Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1890-05-29
THREE NARROW ESCAPES
A TRAVELLING RAILROAD MAN TELLS
A THRILLING STORY
Called Away from Doomed Locomotives
Three Different Times-It Seemed That
Fate Was in His Miraculous Escapes.
A Brave Engineer Saves a Train.

Fate Was in His Miraculous Escapes.
A Brave Engineer Saves Train.
II have been n travelling employe of diff
| ferent railroad companies for over twenty
years, " said George Coffee, now "lost car
agent of western railroad, "and in all
that time have made but three attempts
to ride any part of one of my trips or spend
any time on a locomotive My first at
tempt was made some years ago, my sec
ond one last February and my third only a
week ago. II live to be a travelling rail-
road man for hundred years I'll never
mako fourth attempt. I'll tell why
"In the summer Of 1875 WAS making a
| trip over the Erie railway. On my way
| east had TO stop at Lackawaxen. got
through my business there and met at the
| depot an old friend of mine, Doc Fuller, an
| Erie freight engineer. He was waiting for
orders to pull out, on his way to Port Jer-
Wis. His train stood at the station and he
expected to be able to go ahead as soon as
his locomotive had finished taking water
He asked me to ride as far as Port Jervis
in the engine cab with him, as the express
trainI was waiting for would not be at
Ilackawaxen for two hours. AS we were
talking Fuller got his orders and walked
with him to his engine. He got into the
cab and followed him.
Just as he was pulling the throttle open
the telegraph operator at the station came
running to the engine, shouting to me that
be had telegram for me. The engine was
then moving. seized the telegram, read
it, and found orders in it for me to go to
Scranton the next day. babe my old
friend good-by, and jumped off Of the loco
motive.
while was sitting at the hotel at Lack
AWAKEN couple of hours later, the news
came that Doc Fuller's engine had exploded
few miles west of Port Jervis, and that
Fuller, his fireman and the flagman of the
train, who was riding on the engine, were
all killed The news was too true. The
three men were literally torn to fragments
and were scattered for hundreds of feet
around. Scarcely splinter of the locomo-
tive was left. That was the first instance
on record of locomotive boiler exploding
while the engine was running. | was ter
ribly shocked at the fate of my friend, and
my thankfulness for the telegram that
saved me from the same death may be i'm
agined.
II had no inclination or cause to be a
passenger on "A locomotive from that time
until one day in February last was on
u business trip over the Baltimore and
Ohio road, and found myself laid up at the
little station of Benwood. was all
through, but there was no way to get any
where else for half a day, except by way of
freight train, which ran by the station at
about four miles an hour. When it came
along recognized AL. Cunningham as the
antripont Ia ballad nd Nsrith n
moments thought or hesitation jumped
on the step and climbed in the cab. had
no sooner done so than George Divine, the
conductor of the train, came out of the
telegraph office with orders and stood wait,
ing for the caboose at the end of the train
to come along. He discovered me and
shouted:
"'Hellol You're just the man want to
seel Get off and wait for the caboose.'
II jumped from the engine and got on
the caboose as it came along, had scarcely
reached the platform before the whole train
and everything in town was shaken by the
most tremendous explosion ever heard
The train stopped with "A jam. | hurried
from the car with the rest and ran for
ward. ! never saw such sight. All that
was left of the locomotive was the driving
wheels and truck. The track was torn up
for rods, and cars that stood on switches in
the yard were battered to pieces by the fly.
ing parts of the locomotive that were
hurled on all Sides We of course thought
that Cunningham and his fireman had
been torn to shreds when what was our
surprise to see Cunningham coming out Of
a field 200 feet from the scene Of the ex
plosion at one side OF the track. Several
ran to meet him, and found that, although
he had been hurled headlong through the
air and landed in the field seventy yards
away. he had scarcely II scratch upon him
His fireman was found two car lengths
back. He was lying on the hind end of
the boiler, with the cab upside down over
him He was not badly hurt. That ex
plosion was the second ono on record of a
locomotive while in motion, and it was the
most miraculous one as to harmlessness to
life ia the history of railroading What
my fate would have been If had not been
so OPPORTUNITY called out Of this cab | am
not prepared to say, but was entirely sat
sfed that had been in the caboose at the
time Of the explosion instead of in the lor
connective cab.
"a week or ten days ago was in Sus-
quehanna, on the Erie railway, and went
to IIanesboro, a mile below, at the foot Of
the Starrucca viaduct, to have good view
of that stupendous piece of masonry from
below. While there walked to the sta
ton Of the Albany and Susquehanna rail
road, and there, with his locomotive on a
switch, found an engineer acquaintance
named James Morgan. He told me he was
waiting for the fast express to pass and
asked me to get in the cab with him and
see the flyer whizz by. | got in the cab,
but then, remembering that had impor-
tant letters to get off east on the Erie and
he'd not moment to lose in getting back to
Susquehanna, got Off the engine and was
walking away when | heard the fast ex-
press coming | stopped mechanically to
see it approach, and was thunderstruck to
see Engineer Morgan jump for his lever
and start his engine ahead, all steam on.
The engine rushed forward. The siding
was short and ended at a high embank-
ment overlooking Starrucca creek. It
didn't take me three seconds to see what
was the matter.
THE switchman had failed to turn back
the switch when he let Morgan in from the
main track. Morgan bad discovered the
fact. There was nothing to keep the ex-
press from running on the siding right be-
hind him. IL Morgan was out of the way,
the engineer of the express train could stop
his train with the air brakes and avert dis
aster II Morgan's locomotive stood in the
way, n collision that would undoubtedly
cause much loss of life would result. Nor
gan did not hesitate u second. lie drove
his locomotive ahead to the end of the
switch and beyond it, 1t was hurled down
the high embankment, and turned bottom
side up in the creek. The express train
and It's human freight were saved. Poor
Morgan was taken, Inconsistencies, from
the wreck of his engine, and hear that he
died the same night.
81 hadn't the nerve TO write my import
A