The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1892-07-26
BEFORE THE ENGINE.
Animals That Meet Deeth on the
Railroad Track.
A Veteran Locomotive Engineer Re.
latea Ills Expcricnccs-The AMI
mails IIo Most breads to
Encounter.

motive engineer to 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 to miss the
cowcatchcr as the engine rushes by him
ut lightning speed. Cows and horses
arc generally disposed of with ease,
though sometimes they get under the
wheels and canse bad wreck. But
they're SO large that the pilot gets under
them and throws them off to one side.
The goat. though, nearly always sue
ceeds in getting us worked to n high
pitch of nervousness and then contrives
to get off without 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
track is n hog. Nine chances out of
ten the hog'll throw you He is tough
and greasy, you know, and if On engi-
neer has any show at all it's best for
him to stop the train as quick rs it can
be done and drive the animal Off the
track
when the pilot of an engine hits n
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 you're lucky if you don't 90 down
the bank So you see what havoc one
pig can make with n railroad. Another
disagrecable thing about 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 seem to re
alize the danger they're in and huddle
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 a savage delight
iii 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-
ceedcd the engineer. 'Wen, I never
thought there were so 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 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 q pause, recalls to my mind a
comical experience 1 had few wears
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 as
Snyder's cut. cast my eyes on ahead
as we scudded along to n wagon road
crossing near the lower end of the cut.
Just as we approached it 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 juststood there ON the
track. reversed the engine and
whistled down brakes, but it was too
late. We struck the team square in the
middle, and thcn-O, my!"
Here the engineer laughed without
restraint. Then he resumed: 'The
men IN the wagon were evidently
farmers returning from town in n bois-
ferrous hnmor after n days market
ing, carrying home 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 a feather bed,
keg of nails and barrel of whisky.
Now we struck them all at the same
instant. The nails flew way up in the
sky, as it 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 Il driving
snOwstorm and seemed to come from q
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 chung to the tops
and sides of the cars and against the
window panes for the remainder of the
trip, and the passengers, as was told
afterward, oil got thirsty with vain
longings from shifting the rum-soaked
atmosphere. 1t was altogether the fun
niest mess I ever was in, and the strang-