The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1890-11-06
lASSOiNC A WILD ENGINE.
Conyressmsn Grain Recalls Thrilling
Time in His Career.

Congress sman Grain of Texas. who
ran about the Capitol the other day i'll
seersucker coat and profuse per-
spiration, swearing in well-chosen
Texan that he would kill an obnoxious
correspondent, was to-day in high
good humor, says the Pittsburg Press,
spinning yarns to coterie of brother
members.
In my young days" said the Con-
gresham. II was an engineer on the
Santa Fe railroad. had only been on
about three months when by some
carelessness or viciousness one of the
engines known as mountain-climbers
got away with full steam on and start
ed down the road on message of
death and destruction. | had just
finished long run and was preparing
to 90 home, when the train-dispatcher
rushed wildly ont of the office and told
me the news. The track had be3u
cleared. he said, and there was moth
ing To stop the mad rush of the runa
way locomotive until it should dash
into the next station at Galveston and
pillow its way through bricks and NOR
tar until both the building and loco
motive were ruined.
Il had plenty of nerve then. and |
suppose by your laughing you think
have lost none of it, but | am free to
confess that | would not now dare to
undertake the task that | successfully
accomplished that day. Perhaps it
was the excitement and enthusiasm of
the moment which led me to volunteer
TO lasso that locomotive. | always
smile when | recall the look of in
credulitv that met my confident asser-
tion that | could catch and arrest the
mad flight of that runaway, but | was
so confident that they gave ME hear
ing, and finally ecured the services
of sturdy Irish lad as fireman.
In less than three minutes after the
my engine, with steam slowly coming
up again. and pulling out as rapidly rs
possible to meet the on-coming terror.
1t was impossible for the train-dispatch-
er to give me any accurate idea as to
where the runaway was. The best he
could do was to say that it had passed
small station about seventy five
miles up the road some ten minutes
before, moving at the rate of about
ninety miles an hour. A few minutes
more. and with steam up had my en-
CINE moving ut the rate of sixty miles
an hour. and going straight at the run
away on the same track.
Il ran this way for about twenty
five minutes. when. as near as | could
calculate. the runaway had done thir-
ty-seven and half miles and | had
covered twenty-five. If my calcula-
tions were correct there were still
some twelve and half miles between
us, but you can imagine that the last
five miles | covered running direct at
the on-cOming monster were anything
but pleasant. Well. | reversed my en-
CINE and started running away, grad
ually increasing my speed until we set
tied down to 4 comfortable thirty miles
an hour, the Irish lad meanwhile keep
ing on a terrific amount of steam. We
might have run into almost anything,
for | did not look ahead ut all. NV
eyes were strained until they panied
me looking up the track for the rum
away. 1t might have been ten min
utes. 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 heave in sight, and she
was coming humming. For the first
time | confess lost my nerve. 1t was
nome ntary. however. and then /
opened my throttle and away we went.
There WAS good mile of straight
track between us when | frs. caught
sight of her; then we turned curve
and she was out Of sight. if not out of
hearing When she did come she had
gained on us pretty nearly half a mile.
| shut off steam Il trilie, and when we
struck Il level piece Of track but a
quarter of mile separated us. | told
Irish to keep up pressure, aud the way
he did it it's wonder the boiler of rs
didn't bust She kept getting nearer
and nearer. and it was all | could do
TO keep from throwing wide the throt-
tie and speeding away.
Finally she closed in upon us. and
/ assure you that so nearly equal had |
succeeded in making the speed that
the shock was little if any greater than
that felt upon the coupling of two
cars. did not hesitate an instant,
but damned down the steam valve
tight-a difficult task even for an
athlete. as then was. and from there
swung myself upon the runaway. 1t
was the work of scarcely half min
ute to Chamber in the cab and jab
down the steam valve there. We ran
possibly mile before we came to Il
standstill, and BY that time | was as
limp as rag and shaking like man
with the ague. A good drink of whisky
fetched me around in Il few minutes.
We coupled the engines, and in half
an hour had them both safely housed
in Galveston.
N,.r,