Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-11-01
A MEMORABLE TRIP.
How the Distinguished Guests From
Here Reach d Annapolis

|
A HooDoo on BOARD THE TRAIN CAUSES TIE
| ENGINES LUNGS TO GIVE OUT AND A LONG
| WAIT AT oDENToN-A RELIEF ENGINE FINALLY
SECURED AND THEIR JOURNEY ACCOMPLISHED
1t was a remarkable journey. that OF the
distinguished guests" from Washington TO
the unwilling of the Jeanette mon
ument at Annapolis Thursday. 1t was
journey long to be remembered,
to be photographed on the mind OF each one
present, TO be told to posterity. In the first
place 1t was sort Of historical repetition, that
brought back TO mind the picture OF the ill
fated Jeanette stranded powerless in the ice.
| lhere were four cars on the train, two
| vestibued parlor cars and two of the ordinary
| sort, drawn by q locomotive. 1t was not one of
| these brass bound, well-polished engines that
| make the fast time and run into things, but
one OF the somber-hued, oily. dirty affairs that
has by long training formed the habit of going
| too slow to run into anything and of sneaklng
on to sidings and switches until every thing else
had passed by.
JOLLY PARTY on BOARD.
There were about seventy-tve people on
board, jolly party of officers, civilians and news
| paper men, and the start from the 9th street
| station was made under the most favorable Of
auspices. There was no thought of danger
| ahead, no breath of accident and the memo
rial committee, holding up bravely under huge
badges OF blue and gold, smiled the triple
smile OF duty almost performed. The train
had hardly crossed the Eastern branch bridge
! before superstitIous naval officer. with pale
face and disordered nccktie, rushed
| through one OF the parlor cars, and announced
| III horror-strIcken tones that something dread
| ful had been discovered. When he could be
Gained sufficiently to tell his tale it was
learned that in the rear car was Jonah, a
| veritable hoodoo, who would be sure
to cause disaster before the day WAS
over. 1t was embodied in the person of Uncle
| William Moran, the venerable registrar Of the
Navy Department. who WAS then on board OF
| railroad tram for the first time In twenty one
years. The last trip he made was when he
| travelled down to Annapolis to see the class Of
/ so graduate. When this fact became known
| there was
| GENERAL CONSERVATION.
| Dire were the presages Of evil many were
the accident policies taken out of hiding places
and examined, while Lieut.. Lucien Young ran
from car to car in frantic effort to locate the
| pipe line" He found it and there was peace
again.
Bat for few miles all went well, and it
! seemed as though the hoodoo had been
| quenched. Then the train began to 90 slower,
and slower, and slower yet, until It came TO a
standstliL At first no one imagined that any
| thing was wrong, as the popular theory was
that the train had merely been sidetracked in
order to allow another one to pass. But the
minutes went by and nothing happened, and
finally brakeman went rushing through the
train armed with of those pretty red
painted axes that are used as wall decorations
| IL railway cars.
SIGNAL FOR ALARM.
| This was the signal for alarm and the heads
that were poked from the windows behed the
wondrous spectacle of a man bearing the uni
form OF great and glorious corporation chop
ping down a rail fence that the engine might
have fuel. Many were the guesses as to the
cause of the trouble, but from the wild mass of
rumofs that were brought back from the en-
! CINE 1t soon became plain that the poor old
! tired out engine had gone to sleep. Her steam
| gauge showed less than five pounds pressure,
her CRATE bars hung YEARLY down out of the
fire box into the ash pam and her crew. "A beard
less pair of wipers from the round house, were
doing their best TO convert rails from the fence
into motive power.
Then some one in the rear car grew sarcastic
ally facetlOuS and posted this notice upon one
of the mirrors "Lost-One hundred pounds of
steam, somewhere between Washington and
Annapolis. Finder will please return to the
Pennsylvania railroad and receive thanks"
When men began to ask, with fearful eyes,
where they were, 1t was learned that the train
had stranded about mile from Odenton and
that there were 25 pounds of steam in the
boilers. Uncle William Moran smiled and crept
away into one of the smoking compartments
near the pipe line"
HELP FROM ANOTHER TRAIN.
At last a shout was heard sail-no, the
smoke OF coming train, had been sighted
The conductor ran down the track to meet it,
and after some minutes OF bargaining induced
the engineer to push the excursionists into
the junction and out of danger. The mile was
a long one and the wait only gave place to an
other and tedious one. The steam gauge could
not do better than thirty-tve pounds, and that
even only on spurts. More rails were chopped
wood piles were RACED to the ground. and the
naval engineers on the train gathered around
the engine and discussed the situation among
themselves.
Another half hour Of waiting, another train
In sight. This. too. was freight. but pride
had long been lost. and at last the engineer
swung his two or three box cars upon a switch
and pulled the excursionists around to
get ahead of them. The painting, shutting
monster that had lost its breath was side
tracked, 'all aboard" was shouted. and the run
for Annapolis against time was started.
THEY FINALLY GOT THERE.
A telegram, however, had been sent ahead
from Odenton for the ceremonies to go on
without waiting for the party. but such Was
the extraordinary speed of the relief engine
that the train of Washington excursionists ar
rived at the cemetery two hours late simulta-
neously with the dispatch. The messenger boy
was nowhere to be found.
The trip home was without mishap. Uncle
Moran. who had exhausted his hoodooic quail
| ties in the carriage ride from the station TO the
cemetery by being run into by another coach,
was guarded all the way, man standing on
either side of him, armed with q bottle and
tumbIer. He was suhdued.
Mere Thoughtlessness.