Evening capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1888-1893, 1891-08-05
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An Engineer Prevents n Terrible Col
Iision with Gunpowder Wagons.

An Engineer Prevents n Terrible Col
Iision with Gunpowder Wagons.
Nathaniel W. Gookin was a man of
always polite and obliging, but always
impressing those who came in contact
with him with a consciousness Of his
reserve and self reliance His decisions
were quickly made and instantly acted
on. On one occasion, while running
on the road, he was bringing a train
from Philadelphia to this city. When
he was nearing the grade crossing of
the road leading to Dumont's pier, on
the Delaware river, few miles above
this city, he saw two loaded powder
wagons approaching the railroad. The
foremost team had become unmanage-
able and was running away, followed
by the second team.
Engineer Gookin calculated that he
would meet one of those wagons at the
crossing There were no air brakes in
those days, and he could not stop in
time to avoid collision. If he slack
ened his speed he might avoid the first
wagon to collide with the second one
A collision meant an explosion, death
to himself and fireman, and the de-
struction of his train. There was but
one chance of escape, that was to in
crease his speed, outrun the horses and
pass ahead of the first team or perhaps
between the two wagons. He accepted
the issue quietly, threw his engine wide
open and waited.
A stranded fireman, who had begged
a ride from Philadelphia to Wilmington
on Gookin's engine that morning, told
the story of that trip to the writer. He
said:
'"That was the most thrilling expert
ence of my life. l saw the wagons as
soon as Gookin did, and made ready
to jump off. heard the click of the
valve and felt the old engine jump as
If she was trying to shake herself loose
from the cars. The train held her to
the iron or she surely would have left it.
"Gookin's eyes were fixed on the
crossing His countenance, except for
the flash of his eye and the compression
of his lips, was as immovable as If cut
from stone The train seemed to
be flying. The horses were evidently
ahead in the race to the crossing They
would get there first, but would they
get over2
"On they came, running as horses
wild with fright only can run, and on
we sped as if trying to meet them, col.
lide with and explode the wagon load
of powder Great Scott, how those
horses did runl 1t had only been a
minute or two since we first saw the
wagons. 1t seemed like lifetime We
had only run a mile or two, but it
seemed as if we had run around the
world. The space between the engine
and wagon closed. They were appar-
emily at the crossing together The
second team was SO close that its horses
and wagon must be piled up on wreck
of engine and cars in second COLI
sion.
''As the feet of the horses of the lead
ing team touched the track at the cross
| ing shut my eyes in horror to await
the collision and the explosion which
was sure would follow. The train few
over the crossing in safety. The first
team had beaten the engine and cleared
the track. We had passed between the
two wagons | opened my eyes and
looked back to note what had occurred.
The first team was passing toward the
pier; the second one was still on the
west side of the tracks with the wagon
overturned. 1t had been so near that
the horses, turning suddenly to avoid
the rushing train, had upset the wagon.
'"That train went into Wilmington at
full speed Gookin blew for brakes
and shut off steam in time to stop at
the station, but when that was done his
nerves gave out and he was helped
from the engine. Wilmington News.