides of the car and ! tool; the other. The
slowing down meant that che engineer saw
birds, and in q moment the conductor banged
away
''Ihe train stopped end a brakeman jumped
Off and picked up q dead grouse. Pretty
soon thegrouse became thick along tho sides
of the track and didn't seem to mind the
--stfain ~a..kheJeast We heard tho engineer
popping aYay.sand we whanged ut 'en right
and left. Andakept the brakeman busy. The
solitary passenger became interested and
made O first class retriever.
The grouse were plentiful, but the China
pheasants were thicker than flies. We saw
at least 500, but didn't get many. The China
pheasant is the finest game bird in this coun-
try Seven pairs were imported about eigh-
teen years ago, and, being protected by law
for ten years, they have increased wonder
fully, and there must be millions of them in
Oregon.
"You see, it is no fool of a trick to shoot
from u moving train that wabbles along as
though the wheels were geared on cccentrics,
and So we wasted a lot of powder. We used
about a hundred shells and secured thirty
one birds, mostly grouse. That beats tramp.
ing over tho hills all to thunder.
III don't know Us you had better go up
there right awayt to hunt on the train. When
l left. the Narrow Escape system was tied up
by a strike, The engineer hadn't got any
pay for two years, and he started a kick.
THE receiver received we'll enough, but he
didn't seem to give up quito so well, but per.
haps that was because there wasn't much to
give up The section men didn't mind, be-
cause they could pick up 4 hand car load of
Old ties most any time, run down to old man
Fairgrave's place and swap them off for beer,
but the engineer and fireman didn't have a
chance to pick up any more ties than they
needed to burn under the boiler.
$50 one day the engineer ran the locomo-
tive off tho rails into Sim Hyde's potato field
and swore he'd stay there with it until the
ronipany paid him something on account.
That tied up the whole system, and the last l
knew the engineer was camping in the cab i'll
the potato field. You'd better wait until YOU
hear that traffic has been resumed over the
Narrow Escape. "-San Francisco paper.
Not Guilty.
Judge-You say the prisoner threw yor
oft of the door. Had you provoked him
Piaintiif-Not at all He advertised an un
usually tine bargain sale of laces, and | wen
in und asked him for the lowest figure on {