The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1891-02-21
PROVIDENCE GAVE THE SIGNAL,

r. =
vcutcd O. ;,atlrvad Accident,
A Gos,u railroad engineers and con.
ductors met BY chance the other day
and an oll gray hair1d veteran ot the
cab told a story, lie hal been "A cngt-
nc2r with a hig reputation a. "rua.
nor in tGe days gone by, but ua account
Of failing nerves ard cyosjEh, WGs now
enjoying an easy berth Ground the
Shoys. lie e@il
III waa when the cid y, III, and 3.
was first opened up" ho began. "l was
pullm' passenger ani took thcirst coach
over the read. got ~ goolrua-Mtday
work and was holdm' her down asa
good thing. Bout u year after we'd Eot
to doin' good business / had somv cN.
ira ruuuin and lest ny turn fcrawA'!t,
and run uighttall OF the time, lt was
my last trip before iii g2t hacE tony
own run. and | WAS tc,ln' glad tu ,>tt
ON 20 the day trick again,
wed had some mighty had weather
and lots of water fell Our track WAS
m pretty good shape, though, and We
didn't much fear w&ghouts So We Ecps
up with the card pretty well, On the
night spoke about was On No,9, We
had heavy train, but the machine |
had was able to get there, and | wal
ON time till We struck q freight that
couldn't take the siding. They swung
MS down, and we side tracked until the
freipht 70; away l was pretty warm
over losing the time, and when we ht
out of there I pulled her right Up 10 the
notch and she went for all sine was
worth.
I'VE were making about for,y-tive
miles an hour, and whca we reached the
fill east Of Wildcat worked stcam al
the way down. We were bout hall
way TO the creek when the he'll rang. !
worked mighty quick, lUt IL was down
hill and the rails were wet and didn't
get stopped until tine pilot was almost
over the brilge-or whore the bridge
ought 20 be-cause whca igtoVped the
headlight was shining over chasn.
The bridge was washed away. CAD!
You can tell just bout bow | felt. 1IE
fireman nearly tainted, ana wasn't tar
behind him. Well. after We stepped the
conductor, q silSrt chap with a fancy
lamp and rubber collar, came uruutin
up wautin' to know why Istuppyd.
"''CaUse the L,lI rang. What Gid
you pull the rope tor| | says.
"'I didn't says uc.
"'Wcl. who dii%
mo one says Ic. hot like.
"'WeI, some enc pulled it or J
wouldn't a stopped, says !.
The con looked at mc . minute, and
Just then the brakeman cameU N.
Did you pull the rope, Joef aaid the
'con.
mo says joe
"Just Of a sudden thought struck
me. and | told the 'brakcy' to Gsk the
porter. The coon hadn't pulled the
bell, ard the passengers in his car were
all asleep until jcriled them cndways
with the air. tool; the conductor
around to the front end ana showed him
the bridge. He was scared TO death, ana
we Went back together through tae
train to see who pulled tie bell rope, but
every mothers son Of them swore 1t
wasn't touched | began TO get scared
again and told them about the bridge,
and everybody came out TO Look 1T it.
I'VE couldn't Gnd any one VINO gave the
signal, and after we'd Tagged back to
the station l got 70 taiuGin' more and
more, and | came to the.opinion that the
bell was rung ~ Providence There
was lJ0 people on the train, and if that
bell hadn' rung Ia took tham all over
into the Wildcat, and dropped them
about one hundred feet into the water.
There wouldn't be anybody left TO tell
about it. either.
The superintendent looked into the
thing after reported, and had me and
Joe up 'on the carpet twice, but we
both heard the bell, and sworc to it.
Some chap got cut q long explanation
that the bell rope was tight stretched,
and we struck low joint coming down
the hill, when one end Of the coach
sagged, and the rope being tight it rang
the bell, but l don't believe it. 1t was
Providence tfHt lid it, and know it,
and I've never swore an oath since, and
never will. ."--Kansas City Star.