Telegram-herald., 1890-09-30
OF RUNAWAY ENGINE


=
Santa Fs Fzllrez1. Do you fellows know
what trylHg tAiag = Is u oe a loco
motive engineer. Vel, ! c&B tel yea
that il VIII 90 = mans nerves more harm
than anything else. AlcoAol and 10
bacc0 are mere gTl1es Ia comparison,
syea Is .1ey bS used 70 excess. ! dldnt
STAY long IN the business like excite
ueut. ouI running q cannon 6Sll ex-
press whese schedule time was SIXTY
miles "a hoaT is httle TOO much even
e. me BCE the three mOnIas TINE
th.l / ran 30. g was not sufficient fer
me To realize tie INJURY II was doing nay
nervous system. 80 tazt Wa rot tie
real reason thar I'D 70 my abandonment
OF the throttle forever
II had only besn on. as | said. about
three uoatAs. when by some csTelessn=ss
or vicioasness one Ct the engines. known
as a mountain climber. got away with
fun steam on and started down the road
GA a message Of death and destruotion
had just finished a long run and was
preparing 10 go home. when the train
dispatcher rushed wildly out OF MS Office
and told the news The track had been
cleared. be said. and there WAS nothing
% stop the mad rash Of the locomotive
until il should dash into the station Al
Galveston and plow its way through
bricks and mortar until both the build
ing and the locomotive were ruined
HIS GREAT NERVE.
Il had plenty OF nerve then. and sup
pose by your laughing you think have
lost none of it, but am free 10 confess
that / would not dare 10 undertake the
task | successfully accomplished that
day Perhaps it was the excitenent
and enthusiasm Of the moment which
led me 20 volunteer 10 lasso that locOmO-
tive. | always smile when | recall the
look of increduhty that met my conf
dent assertion that | could catch and ar
rest the mad flight of the runaway. but
| was so confident that they gave me
hearing, and 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-
gine, with steam slowly coming up
again. and pulling out as rapidly as pos
sible to meet the oncoming terror.
1t was impossible for the train dis
patcher TO give me any accurate idea as
to where the runaway was. The best
he could do was TO say that it had passed
a small station about IS miles up the
road some ten minutes before moving at
the rate Of aboCt 90 miles an hour. A
few minutes more and with steam up
had my engine moving at the rate Of co
miles Sn hour and going straight at the
runaway on the same track. ran this
way for abour twenty-five minutes
when. as near as / could calculate. the
runaway had done 81 miles and | had
covered 2j. If NY calculations were
correct there were still some III miles
between Us. 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 my speed until we
settled down to comfortable 80 miles
an hour. the Irish lad meanwhile keep
ing ON terrific pressure Of steam.
or TIRE SAME TRACK.
I'VE might have run into almost any
I thing. for | did not look ahead at all;
my eyes were strained until they paired
me looking up the track for the run
away 1t might have been ten minutes.
more or less--it seemed hike years to me.
Finally we heard the rumble aad roar of
the monster. Ii didn't take her long to
/ heave in sight. and she was coming 4
( humming. For the first time. confess.
! | lost my nerve. 1t was only momcntary.
however. and then opened my throttle
/ and away we went. There wGs a good
mile Of straight track between us when
first caught sight of her; then we
/ turned Il curve and she was out Of sight
If not out Of hearing. When she did
come she had gained on Us pretty nearly
+ half a mile.
II shut eE steam a trife, and when
we struck level piece Of track but a
quarter Of a mile separated us. l told
irish 70 keep Gp pressure. and the way
be did it it's a wonder the boiler Of "a
didn't bust. She kept getting nearer
and nearer. and It was ali could do tc
keep from throwing wide the throttle
and speeding away from her. But
kept my nerves as steady rs though they
were Of iron. Nearer aud nearer she
came. until could actually imagine she
was plowing her WAY through rs. Final
~ she closed IN upon us. and | ASSURE
you that SO nearly equal had succeeded
in making the speed that the shock wa'
little. If any. greater than that felt upor
the coupling of two cars.
Il di1 not hesitate en- instant. bu'
jammel DOM the steam valve tight
sprsng uIsou the tender Of my engine
+ difficult task even foT an athlete Ike
then was-ana from there sSvuug uysei
upon the engine Il was the work O
scarcely half a minute to clsnber n th'
cab and jsb down the stesm valve there
We ran possibly a mile before We can't
20 q standsau. and By that time I VA
as limp as rag snd shaking Ike maj
with tie arue We coupled the engines
snd n half "a hoar had shsm both safell
houssl in Galveston
That wss ny lAst experience 20 = u
comoUve engineer. Yo1 c7aid never &c
ne 70 steer cab again. "--Pittsburl
Press
Lily white Fienr
+ Is made from the choicest wheat, cars