Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1891-02-07
A CHAT WITH AN ENGINEER.
How Children and Drunkea Men WeFTy ~
knights Of the Throttle
AN OLD RAILROAD ENGINEER RILArHs cnAPrEh
OF RxPERrEScEs-How THoUoHTtEss DoYs AND
GIRLS AND DRUNKEN MEN CAUSE xxpIHs
TRoUBLE-A rRArxs NARROW ESCAPE.

u
that sends his heart upon an exploring sxpsdi
ton and his hair skyward.
Out on Maryland avenue near the Long
bridge freight train lay on the siding ono
evening waiting for the IF. F. "" or Chssa-
peake and Ohio flyer to come in - as to allow
il TO pull onto the main track and start on II,
| trip south. The conductor and brakeman Of
the freight were in their caboose closely hug.
ging the little stove therein when . SrAR re-
porter opened the door and walked in. The
intrusion was not received with any warmth OF
feeling BY the inmates, as plea for q free ride
was evidently seen in the prospective. but q
few words set matters right and the intruder
was soon on good terms.
''You'r e the chap that was down at che oil
house last week, Ill bet dollar" said the con-
ductor. 81 read your article in Saturdays
STAR and all the boys say it was all right except
thirty-six minutes. 1 think that engineer
dropped three or four minutes on account Of
the excitement"
When a railroad employee wants TO wager
money on an opinion IL is a never-failing in
dication that the pay car has reached him very
recently and, taking this as . good sign, az
his months check always puts a railroader in
good humor, the reporter endeavored to start
him talking about his experiences.
Having the opening paragraph Of this article
the assertion therein made, the reporter asked
the conductor what he most feared while on
duty.
WHAT THE CONDUCTOR YEARED.
"a broken brake riggin' every time. That
will pile the cars up quicker and grind us up
finer than any other break down. An engineer
is only caught in this sort Of accident when il
occurs on another train and he runs into the
wreck. Go up and see Jerry, the engineer.
He's in the engine attached to this train. We
won't go out for an hour yet and he's q good
talker. Put that question to him and you'll
start him."
Acting on the suggestion the reporter picked
his way over the ties and rails to the engine
and found Jerry. Strange to say the engineer
was closely perusing q small pamphlet, which
on closer inspection proved to be Ingersolrs
Mistakes of Moses" Many years close fellow
ship with the menbers of this craft leads the
writer to assert that the brilliant atheist has
more admirers therein than in any other call
ing: The writer knew two engineers once. but,
as kipling would say, that is another story.
AND THE ENaISEKR.
"Your business is very risky" the reporter
said, by way Of an introduction, 'but while you
are on duty what do you most fear, broken
axles or a run-in?''
Neither. Pesky children and drunk are
all that look out for" he replied, with a scowl
and an angry shake Of the head. "rve got O
boy at home twelve years old and I've told him
he can play truant. fight or even play base ball,
but if caught him near the railroad I'd akin
him.
ANY one,' continued the engineer, mot ac-
quainted with our duties cannot form an idea
to what trouble We are put by children and
drunken men. Time after time have seen
groups of children get together at street cross
ings and banter each other as to who would be
last to cross in front Of my engine. who could
stand the longest on the track or. after placing
their ears to the rails, see who could keep them
there the greatest length Of time. Then when
I'd become nervous and slacken up my engine
they'd stand off and laugh at me. Numerous
times have caught the children's hats or bon
nets on the cow-catcher as I rushed by when
their gatherings would keep them in front Of
the engine until almost knocked down. Then
again they have a fondness for placing stones
on the track to see the engine jump. This prac-
tice is not 30 dangerous to them as II ia to the
engine and the train. II they knew that the
swerving of the engine but the sixteenth Of an
inch while running at high speed is As likely
as not to make it leave the rails they, perhaps,
would not enjoy their sport SO keenly. But
they don't know it and they never think.
NARROW ESCAPE.
''Some years back there was group Of boys
who collected daily near the high bridge over
Gwynne's falls, on this road, and the placing of
stones on the track was their greatest delight.
The sport grew monotonous to them and, boy
at this point is spider affair and no bull
wark or safeguards are provided. From the
tracks to the rocks below the distance il fully
200 feet. When the idea Of placing larger mis-
siles on the track entered the heads Of this band
of scapegraces was not 1--WE miles away, going
north on fast schedule, and when came in
sight Of the spot designated the idea had erys-
talized into an iron bar about three inches
thick and foot long which they had placed on
one OF the rails-sI have been suspicious of
and when 1 observed that collection Of
young America rush up the bank and
stand there in expectant attitudes reversed
my engine quick thought and put on the
sand, but this didn prevent my engine and two
cars leaving the rails and running along on the
cross ties some ten feet out on the bridge be-
fore being stopped. That adventure turned
my hair gray and my fireman took the incident
as an omen and left the service. Had not my
knowledge of boy character asserted itself with
almost superhuman quickness there il no tell
ing upon what road would now be running;
l know IL would not be in this world, at any
rate. This watch I received from the passen-
gers on that train about month afterward "a
a token Of their thankfulness. The boys I
never saw again.
81 could 60 on and on indefinitely with
stories wherein boys have figured ~ the ruling
spiri. of evil. but they all amount to about the
same Observation-Disclosures
THE DRUNKEN MAN ON THE TRACK.
I'm the case Of drunken man il 10 different;
he has no thoughts. As soon a. they get full Of
liquor their evil genius seems to lead them
toward the railroad. No other place will satisfy
them, and il they can get in front of heavy
train that cannot be stopped they are in their
glory. Then we have to start the engine
whistling, sand to flying, brakemen scurrying
over the cars to the brakes and then when we are
just about to run him down this same evil
genius apparently grasps him by the collar,
yanks him of the track, and a. he leans over
against a neighboring car or fence he leers up at
rs and We catch his Few broken words: Never
touched me- 1t 10 incidents like these, happen
ing every day, that make railroadsrs in gen
era and engineers in particular habitual
blasphemers."
cAusEp n Dot.
"You spoke little ways back" said the re-
porter, ''of being suspicious of boys ever since
being railroader. What first aroused this
antagonism?'
"well." the engineer replied, ''the first wreck
was ever in was caused BY q boy. was 4 fire.
man at the time on a single-track road up In
Pennsylvania This youngsters father was my
engineer and the boy was continually hanging
around the round house, and his father had
given up trying to keep him away from the
| engines One day he crawled upon an
empty engine standing over the ash pit tina,
had just been brought in BY the hostler, pulled
wide open the throttle and then becomins
frightened jumped on. The engine started ~
the track like streak Of lightning. Through
startled the inhabitants and then out on o cleal
track IL sped. That day we were coming south
on an accommodation train, but making fas
time, and the runaway engine crashed into u
about three miles above the town out Of which
10 had escaped. It came upon us % sudden tina