The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1889-09-14

eEsiEoED ON a LOCOMOTIVE.
A Rsas with . Csbr. ea the Enga.- sf
~ nndtaa Railway.
was stationed mt SoorAmunga1um In
1876, says u writer I'm nm English paper.
where I formed a clo~e friendship with
niger Of the western section OF the Chem
nnputnam railway. He was a
and I WINS a bachelor, and being the. only
Europeans i'm the station with the cxcep-
ton of Major Nimrod. the government
district engineer, whose duties seldom
allowed him IN he mt home, we naturally
spent a good many evenings ut each 9th
erss bunRnlowss
Il was a very hot June evening. and
Tom and I were stretched In long Amerf-
low vmokinQ our s'trichics" Vet my
.sboys came to ask for my instructions
about O Journey l had to make ny train ON
the following day to u station a few miles
The prospcct was not a pleasant one. as
the land wind was still prevailing and 1
ing. fiery blast. Therefore i did not look
forward with eagerncss to spending a day
In the Oak bungalow. at Sunkery Droog:
am running a special goods tn P~othanore
at II O'Clock and You can he dropled az
Snnkery; Or bitter bet, r,s ssili on T shs go sns Tns.
the coolest place i'm the train by day or
night" . x.;,, ,,,. owc- the
readily cLOaRU w1tu tIte Oaiegs VS.
chance of travelling by night instead OF by
day at that time Of the year being too good
to he lost, and telling my hoy 10 pack up 9
Exshaw and half q dozen sodas, and or
derinR the black chef to join him with his
cooking utensils, Tom and doaed OF In
our chairs to he wakened mt IL I'D O'Clock.
the boys monotOnous "Sah! Sah!" and
we were forthwith driven to the railway
Ne were soon Oft. and I found out at
once that Tom was right about the engine
the engine creates u current OF air which
rapidly absorbs tire abundant moisture
thrown out from ones pores when the
thermometer registers 30 degrees mt mid
With our cheroots burning f~ragrantly,
w sret dST' that @e had not a longer run. he:
fore us. Nothing worthy of notice had
happened until the driver ordered his lire
man to make up the furnace.
Sooramun0alum being upward Oh ~
miles from the sea, coal or compressed
patent fuel would he too s1 ,hG to ensc M NJ
bringing IL from the coast; besides coal
perishes very rapidly under a tropical sun;
To burn wood, of which there is a fair sup
ply available from the jungle
reserves. OF course all fuel Is prec'ous
and drivers must take the Tat with the
Now, snakes very much affect the hol'
low csevicss OF roots o, o,1 ,re carried IL ii%tS
the wooi wards at the railway stations,
and thence are occasionally trAnsferred
This was exactly our case. As the fire
man took up a log to throw 1t into the fur
mace down dropped a lively cobra on .s
SPECIES Of ..spcctacles'-about four fee
lonR-but IA one-foot hooder is quite
snSnf that 70 . sran hoped q PedIn and to frank hin
tn that country from whose bourne ns
traveller returns. So being four human
" somewhat crowded, we skipped bacl
with much alacrity. Unfortunately nom
of us had a stick or the matter eoui :
we could hope for was that the reptil
would glide OH thee engine and drop ON TIN
Blu the creature showed no i~nclinatioi
tn go. Either it knew the bylaw, again:
leaving the train while IN notion or !
mace. 1t reared itself up, and i'm the hop
of Frightening ID I made a kick at II. TAX
,nE Snrs s;;r IL S%%s' distance M%s 20 a. 81 my light duck
would have been no protection ag"ins
those awful fangs.
II was am unfortunate demonstration
for the snake, so far from beinR intim
dated, accepted the menace as a casu
belli, and advanced upon us.
We were besieged.
The driver spranR out on one side {
the engine, holding on the hand-rail whic
nm. ,S SIon S|, the Of soi isss s Ssiih a,fe% nim like Ss'
mountain cat; "Toln" vanished from tn
scene on the opposite side OF the enGin
to that the driver had taken, calling to M
to follow him. They were all as much /:
home skipping around on the engine !
the dark as squirrels on the top braucne
of N beach tree; hut to me the unfamilia
situation was perfectly bewildering, an
being partly fascinated by the loathsom
thing 1 was unable to stir, and my fe'
seemed rooted to the pot.
The cobra raised itself to strike!
l tried to- jump oil the engine, put
could not move. / would have called on
but horror had tied my ngue. The ne
instant I expected to receive the mort
wound, when the fireman slipped dow
from the logs behind the snake. seized
10y the tail. and flung il bodily INTO Il
furnace. 1t was u relief to see that cob
squirming i'm the fire.
Sunkery Droog signals were now
sight, and "Tom" and i were soon art
enjoying N peg i'm the station. But bcfo
the train went on there was a short int
view between hat flremcn and myscl