The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1890-07-12
AN ENoINEER.s PResENruMENr.
How y Terrible Wreck was Prevented by a
Dying Man.

"
How n Terrible Wreck Wa Prevented by q
Dying Man.
A number OF railroad men sat in the TO
tunda of the Laclede the other night ex-
changing "reminiscences. says the St.Louis
Globe Democrat. The conversation grad
ually drifted into stories having a super
natural tinge, and among these was the
following, related by a well-known rom
ductor:
"Some years ago." he sand, "in the town
OF Garrett in northern Indiana, the head
quarters of the Baltimore * Ohio rail-
roads Chicago division, there lay sick an
engineer named Boardman. He was
wildly delirious, and his rawlings took "A
serious turn at times One evening he
was told that Engineer Moses had been
called to take out his engine, No. III, ON
an extra run, following No.. 5. Engine ZIP
was the pride of the road, and of its en-
gineer. then so seriously sick. II had not
been sent out before, the foreman of the
round house wishing to crafty the wishes
Of its engineer, but on this occasion il was
necessary, as a special train containing
an opera company had 10 make Washing
ton In 20 hours, a run of s53 miles from
Chicago, and ne other engine on the Chi
cago division was equal To thc speed de-
manded by the company.
"Boardman, lying i'm his bed, was sud-
denly gifted with n supernatural power,
and in his rawlings he would say:
"'Hicksville. Ha! How she spins!
Runs up the st. doe grade like the wind!
Twenty-Five miles; u stop for water;
one stop for railroad crossing, and ~
minutes gone"
"Then he would be quiet as the grave
for "A
"'Holgate! Listen at her spin. She's
got the crossing. There she goes. Def
ance TO Holgate was like a step to her.
"His watchers looked ut one another.
Could he have the power of second-sight
To watch the e of the train?
One OF the boys was sent Ia the dis
patcher's Office, but a few blocks away.
Before he returned Boar1man had called
out a water station, and said:
"Fou minute lost. Why couldn't she
do without water? All. ha! Watch her
pound sand now. Isn't she a beauty p"
"The man had returned from the tele-
graph Office and, i'm a whisper, told the
other watchers that he had followed the
train correctly. A feeling of awe came
over the boys. The sick engineer was in
IA seeming trance His breath came slower
and more laborious. The boys crowded
nearer, and were about To raise him in the
bed. SO that he could catch his breath
easier, and the family were called, when
he sat erect, looked wildly abouthim, and
cried:
"'Iifinl Red light! stop FOR orders!
My God! Here he held up his hand as IL
reading an order:l Train No. second
five, engine No. III. Prepare to meet thy
God.
80. X. CoCKRELL.'
"Then he sank back in the bed dead.
The Mortified boys stood amazed and
speechless. IL was a presentiment. One
rushed forth to the dispatcher's office and
cried to the east-end mans:
For Gods sake, Dizzy, stop second five
at Republic
"Quick over the wires the call went. and
was answered, and then this message:
Stop second five.' There was a wait of
breathless anxiety, when the news came
back: Secon five is stopped. Conductor
wants to know what for by this time the
story was known in the dispatcher's office,
and the answer was sent to Republic:
Had "a terrible presentiment. Tell con-
ductor to proceed cautiously to Chicago
Junction.
"Hardly had the answer zone when At
tica called up and said:
"'Stop second five al Republic. First
five ditched a mile west of here; engine
and three cars or. Cow on track. Engi-
neer killed by jumping
five score of lives lay corpse nj his home.
with his ~sorrowing family surrounding
him. The opera company made up "a
purse, which, together with the life in
surance he hal carried, made the en-
g~inecr's family Independent for the rest of
their lives"