Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1889-10-11
A WILD RIDE.
at can't be donel"
tFyVa,d ho c,,rhtfB

iii tell you how 6nd the third speak
or, who stood facing his two companions,
boys Of aboct his age. stepped a
little nearer as he spoke.
He was a bright, alert boy Of 16, Harry
Denton by name, the only son Of a trusted
engineer on the W. and A. railroad. A
born mechanic and mathematician, he
was easily the best scholar i'm our school,
while his open, generous nature and fear
1essness made him the leader Of the vii
lage boys.
His companions wero Willis Balyn, a
quiet, studious boy, the only child of a
widow whose slender income barely suf-
feed to provide for the two, and, with
careful management to give the boy such
an education as she wished him to have.
The last of the trio, and the narTato Of
Shis ~escapade, was called "Ned" Havi-
land His special attributes were a love
for mechanics and an aptitude for get
ting into scrapes.
1t was the evening Of Fast day, 1868. n
time when that day meant far more than
It does in these times of peace. A Sun
day quiet was upon the busy village. and
only the music of the church bells could
be heard where we boys stood.
Before the civil war began, Steventon
was as dull a place as could be found in
New England, save for the small repair
shops Of the w. and A. railroad, which
were located at that place, as it was mid
way between the termini. There were
excellent water privileges, but the water
power Of Mill river was utilized by but
one small concern, a wooden mill that
stood close to the railroad shops.
The wal changed all this. The rail
road became a great transportation line,
and the rolling stock and machine shops
were more than trebled within two years.
A new company bought the mill, added
buildings of brick and stone, and began
the manufacture Of army cloth.
Its contract necessitated running the
mills night and day, and a speedy inno-
walton of the progressive management
was a small gas works attached to the
mills. As the railroad repair shops were
often forced to run over time, arrange
ments were made to supply them with
gas from the mill plant. At this time
many roads lighted their passenger cars
with a which was stored in iron reser-
vOirs beneath the cars. In the station
platform were pits furnished with hose
for filling these holders.
At Steventon the road curves slightly
10 the south. and at this point a branch
running northwest the maiu
line with another village about eight
miles up the river. Near its intersection
with the w. and A. road this branch
crosses the tail race from the mill and
then the river.
An ingenious mechanic in tho railroad
machine shops had built for the directors
q dispatch car propelled by a gas engine.
1t resembled an ordinary platform car,
was about eighteen feet in length, and
geared to one of its journals was an
adaptation of the Lenoir gas motor. In
this engine a mixture of gas and atmos-
pheric air is admitted to each side of the
piston head alternately, and the com
pound exploded at the right moment by
an electric spark from a Ruhmkorff coil.
A two bar railing of gas pipe surrounded
the platform, with an opening on one
side for ingress and egress. Near one
end. over the forward or driving wheels,
were the throttle and reversing levers
The brake was q steel collar. surrounding
q cylinder on the main journal, am by
means of a screw could be tighter "a by
turning an ordinary brake wheel.
The car, though unfinished as yot. haC
made several trial trips and had worked
perfectly, though the builder was no
vet quite satisfied with some of its fea
lures.
Now the proposition which had 81
startled Willis and me was that we &c
this car out, lll its gas holder, and tax,
a ride up the branch Harry had beer
on it several times and knew that h
could handle il.
"Tll tell you how" he said, "and ii
will be caught. either. My key I'm
locks the shed where it Is kept. w
will lay strips of board on the rails g.
the wheels will make no sound. fill Tn
holder, push the car up the branch lin
to the bridge, and away we gol We cal
easily get back before the special, witt
the two regiments for G~reenyille, is du
here
Our objections were quickly overruled
and with one eye upon the Waterman
idntefus winch occasionally shOne her
and there. as that official went hi
rounds in the railroad yard, we pro
ceeded 70 carry out our plan. All wen
smoothly. and in fifteen minutes we ha'
filed the holder. pushed the car 20 "a
frestle over the race. and were ready 1
set out
We took our places on the platform
and when the watchman's lantern agai
disappeared, Harry opened the throttle
The steady but almost noiseless beat Q
the engine followed. and we now
smoothly forward across the trestle spar
ming the race, along the embankmer
beyond. and then over the trestle tina
crosses Mill river. Two miles surthG
wo passedn c~ulvert, and, about the sam
distance beyond, a bridge over the higi
wav. After CROSSING this Harry close