The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1890-05-28
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.

| II have been a 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 l have made but three attempts
to ride any part Of one of my trips or spend
any time On d locomotive My first at
tempt was made some years ago, my sec
| ond one last February and my third only
week ago If live to be a travelling rail
road man for hundred years I'll never
make fourth attempt. III tell why.
in the summer of 1915 ! 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
| train l was waiting for would not be at
| Lackawaxen for two hours. AS we were
| talking Fuller got his orders and l 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
| he had telegram for me. The engine was
| then moving l seized the telegram, read
| it, and found orders in it for ne to go to
! Scranton the next day. l bade my old
! friend gOod-by, andtjumped of of the loco
| motive.
Nv lille was sitting at the hotel st Lack
| AWAKEN a couple of hours later, the neRs
came that Doc FulIer's engine had exploded
few miles west Of Port Jervis, and that
| Fuller, his fireman and the fagm8n of the
train, who was riding on the engine, were
ell killed. The news was too true. The
three men were literally torn to fragments
and were scattered for hundreds of feet
| around. Scarcely a splinter Of the locomo-
tive was left. That was the first instance
on record Of a locomotive boiler exploding
while the engine was running. Twas ter
| ribjy shocked at the fate Of my friend, and
| my thanllfulness for the telegram that
saved me from the same death may be i'm
agined.
Il had no inclination or cause to be a
passenger on a locomotive from that time
until one day in February last. was on
a business trip over the Baltimore and
Ohio road, and found myself laid up at the
little station of Benwood- l was all
| through, but there was no way to get any
where else for half 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
engineer. He hailed me, and without a
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'
81 Jumped from tie engine and got on
the caboose rs it came along. had scarcely
reached the platform before the whole train
and everythiISz IN town was shaken by the
most tremen OJus explosion | ever heard
The train stopped with a jam. | hurried
from the car with the rest and ran for
ward. | never saw such a 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 tiy
ing parts Of the locomotive that were
hurled on all sides. We Of course thought
that Cunningham and his fireman had
been torn to shTeds, when what was our
surprise to see Cunningham coming out Of
field 300 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 a scratch upon him.
His fireman WIS 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 one on record of
locomotive while in motion, and it was the
most miraculous one as 20 harnlessness to
life in the history of railSoading. What
my fate would have been if had not been
so opportunely called out of this cab l am
not prepared to say, but | vas entirely sat
istied that had been in the caboose at the
time of the explosion instead of in the lo-
comotive cab.
"A week or ten days ago I was in Sus-
quehanna, On the Erie railway, and went
to Lanesboro, mile below, ut the foot OF
the Starrucca viaduct, to have good view
of that stupendous piece of masonry from
below. While there walked TO the sta
tion of the Albany and Susquehanna rail
road, and there, with his locomotive on
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 of east On the Erie and
had not moment to lose in getting back TO
Susquehanna, got / of the engine and was
walking away when | heard the last 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, eli steam on.
The engine rushed forward. The siding
was short ard ended AT a high embank-
Inent 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 had discovered the
fact. There WAS nothing 70 keep the ex-
press from running on the siding right be-
hind him Il Morgan was out OF the way,
the enCInecr OF the express train could stop
his train with the air brakes ana avert dis
aster. If NOrgan's locomotive stoed IN the
way, q collision tn&t would undoubtedly
cause much loss cf life would result Nor
gan did not hesitate a second He drove
his locomotive ahead TO the end Of the
switch and beyond il. IL was hurled down
the high emb&E6Tneut, and turned bottom
side up ii the creek. The express tram
and its human freight were saved- Peer
Morgan was taken. unconScIousness, from
the wreck Of his engine, and hear that he
died the same night.
4 hadn't the nerve 70 write ny import
ant letters that night | b2d escaped tnnee /
times from death on locomotives. and L
then and there took VOW never 70 naks