The state herald. (Holyoke, Logan County, Colo.) 1887-1921, 1890-12-12
lAssolNc A WILD ENGINE,
Congressman CraiA Recalls fhrlIlipt
Tins IL HIS Carsvn

Congress sman Grain Of Texas, who
ran about the Capitol tho other day ir
seersucker coat aud u profuse per
spiration. swearing In well.chOseH
Texan that he would kill pn obnoxious
correspondent was to-day In high
good humoE SAYS the Pittsburg Press.
spinning yarns to coterie Of brothc,
members.
''In my young days" said Tic Con-
gressman, 81 was M engineer ON tho
Santa Fe RAILROAD. had only been on
about Three months when by some
carelessncss or viciousness one Of the
engines known MS muUnlaih-tiiniber
got away with full steam on and start.
cd down tho road on message oil
death and destruction. had Just
finished q long run aud was preparing
to go home, when the train-dispatcher
rushed wildly out Of tho Office aud told
me the news. Tho track had been
cleared, ho said, and there was moth.
lug to stop the mad rush OF the .rInt.
way locomotive until h should dash
iuto tho ncxt station ut Galveston and
pillow its way through bricks aud NOR.
u" u"tu potn tHo uWuNihS anu locO'
motive We're ruined.
IL had plenty Of nerve then, and l
Suppose by your laughing you think !
have lost none Of II. but ] am free 10
confess that would not nov dare to
undertake the task that successfully
accomplished that day. Perhaps h
was the excitement aud enthusiasm OF
tho moment which led I'VE 10 volunteer
TO lasso that locomotive. always
smile when fecall the look OF in-
ctedality that met my confident asscy-
tion that could catch anil arrest the
mad flight of tho, ,iinaway, but was
so confident that they gave me hear
Ing, and l finally secured the services
of n sturdy Irish lad as fireman,
"ln less than three minutes After the
dispatch had been received I whs on
my engine. with steam Slowly coming
Wp again. and pulling ont as rapidly NJ
possible to meet the 9n-coming terror.
1t was impossible for the traiu-dispatcl,.
er to give me any accurate idea MS to
where the runaway was, The best Nv
could do was to say that Il had pa ssed
u small Stallion about seventy i've
miles mp tho road SOME zen minutes
before, moving Al The rate of about
ninety miles an hour. A few minutes
more. and with steam up ] had my en-.
CINE moving at the rate Of sixty r'ilca
an hour, and going straiSh, at the rum
away On the Same track.
Il ran this way for about twenty
6vS minutes, when, as near as could
calculate. the runaway had done thir.
ty-seven and half miles aud had
covered twenty-five. II my careula-
lions were correct there were still
some twelve And a half miles between
Us, but You can imagine that the las,
live miles covered running direct at
the on-coming monster we're anything
but pleasant. Well. | reversed NY en-
ginc and Stated running away. grad
ually increasing my speed until we set
tied down 10 comfortable thirty miles
an hour, the Irish Ind meanwhile keep
Ing on a terrific amount Of steam. We
might have run into almost anything,
for I did not look ahead at all. nv
eyes were strained Until they panied
the looking up the track for the run.
AWAY. 1t might have been ten min
tftes, more or less-it seemed like
years TO me,
Finally we heard the rum Die and
roar Of the monster. 1t didn't take
her long to hesve In sight. aud she
was cunning 4 hunhiing. For the first
time ccnfess lost my nerve. II was
montcntary. however. aud then
opened my throttle and away We went.
There was u good milo Of straight
track between Us when frs, raught
sight Of her, then we turned curve
and she was oft Of sight. II not out Of
hearing. When she did COME she had
gained on us pretty nearly half mile.
l shut OF steam n tribe. and when wo
strhcs level piece Of track but u
quarter OF "a mile separated us. ! told
Irish TO keep up pressure, and the way
he did II its u wonder the boiler OF rs
didn't bust. She kept getting nearer
and nearer. and Il was all could do
to keep from throwing wide the throt.
tie and speeding away.
Finally she closed In upon rs. aud
! assure you that so nearly equal had I
succeeded In making the speed that
the shock was little II any greater than
that felt upon the coupling Of two
ears. l did not hesitate an instant.
but jammcd down the steam valve
tight-a difficult task even for an
athlete, rs | then was. and from there
swung myself upon the runaway. Il
was the work Of scarcely half a min
ute Ia chamber IN the cab and jnb
down the steam valve there. We ran
possibly mile before We came to \
standstill. and by that time was ~
limp as rag and shaking like man
will, the aguc. A good drink Of whisky
fetched me around In few minutes.