The Meeker herald., 1890-11-29
LASSOING AN ENGINE.
4 Con9ressman Recalls Thrilling
Time In HIS Career.
Has tie rssvs.ssi . hsssssy L~<o-
..ssiss Sss.. sSsssssyiss hssg Live
$50 Assk S-isssts tssUsssy
" . yvsas ysWs.

" uSsss vSUe.
Cour,essman Grain, of Jeras, was In
high good huinor, reeently, says tho
Pittsburgh Press spinnin. yarns TO .
sotaris ~ brother members.
''in MY young days, 4" said the congress'
man. II AS an engineer on IN. sania
D.. railroad. I had only bssa on stou'
tLr.s months shsn by some eafelesshess
Or yioi0usne,s ons OF the engines sho~n
As mountAin-elimb@rs got away ~lih
full steam on and started dom tho
rad On . m.sssS. % death and de-
Nsas,ion. I had Just flashed . long
run and w4s preparing Ia go home. shsn
the ,r.in.iispstehss rushed Wildly out
0! tho office and told me the news
The track had been cleared. he said.
,nI there s.s nothing lo stop the NAL
rush of the runaway locomotive until II
,hoaii dash into The station At Calves
ton aud ploN IL. Nay through bricks and
mortar until both the buildins and loco
motive ~efo ruined.
II had plsh,y 81 nerve then. and
suppose by your iaashin. you think
have Los, non. Of IL. buS ] ain free Ia
soaf.,s tina, I Souii hot nos dare 10
undertake tho task that ! successfully
accomplished that day. r-rhap, IL cas-
tho .scI,sm.n, and enthusiasm OF tho
moment which led IN. To volunteer Ia
,A,so tina, locomotive. I always snail.
when I r,cali tho look Of Incredibly
that me, mr. confident assertion That
could catch aud arrest the mad fishi OF
the runaway. buii ma, - ronri-ni that
they CAV. IA. h1.rlnr. and hnally
secured III. service, Of . sturdy Irish lsi
- nf-mar.
"fn l.As than three minute. ss'or III"
dispatch had been received ! VAS Oh my
engine, Nth steam siosiy oomIn. up
Again. and pglilns 90, as raplily AZ i-s,'
sibio 10 nicc, the on--omIn- terror. !;
va. itnp.,>ihl. iaE tho ,r.in-alHpsicher
a. give ~. any accurate Idle. A. To where
The runaway ~a.- The lScs; be could
do "a, Ia s.y that II had passed snail
station about seventy i've miles up u'c
roai some ten Minutes hrfor-, moving
., tho rate Of about niH-iy mile, an
hour. 4 f.~ minutes ni"r-, AMI niih
STRAIN up had my rnsina morln. al
the rate Of sixty miles an boar. anl go
Ing s;r.ish, a. the runaway On the same
tack.
II ran this way Tor abou, twenty-five
minutes, ~hcn. A. near a, ! could cslru'
late. the runaway had don" 'his'y's"S"n
and . half miles and I had covered
twenty-five. ~ my calculations ~.r-cor-
Pre-, there ~-ru sill sott- ,-"lv" and =
half miles b-,s-on ~. bat you can I'm
a.inc that tho las; I've mii~si covered
ruhnin. direct ., the osconlnI monster
srr- any thing hut pleasant. Well.
reversed my -ncin' AMI s,artcs! running
Assay, gradually increasing my speed un.
III ~- settled do~n Ia . comfortable
thirty miles an hour. tho Irish Lad moan.
while keeping on . terrific amour, o!
steam. VIC might have run into aim".,
ANY thing. for dsd not lo"k ahead Al
all. Ny oyer were strained until they
saan~,i me looking up tho track Tor tho
runaway. u might have been ton
minutes. moro OF icss--si seemed like
years To nc.
FINALLY ~~ heard tho rumble and
roar Of the monster. II didn', take her
Ion. IL hcas- In sight. and 81. ~a> com.
Ing a humminS. For tho nrss time I
confess lost my nerve. !, sas only
n,om-n,ary. however. and then I opened
my throttle and away 40 went There
vas good mile OF straight track be-
TWEEN US when fr.t caught sigh, Of
her. then W. turned = curve and sh" was
out OF sight, II no, out OF hearing.
When she did come she had gaind on us
pretty nearly half . mile. ] shu, OF
sraT tribe. and whoa No struck a
level piece Of track bu, a quarter Of =
mile separated us. told Irish To keep
up pressure, and the way he did l, It's a
wonder tho boiler Of scvcnty-slI didn',
burst. She KEEP. getting nearer and
nearer. and It ~As all l could do to keep
from throwing wide the throttle and
speeding away.
FINALLY shc closed in upon ns, and !
assure you that so nearly equal had l
succeeded In making the speed tina; the
shock was little II any greater ,han
that felt upon the couplin. OF two
cars. did not hesitate an
instant, but jammod down the
steam valve tight-a difficult task
even for All athlete, as then was.
and from there swung myself upon tho
runaway. II was the work of scarcely
half minute TO chamber In the cab and
iab down tho steam valve there. We
ran possibly milo before We came To a
s;andstill. and by that timn wa, a.
limp As rag and shaking like n man
with the aguc. a good drink Of whisky
fetched mo around in few minutes.
We coupled the engines, and In half an
hour had thcm both safely housed in
Galveston"