Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1890-08-29
Iote,es,,oo 1h,nos About the Railroads.

REGISTER, and a railroad man HIM
self. sends us the following story,
which. we must confess, sounds trl-
file tough. But we give it just as he
tells it One night last week while
an extra freight train was laying In
at Berlin siding, waiting for an ex-
press train to pass, remarkably
large man came up to Conductor
James Kennedy, of the freight train,
and asked him what time it was.
Conductor Kennedy was so terribly
frightened the huge appearance OF
the man that he ran from him, fear
ing il he took his watch from his
pocket the man intended to take 1t
from him. After Conductor Kenn edy
ran from him, the man walked to the
engine, and asked Engineer John Nor
ris, of engine Ais, for chew of tobac-
co. Norris was not as easily fright
ened as Kennedy, though he said he
felt somewhat uneasy. Norris was sit
ting in the cab of his engine when
the man approached him. The bot
tom of the cab window is about sew
en- feet from the ground. Norris says
the man walked to the window and
laid his arms on the sill of the window
and his head came to the top OF the
window, which would make him about
ten feet high. He also took a drink
from the spigot on the tender, which
mn ordinarv-sized man would have to
reach very high to drink from, and
Engineer Norris says this man had to
stoop low to drink from it. Besides
his immense size, they say he was the
most frightful looking creature they
ever saw. He wore very rough coat
which looked as if it had been made
of blanket. After the giant took a
drink he moved ontoward Baltimore.
Berlin, or Brunswick, siding is about
five miles east of Harper's Ferry on
the b. & O. None of the citizens
around that place have seen anything
of the stranger since. Conductor
Kennedy was frightened so badly he
did not come out on his train for sew
eral trips.
A pretty bad accident occurred at
Germantown station, 16 miles from
Washington Junction, on the Metro
politan Branch of the b. & o. Railroad,
Tuesday afternoon. A local freight
train pulled in on the siding to allow
the Chicago Limited Express, east
bound, to pass. Brakeman Frank w.
Ray, of Toms Brook, Va, failed to
properly close the switch, and when
the express came along shortly after
ward at 40 miles an hour it dashed in
to the open switch and plowed
through the rear of the freight train.
Brakeman Ray, who was in the ca
boose, was instantly killed. The pas
senger engine plunged through the
caboose and freight car, mounted
on a third car loaded with stone and
then fell over, complete wreck.
Engineer David Ziler, of Martinsburg,
who had been on the road for twenty
wears, and who was "A brother of
Engineer Pentz Ziler, of the Shenan-
doah Valley Road, met terrible
death, though it was almost lnstan
taneous His body was crushed and
mangled, and the flesh was literally
cooked by the escaping steam. Fire
man Charles Quarles, of Baltimore,
was also killed. The baggage and
mail cars were derailed, but no per-
son was seriously injured. The other
cars of the train did not leave the
track, circumstance due to the fact
! that they were vestlbuled. The
passengers were simply shaken up
pretty badly. A boy named Frank
Ruple, who had come from near by
to see the wreck, was caught between
a passenger car and the station plat
form and had both of his legs ground
off.
Six men in the b. & O. Railroad
shops at Martinsburg were discharged
on Monday, and all the other men
were laid off until September 1st and
the shops closed.
Samuel Harrison, a popular ell
neerman who ran on the Washington
County Branch of the B. & o. Rail
road, slipped and fell in front of 10
connective at Sandy Hook last Friday
morning. He was instantly killed by
the wheels of the engine. He leaves
a wife and five children.
The heavy rains the latter part OF
last week washed away about 300 feet
of the track of the Western Railroad
i'm THE Narrows," near Mechanics
town. Trains were run around by
Gettysburg.
A meeting was held in Baltimore
last week to place the Washington
and Cumberland Railroad Company
on working basis. The capital
stock of the Washington and Cum
berland road is $4,000 600. The SIM
saws: 'Of this sum the amount re-
quired by law was subscribed and ten
per cent. of the amount paid in,
the subscribers paying $500 on each
share of stock allotted to them as de-
manded in the notice calling the
meeting. Thirty days notice will be
given of the organization Of the in
corporators and the payment Of sub
scriptions, after which time a meet
ing Of stockholders will be called to
elect directors and officers for the
company. This meeting will be held
on October Is. One of the directors
said that all preliminaries would be