The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1892-09-09
BEFORE THE ENGINE.
Animals That Meet Death on the
Railroad Track.
Veteran Locomotive Engineer Re
Iates His Expcriences-The AMI
mails He Most breads TO
Encounter.

Encounter.
"Of all animals that wander along the
railroad track" declared a veteran loco
motive engineer to a Washington Star
reporter, 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, Mr.. Goat will see you
out of the corner of his eye and manage
to get away Just IN time t. miss the
cowcatcher as the engine rushes by him
at lightning speed. Cows and horses
are generally disposed OF with ease,
though sometimes they get under the
wheels and cause a bad wreck. But
they're So large that the pilot gets under
them and throws them OFF u one side.
The goat, though, nearly always sue
cccdS in getting Us worked To high
pitch of nervousness and then contriveS
10 get off without a 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 To meet on The
II Il IlNk 'NN -
ten the hog'll throw you. tie is tough
and greasy, you know. and If an engi-
neer has any show at all it's best FOR
him to stop the train as quick as it can
be done and drive the animal OFF the
track.
When the pilot of an engine hits
hog il 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 you're lucky if you don't go down
the bank. SO you see what havoc one
pig can make with Il railroad. Another
disagreeable thing about a pig is that
he never stops squealing from the time
he is hit until he is stone dead.
sheep are the most pitiful of all ami
mails to run down. They seen to re-
alizc the danger they're i'll and huddlc
together between the rails awaiting
death. Their innocent eyes stare at
you So mournfully and sadly that they
haunt You for days to come. loco
motive seems to take savage delight
in destroying sheep. 1t throws them in
every direction and will kill a whole
flock in an instant.
Il struck a flock of geese once" pro
ceeded the engineer. We'll, | never
thought there were 50 many feathers in
the world. l couldn't see anything but
feathers for ten minutes, and when we
reached the station my engine looked
as if she had received a coat of tar and
feathers"
Here the engineers eyes began To
sparkle, and he stopped talking to hold
his fat sides, shaken with suppressed
laughter over funny recollection.
Mentioning feathers" he explained
after a pause, recalls To my mind
comical experience | had few years
ago in running fast limited passenger
train over the Pennsylvania main line
from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia. We'd
gone through the town of Huntingdon,
on the Juniata, without Stacking up,
and had whirled safely around the base
of the ridge east of there, when we
struck a little stretch of straight level
between high dirt banks, known as
Snyder's cut. l east my eyes on ahead
as we scudded along to a wagon road
crossing near the lower end of the cut.
Just as we approached it a twO-hOrSe
team was driven down from the turn
pike at the right side, apparently with
the intention to cross. But instead of
crossing the team stood 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 a
compromise they just stood there on the
track. l reversed the engine and
whistled down brakes, but it was too
late. We struck the team square in the
middle, and then-O, my"
Here the engineer laughed without
restraint. Then he resumed: The
men In the wagon were evidently
farmers returning from town in bois-
ferrous humor after days market
ing, carrying home 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 il
clean in two, contained 4 feather bed,
a lteg OF nails and barrel of whisky.
Now We struck them all At the same
instant. The nails flew way up in the
sky, as il seemed, and came down with
peppering rattle over the roofs OF all
the coaches in the train for at least five
minutes. The feathers scattered far
and wide through the air like driving
thousand bursted feather beds instead
of one. The whisky got mixed with
the feathers, and spurted high up in
every direction. falling in fine spray
principally over the engine. the tender
and the first couple of coaches. The
whisky and feathers clung to the tops
and sides OF the ears and against the
window panes for the remainder OF the
trip, and the passengers, as | was told
afterward. all got thirsty with vain
longings from shifting the rum-soaked
atmosphere. 1t was altogether the fun
niest mess | ever was in, and the strang-
est combination. Think of it-nails,
whisky and feathers-all flying through
the air and following US for miles and
miles. O, N.Y. And the jolly engineer
laughed again and again, until he
actually cried, at the picture he had in
mind.