The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-09-24

| Congressman crane, or Texas, was IN
high good glee. spinning yarns 70 .
cote-is Of members
In my Young dayy.- said the con-
gresham, Il was Sd engineer on the
Santa Fs railroad. De YOU fellows know
what a trying thins it is 70 be loco
motive engineer? Wen, l can tell you
that IL viii DO a mans nerves more harm
than anything else. Alcohol and to-
bacco are mere TRIES in comparison.
even il they be used to excess. didn't
stay long IN the business like excite
ment, but running a cannon ball ex-
press whose schedule time was sixty
miles an hour is httls too much even
for me- But the three months time
that ran No. Is was not sufficient for
me 70 realizs the injury it was doing my
nervous system. So that was not the
real reason that led to my Abandonment
Of the throttle forever.
Il had only been on, as I said. about
three months, when by some cArelessness
or viciouSneSS one Of the engines, known
Is y mountain climber. got away with
full st.am On and started down the road
on a message Of death and destruction
had Just finished n long run and was
preparing 10 80 home, when the train
dispatcher rushed wildly ont Of his offios
and told the news The track had been
cleared, be said, and there was nothing
TO stop the mad rush of the locomotive
until il should dash into the station at
Galveston and pillow its way through
bricks and mortar until b9th the build
ing and the locomotive were ruined.
MS GREAT NERVE
Il had plenty Of nerve then. and sup
pose by your laughing you think have
lost none OF il, but am free 70 confess
that l would not dare 20 undertake the
task | successfully accomplished that
day. Perhaps 1t WAS the excitement
and enthusiasm Of the moment which
led me 70 volunteer 20 !asso that locomo-
tive. always smile when l recall the
look Of increduhty that met my conf
dent assertion that could catch and ar
rest the mad fight Of the runaway, but
was so confident that they gave me
hearing, and 1 finally secured the ser
vices Of sturdy Irish lad as fireman.
In less than three minutes after the dis
patch had been received was on my en-
CINE, with steam slowly coming up
again. and pulling sut as rapidly ~ pos
sible to meet the ooooming terror.
1T was impossible for the train dis
pateher to give ne any accurate idea as
TO where the runaway was. The best
he could do was 10 say that 10 had passed
a small station about IS miles up the
road some ten minutes before moving 1t
the rate Of about 90 miles an hour. A
few minutes more and with steam up /
had my engine moving at the rate OF GO
miles an hour and going straight at the
runaway on the sans track. | ran this
way for abou twenty-five minutes
when, as near AS | could calculate, the
runaway had done az miles and l had
covered -. II ny calculations were
correct there were still soH.e 12t miles
between as, but you can imagine that
the last FIVE miles | covered running di-
rect at the oncoming monster were any
thing but pleasant Well, | reversed
my engine and started running away,
gradually increasing nay speed until We
settled down to a comfortable 30 miles
an hour, the Irish lad meanwhile keep
ing on terrific pressure Of steam
on THE SAME Track.
I'VE might have run into almost any
thing, for did not look ahead ~ all.
my eyes were strained until they panied
me looking up the track for the run
away. IL might have been ten minutes,
more or lest seemed like years to me.
Finally we heard tho rum Die and roar OF
the monster. IL didn't take her long 90
heavs in sight. and she was coming A.
humming. For the FIRST time. confess.
lost my nerve It was only momentary.
however, and then opened my throttle
and away we went There wss a good
mile Of straight track between US when
l first caught sight Of her. then We
turned curve and she vas Ont q sight
if not out ef hearing. When she did
come she had gained on Us pretty nearly
half . mile.
II shut of steam a trife. and when
We struck lsvel piece d track bat
quarter Of a mile separated rs. / told
Irish 70 keep up pressure. and the way
be did il it's wonder tas boiler Of IS
didn't bust She kept getting nearer
and nearer, and It was al l could do 20
keep from throwing wids the throttle
and speeding away from her. But I
kept my nerves - steady a. though they
were Of iron. Nearer and nearer shs
came. until could actually imagine shs
WA blowing her way through "a Final
" she closed In upon "a. and | assure
you that - nearly equal lad l succeeded
IN making the speed that tbs shOck was
little, u any. greater than that felt upon
the coupling " TIVE cars.
Il ala not hsaitats an instant. but
damned down the steam valve tight.
Eprsng upoa tks tender Of my snEins-a
difficult task even for an stklets Ike l
then wAs-znd from tasre swung myself
upon ths snEins II Wa the work %
scarcely half . minute 70 Chamber IN the
cab aud ja5 down the steam valve there.
We rAn possibly q Ezils sefors We cans
70 . stzndseill. and oy ta-t time / Vas
a. Imp an a rag ard sAsk1ng Ike man
with tas szae Wseouplsa The sngines.
and In half an hour nj them both safely
hezssd - G2lVestsn-
That uas E.y L4st experience a. a 10
comouvs.unaser Yog Coald never &c
M 70 steer = cab again "-PItis0uTs
Presz
Hs4 Es HsDp~s~a - Fail