The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1892-07-28
BEFORE THE ENGINE


uBObIV0 ChklnCcI ND U w WdSn1DQJOll 0IdI
reporter, goats are the most irritating.
Its 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, MIR. Goat will see you
out Of the corner Of his eye and manage
to get away just In time to miss the
cUwcatcher as the engine rushes by him
a& lightning speed Cows and horses
are generally disposed Of with ease,
though sometimes they get under the
wheels and cause . bad wreck. But
they 80 large that the pilot gets under
them and throws them off to one side
The goat, though, nearly always sue
ceeds IN getting rs worked 10 high
pitchof nervousness and then contrives
TO get off without SCRATCH. and that's
what we don't like.
speaking Of striking entnals On che
rail-" continued the engineer, "tte one
thing we most dread to meet On the
track Is q hog. Nine chances out Of
ten the hog1l throw You. He ts tough
and greasy, you know. and Il an engi-
neer has any show q all It's best fG
him to stop the train as quick an II csA
be done and drive the animal oR tie
| track.
"when the pilot q an engine hits .
| hog Il usually knocks him down, and
then rolls him for few yards before
che trucks strike hims sssd when
| they do there's great danger Of
their leaving the raila The drivers
ere almost certain TO follow the trucks,
and you're lucky II You don't go down
the bank. So you see what havoc one
pig can make with q railroad Another
disagreeable thing about q pig is that
he never stops squealing from the time
he is hit until he is stone dead.
''Sheep are the most pitaful of all ani-
mails to run down. They seem to re-
alize the danger they're in and huddle
| together between the rails swaiting
death. Their innocent eyes stare ct
you so mournfully and sadly that they
haunt you for days to come A loco
! motive seems to take q savage delight
, in destroying sheep. It throws them in
! every direction and will kill whole
) flock in an Instant. &'s.s~ I
/ I STRUCK Aock Of geese once" pro-
(, ceeded the engineer. well, I never
| Thought there We're so many feathers IN
th4 world. couldn't see anything hut
! feathers for ten minutes, and when we
| reached the station my engine looked
! as II she had received 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 pause, recalls to my mind q
comical experience l 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 little stretch of straight level
between high dirt banks, known Us
Snyder's cut. cast my eyes on ahead
as we scudded along to wagon road
crossing near the lower end of the cut
just as we approached it q two-horse
team was driven down from the turn
pike at the right side, apparently with
tuc lutcHtlOu W CEOSa bUO hASOScAl "a
crossing the team stood still Two men
were in the wagon, and they seemed to
be having On alteration as to whether
they should cross or 60 back AS
compromise they Just stood there on the
track. reversed the engine and
whistled down brakes. but it was too
lata 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 q queer cargo
of store goods' Curious to relate they
weren't hurt In the least, nor were the
horsea. The wagon. until we cut u
clean in two, contained feather bed
keg of nails and barrel od whisky.
"Now we struck them all at the same
Instant The nails few way up In th<
sky, as it seemed, and came down with
. peppering rattle over the roofs OF al
the coaches in the train for at least fivt
minutes The feathers scattered IA.
and wide through the air like q driving
snowstorm and seemed to come from 6
thousand bursted feather beds insteal
of one. The whisky got mixed Will
the feathers, and spurted high up II
every direction. falling in q fine spray
principally over the engine, the tender
and the first couple of coaches Tx
whisky and feathers clung to the top
and sides OF the cars and against tht
window panes for the remainder Of ths
trip, and the passengers, as was told
afterward, all got thirsty with vair
longings from shifting the rumreoakei
atmosphere. It was altogether the fun
NEST mess ever Yves in, and the strang
est combination Think Of it-nails
whisky and feathers-an flying througt
the air and following us for miles and
miles. o. myf" And the jolly enginee'