Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-05-02
M'CUE'S MAD DRIVE.
ADrunken Mans PeriIous Jour-
ney Across a 2OO-FoOt
Railroad TrestIe.
HE LIVES AND TELLS OF IT..
But Afterward Breaks His Neck in
a Butler County Sinkhole.
CLARION COUNTY'S LIMESTONE.
Enough to Make Macadam for all Roads in
the State,
HE LIVES AND TELLS OF 1T.
CLARION COUNTY'S LIMESTONE.
Enough to Make Macadam for all Roads in
the State,
BUT NOT USED, EVEN NEAR QUARRIEs
fFRoM OUR SPECIAL COMMISSIONER
THE PITTsBURG DISPATCH
COUNTRY ROAD EXPEDITION,


Twice while coming down the steep hill
to the Clarion river did we have to stop anC
fix the wagon bed. Gigantic boulders anC
rocks had Jared it off the polsters, and deel
ruts knocked it about in frightful manner
The only way we could get the bed back int,
its proper place was to lift the rear end higl
in the air on the butt of a fence rail, anC
then with pole pry it back.
Such an experience with the rough road:
of Clarion fully prepared us to appreciate
the story of Steve McCue's wild ride across
known travelling salesman for PittIburg
shoe house.
The Story Of Stcve's Drive.
Six or seven years ago he was driving his
team back to the town after a successful
days canvass of country stores. He was
under the influence of liquor, and in some
pike just before it crosses the toll bridge
over the river. 1t was very dark, and pres
emily when the by-way, which he was on,
crossed the Pittsbufg and Western (narrow
gauge) railroad, his befuddled brain told
him that was the right road to take. He
turned his horses, and started to drive them
down the track.
In little while dense brushwood lined
the railroad and there was no escape for the
horses from the ties. McCue, angry that
-sho ifofo sod fha
ously and they broke into a fast trot. A
trestle-work, IS feet high, was reached. The
fying horses each straddled rail, and with
the bump, thump, bump, the light buggy
continued on its journey over the ties.
His Reckless Driving.
The trestling, which is nearly 200 feet
long. was crossed in perfect safety. And
then loomed up suddenly in the gloom the
high bridge on which the railroad crosses
the Clarion river. The rails are 9S15 feet
above the water, the floor is made of ties.
with six inches space between each, and
there is less than foot margin on either
side the rails 1t is only a single track
bridge. A man could not stand there il a
train we're to meet him.
But McCue never seemed to notice the
bridge. He simply laid on the whip. The
horses, almost desperate now, dashed ahead.
This story is well authenticated. 1t is
known by nearly every resident of Clarion
to be true, but no one to this day can under
stand how that buggy struck the trestling,
or how those horses, one outside each rail-
crossed the river in safety. But nothing
happened them until just at the other end
OF the structure the iron shoe of one caught
between two ties and jerked the horse back.
Saved From Awful Death.
The rig stopped, and while the team was
kicking and rearing, McCue seemed to
awaken to his situation. He was pulled
out of the way by the watchman and his
companions just before the express came
along.
McCue declared that he never knew what
he was about-that he supposed he was on
the pike as usual.
''But the railroad ties, man: didn't bump-
ing over them tell you where you were?" he
was asked.
''It was not bit rougher riding than the
Clarion pike, replied McCue, who was
never capable before of expressing his dis
gust for the bad condition or Clarion county
roads. Just two years after that poor Steve
found Infinitely worse roads in Butler
county. He was driving his team there
when the rig got stuck in a sink-hoIe and
III some way McCue was dumped out of the
rear end, breaking his neck. He was buried
in Pittsburg.
Shedding Through the Mud.
The rain OF few days ago made the roads
OF Clarion SO bad in the neighborhood of the
Tylersburg and Lucinda oil fields that team
sters have abandoned wagons and taken TO
sleds. They slide over the surface of the
mire without being stuck like the wheels of
a wagon.
Your exploring party left Tionesta. in
Forest county, at 7:30 yesterday and logged
along slowly % miles southwark, reaching
TINS town about P. NJ. The mud was so
deep In some places that we feared a repeti-
'ion OF our Washington and Greene county
experiences. We found several miles of the
roadway between Tylersburg and Clarion
rough carpeted with sandstone cobble stones.
You could scarcely call it an attempt To
macadam4ze. The stones had been thrown
In lndlscrlmlnately, and here and there
Where they had been pulverized by heavy
hauling, the ruts were deeper really than
are usually found on clay roads.
Worse Than No Improvement.
These stones had no foundation courses
Ehatever, such as systematic road hniIdinI
requires. The roads would have been fa5
better without them.
We met with a hearty reception at tbe |
town Of Clarion. Postmaster J. B PatricIr
A. c. McCombs, Esq, John T. Brown and
County Commissioners S. A. Bell and |
Joshua Mccall hasteDed to offer any assist |
ance which would facilitate the objects of |
the expedition. They all want good roads in
Clarion county, but, as will be seen below
there are many different opinions among |
them as to how they may be made. People |
had been generally looking for THE DIS |
PATCH wagon.
II have been chasing you up every day in |
the columns of The DISPATCH" said one |
man at the Loomis House, land now 1 may
really see Beaver and Bucephalus in the |
feshp'
Hurry up about it, then," advised. "If |
we have much more rain to make the roads |
heavy again, you may only have the privi- |
lege OF seeing those horses in bones"
Doing the Public a Service.
THE DISPATCH idea is a great one"
said another person. "When 1 read that
hrst article in your paper setting forth the
objects OF the expedition, SAID to myself.
That will never amount to anything But,
Sir, In spite of myself found 1 looked lor
each days letter, and now confess the way
THE DISPATCH has aroused public inter
est in the matter of roads and th. ;,f.-,r. |