The Durham daily globe. (Durham, N.C.) 1889-1894, 1892-12-31
ON H ALEGAZAM.
A GRAPHIC STORY OF A THRILLING
RAILROAD WRECK.

w = "tic ElIlILS III ~ NAOo 49,
IF the sleeper and the conversation I'M
pleasantly enough, drifted into the ques-
ton Of railroad wrecks. 1t was strange.
too, that this should be, for we were al!
old hands at travelling. That sort Of
ueOple seldom talk about wrecks, but we
were soon in the thick Of it, every man
# Us telling his experiences" SO spoke
James A. Hart, to whose mind this story
vas brought by the occurrence OF sew
cral bad wrecks in the east. 1--WE were
travelling from II town to another
won't say where-on a road | will cali
the Alcgazam, because | don't want to
make bad friends Of the railroad people.
But the experience is worth telling, for
ri never forget it if | live TO be a thou
-.. years and "A day old. There was
o..o Dig fellow in the smoker-a drum
rner who evidently was a kicker. At all
events be did noe like the Alegazam
road. why. said he, it wouldn't sur
prise me a bit If we were to go smash
before the night is over. | never rifle
ON this road without buying ten dollars
worth Of accident policy. Oh, this Ale
gazam is a beauty. If there was a
morse car line alongside of it | would
take that. The big drummer was get
ting to be a nuisance III the converse
ton.
'At the end Of every horrible tale ne
would brighten up and say: That isn't
IA marker to what will happen some day
on the Alegazam. Mark my words.
This road is Il hOodoO if there ever was
one Our cigars were smoked ont as
Cl-urs will be- smoked out, and we re-
tired for the night. The drummer's
berth WAS only a few numbers from
mine, and as he got into bed he pOlled
his head ont between the curtains ard
said III a hoarse whisper, Let yOur body
hang half ont the window SO you'll be
on hand when it strikes and then turned
in, and, | don't doubt, went sound to
sieep, never looking for an accident. not
withstanding all his talk.
Now, a railroad wreck is a funny
thing" continued Mr.. Hart. Every
body thinks he's the last maj out and
the last 10 hear the shock, and cOnse-
qusntly thinks there's no hope for him.
People don't stop to consider that in
ninety-nine out Of Il hundred wrecks the
damage is all done at once or not at all.
And this case is Il good eXemplar. ]
sleep soundiy but lightly when travel.
and ! am Il ready walker when there is
any unusual nuise-that is, noise not
caused by the travel of the train over
the rails. This night | turned in
with Il smile at my drummer's fears ana
was fast asleep III ten minutes. The
ru~b-a-dub-dub of the wheels sung me
into IA sound slumber, and I'm sure |
don't know how long it lasted until
was awakened by Il combination Of tire
things, and pretty thoroughly awakened
ut that. First, the train had stopped
and there was no rattle. Then | heard
II voice cry ont in the night outside:
For Gods sake stop that engine!
And then following that up almost
instautaneously there was a great crash
ing sound Of breaking glass. That was
all. Following this there was a silence
80 profound that | could hear my watch
tn.ing under my pillow. What dia it
mean: y thousand questions rushed
into my head in the second Of time that
followed the breaking of the glass. But
before | had time to get out Of the berth
I voice rang through the car in "A tone
tie like Of which | never heard before
and hope never - hear again
Jump for rour lives"
i have heard and seen some queer
things IN my day, but before | heard
ilAt voice | never knew what horror
meant. The feeling of a mans WHOLE.
If, was concentrated into that yo,,...
and it struck into nv nerves rs r,iy,t :,
streak of lightning that had no fs.,..r "a
Kill.
Us | jumped Ia The -i,ani va.
rushed up tie track / saw a~up-oac
our train on the same track. comju~ T..
meet our engine. tn" b,'"l.g1t Of aa
other locomotive. that h,",..I-at a"a
the dark outlines of the engine hchi.a
it looked to lac like suilo horrible r,;u,
ater from another world. 1t was ul,:.
than 4 simple piece of machinery. IA.
thing was alive. and seemed TO br about
ten times as large as il really was. The
impression | had of it then was the most
singular feeling | ever knew, and | cant
describe II E~varCthirr h,I h.aD l,-.