The Portland daily press., 1892-06-18
GOATS ON RAILWAYS.
A Locomotive Engineer Complains Of
Their Conduct.
Of All Animals Encountered by Railroad
Engineers Goats Are tho Most Dreaded.
Hogs Arc Dangerous Creatures to Run
Down, However.

Hogs 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, and
that's not the least tantalizing feature
about them from the standpoint Of our
profession. No matter how fast you
may be running or how quietly you steal
down upon him, Mister Goat will see
you out Of the corner Of his eye and
manage to get out of the way just in
time to miss the cowcatcher as the en-
gine rushes by him. Cows and horses
are generally disposed of with ease
though sometimes they get under the
wheels and cause bad wreck But
they are SO large that the pilot gets un-
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 a scratch, and that's
what we don't like.
Speaking of striking animals on the
rail-" continued the engineer, 'sthe one
thing we most dread on the track is a
hog. Nine chances out of ten the hog
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 as
quick as can be and drive the animal off
the track.
"When the pilot of an engine hits
hog it usually knocks him down and
then rolls him for 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 go
down the bank you're lucky. So you
see what havoc one pig can make with
railroad.
'Another disagreeahle thing about a
pig is that he never stops squealing from
the time he is hit until he is stone dead.
Only few days ago big freight train
was derailed by striking a hog near
Euphrata. Our main line is compare
lively free from wandering swine nowa-
days, but somehow the hogs still show a
on some of our branches
''Sheep are the most pitiful of all ami
mails to run down. They seem to realize
the danger they are in and huddle to-
gether between the rails, awaiting death.
Their innocent eyes stare at you so
mournfully and sadly that they haunt
you for days to come. A locomotive
seems to take savage delight in de-
stroying sheep. It throws them in every
direction and will kill whole flock in
an instant.
81 struck flock of geese once" the
engineer proceeded, call squatted down
over the ties. Well, / never thought
there were 80 many feathers in the
world. I couldn't see anything for
feathers for ten minutes, and when we
reached the station my engine looked as
if it had received coat of tar and
feathers"
Here the engineers eyes began to
sparkle and he stopped talking to hold
his fat sides, shaken by suppressed
laughter over funny recollection.
Mentioning feathers" he explained,
after pause, 'tcalls to my mind COM
ical experience had few years ago,
when I was running fast limited pas
senger train over tie Pennsylvania main
line from Pittsburg to Philadelphia.
We'd gone whooping through the town
of Huntington, on the Juniata, without
stopping, and had whirled safely around
the base Of the ridge east of there when
we struck little stretch of straight
level between high dirt banks, known as
Snyder's cut. l cast my eye on ahead
as we scudded along to a wagon road
crossing near the end of the cut. Just
as we approached it team was driven
down from the turnpike at the right
side, apparently intending to cross. But
instead Of crossing the team stood stock
still. Two men were in the wagon, and
they seemed to be having an alteration
as to whether they should cross or go
back. AS compromise they just stood
there on the track. l reversed the en-
gine and shrieked down brakes, but it
was too late. We struck the team square
in the middle, and then-oh, myp
Here the engineer laughed immoder-
ately. Then he resumed: "The men in
the wagon were evidently farmers re-
turning from town after a days mar
keting, carrying home with them a
queer cargo of store goods Curious
to relate, they weren't hurt in the least,
nor were the horses. The wagon, until
we cut it clean in two, contained
feather bed and keg of nails.
"We struck them all at the same in
slant. Whewl The nails flew way up
in the sky, as itseemed, and came down
with a peppering rattle over the roofs
OF all the coaches in the train for at
least five minutes. The feathers scat
tered far and wide through the air like
snowstorm, and seemed to come from
thousand busted feather beds instead
Of one. Cor. New York World. :
How Chame1eons Climb.
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