Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1892-08-09
GOATS ON RAILWAYS.
A LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEER coil
PL AIMS or THEIR CONDUCT.

OF An Animals Encountered BY Railroad
| Enginssrs Goats Are the Most Dreaded.
Hog. Are Dangerous Creatures to Run
Down. However
.Of all animals that wander along the
railroad track" declared a veteran loco
motive engineer on the Philadelphia and
| Reading. goats are the most irritating
| It's next to impossible to kill them, anu
that's not the least tantalizing feature
about them from the standpoint Of ON
profession No matter how fast you
| may be running or how quietly you steal
down upon him. Mister Goat will SEE
you ont of the corner of his eye and
| manage to get out of the way lRst III
time to miss the cowcatcher rs the Ell
| CINE rushes by him. Cows and horses
| are generally disposed OF with ease
| though sometimes they get under the
wheels and cause bad wreck. Bu,
| they are SO large that the pilot gets I'M
| der them and throws them to one side
The goat, though. nearly always sue
ceeds in getting us worked up TO high
| pitch of nervousness and then contriveS
| to get off without scratch, and that's
| what we don't like.
Speaking of striking animals on the
rail-" continued the engineer "the one
| thing we most dread on the track is "a
| hog Nine chances ont Of ten the no.
| will throw YOU He is tough and greasy
| you know. and if an engineer has any
show at all it's best TO stop the train us
| quick as can be and drive the animal OIL
| the track.
when the pilot of an engine hits a
hog it usually knocks him down and
| then rolls him for Il few yards before the
| trucks strike him, and when they do
! there's great danger of their leaving the
rails. The drivers are almost certain To
| follow the trucks, and if You don't so
down the bank You're lucky. 5, you
see what havoc one piy can make with "A
| railroad.
Another disayreeablo thing about "a
| pig is that he never stops squealing from
| tho time he is hit until he is stone dead
Only a few days ago big freight train
WAS derailed by striking hog near
| Euphrata Our main line is compare
tiNtiN lltC iltiti SNiitN hpNa
days, but somehow the hogs still show d
perverse fancy for getting on the tracks
| on some of our branches.
Sheep are the most pitiful Of all ami
mails to run down. They seem to realize
tho danger they are in and huddle to
gcthcr between the rails, awaiting death
| Their innocent eyes stare at You so
mournfully and sadly that they haun,
| yuu Tor days to come. \ locomotive
seems to take il savage delight in dc,
stroying sheep. II throws them in every
direction and will kill whole flock in
| all instant,
II struck a flock of geese once" the
engineer proceeded, all squattcd down
over the tics Well. | never thought
| there We're So many feathers in the
world | couldn't sec anything for
feathers for ten minutes. and when we
reached the station my engine looked us
| if it had received coat of tar and |
feathers"
Here tho engineers eyes began TO
sparkle aud he stopped talking to hold
his fat sides, shaken by suppressed
laughter over Il funny recollection
"Aicntioning feathers" he explained,
af;rr pause "calls to my mind Il com
zeal experience had Il f''w y W. a%p.
when WAS running II fast limited pas
sengcr train over the Penn ylvan!di:. II
line from Pittsbur3 TO Philadelphia
Wee. gone whooring through the toxin
If Huntington, on the ,lult:..tl, NitAoat
stopping, and had whirlcd safely Iroaud
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