Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1892-11-15
SAVED BY LIGHTS1s|
NARROW ESCAPE or ru,,>
FROM DESPERATE aoss.. ~

besP"er, Who ToIfs - ~ a
Wa. b'a"d Hand and Foot =,
Bolt Knocked Out the Ls.s. =
Fire to the Station.
As the following sensntions,
direct from the lips Of 4 wssts.' ~ ~ 7
pher, who made one Of the ers..a NJ
tellers. he playing an imot,rts - y q MI
incident, and ~ his vernrit- a. ~ !
been questioned, the tale r,..s - M
cepted at the proper value - -. .. IL
truth and 20 pass into the rscs,.S u
undoubted from the wild and ss...,.l ~
I'm my early experiences WHY n ~
graph business, " said he. II wss 81. - ~ ~ Z
place called Medicine Hat . 8 Y ::
OF shanties on the Northern ps..s
road, ~ operator, ticket agent .,sss 1' i.
agent. Medicine Hat could -
among the towns as being ,h,s.s
from nowhere. What littIe h,..ss
done was on account Of 4 Mai.
some thirty miles back In tia NY v!a1
The entire population Of Man.. !.
could have been easily crowdss q. ~
little village station. ~ ~
Zone night, after d tiav ~ ~. 3 Il
try weather that had ernes;a ~
months, was detained nj mn I 49,, n =
count OF delayed trains. A Conc. 8
roll o. thunder, accompanied g. y
flashes OF lightning in the distance q.
me OF an approaching storm. frstt.S -
stormed, ~ ! wanted to get to ~ k,ss.g
ing shanty, about quarter 81 ! s.s,.
the country road, before the sta,r, w,
! was leaning back in my chair ,' 49, I
over the events that had brought =.
when suddenly voice broke llnon ~ !. u
Hold up your hands, quickp ~ e Il !
Balancing up l saw q huge ,...,.
pointed through the little windov 4 \. ]
wall through which sold ticketa ~, y 4.
hind it weird mask, with terrih ~, .,,'l''
ing eyes In endeavoring to comm. ~, ~ !
the command, especially the iatt., ~ :
junction, my chair swung around. =, II. +
struck on the edge OF the table ANA ~ .. w.
scious rolled to the floor. - -a'se
when ! reGained my wits FINN, =.
self lying on the floor Of the outer ~s,,;sl.
room bound hand and foot. with -!
ungainly looking fellow standing ~. - q
with Winchester The storm had 49, $. 5
over us, and the wind, rain, liehtnins 49, =
thunder were something terrific.
"Ali at once my trained ear carobt Il.
sound Of the telegraph sounder. ana ~,
.ng my head perceived man at nv Al.
working away at my key. He vns 4
, mask. but this did not disguise the ~
that he was a young man. As the chr :
tiers were licked of and came to INV ~,
knew he was feeling his way as to tbs Is.
ton OF the delayed trains. also notie,i +
that he frequently arose and made ~ \
the ground wire from the switchbosra
which cut off the main Office, In which =.
located the train runner of the d;vis;os
AT frequent intervals sharp cracks az lion.
ming would re-echo through the rum !,
they struck the arrester on the svitrk
But the man worked on totally obliv;os,
of his surroundings
suddenly caught the drift Of what Il
was sending out over the wire and was bo
rified to learn that he was trying to nj.
nipulate the train orders SO as to cause,
wreck. Trains Al and 4s passed each otbe,
about five miles up the road from nv II
ton, and he was sending out orders with
cool, steady hand to train AZ to take sid
ing about ten miles east Of Medicine Hal
and to train 4S to pass AZ at the regular
place. These orders would have thrown
the two trains, which were heavily ladies'
with passengers and express matter, to
gether very near my station.
Il could easily hear the sounder, and
| from his orders knew the would I've wreck
er was an expert telegrapher and thorough
| ly familiar with train running. Eyev
now and then the wrecker would raise biz
hand from the key as a more severe stroke
of lightning would come in over the VIM
but he was too intent on his deadly work
to desist. The tramp of heavy boots on
the platform outside told me that the con
templated wreck was an organized scheme
for robbing the express company and pas
| sengers.
my mind was in horrible whirl and
| freq aently strained at my bindings to get
my hands loose, but savage curse from
my guard warned me to be careful or ny
life would not be worth much. On aacouu.
Of the trains being behind time | knew
they would be pushed to their utmost
| speed by the engineer, and If they came 70
gether the wreck would be a horrible one
1.-The storm continued to increase in force
and peal after peal of thunder reechoed
over and above the little station Stillths
wrecker at the key kept steadily at work
weaving his web Of destruction. Suddenly
he called out in voice of mingled salts
faction and devilish glee:
"'Ah, that fixes the matter all right
Forty seven has signed the orders at tho
water tank and In ten minutes they'll 90
together. Tell the men to spread out
up
HE never finished the sentence
binding flash at the switchboard, shrek
from the wrecker and the Office appeared
to be one mass of flame. My guard rushed
from the building, aud with mighty q.
fort wrenched my hands free and pulled
myself through the door. The little sta
tion was dry as tinder the oil from INC
trainmen's lamps added to the combusti
BILE nature of it's makeup, and IN mo'ien'
flames were breaking out in every part
with loud cries several of the wreck
er's confederates dashed toward the n'.s
room to pull their leader out, but the n'a,
drove them back, and as voices were nea y.
up the country road coming towaru 'ns
station they all disappeared in the osiA'
ness.
"A man named Humpty Logan an'lea
my legs, rs my hands were useless W ~
count of the great numbness occasio D:.t,
by the tightness of the thongs, ana iqu'9 q.
ly explained the situation TO hiiii' =.
hunted up lamp and dashed ao" ,;s ~
track and around the curve IN one un y.
ton, while swung the lantern upop -
train coming down the straight p'e.s :
track to the station in the other direc''o.
Ny lantern was not seen by the enginss.
but the burning station acted as ua aus
signal and the train drew up at the s.ass. -,
the engineer totally ignorant Of the oa, -
they were escaping and only 1n'ens a. x.
helping to subdue the flames. lwsn'' ~.