The weekly Thibodaux sentinel and journal of the 8th Senatorial District. [volume] (Thibodaux, Lna. [i.e. La.]) 1875-1898, 1892-11-12
ON THE ALEGAZAM.
= GrlPrsC STORY Or 4 Thrilling
2.u2oEO WRECK.


w --z lifting = tae z1aok..Z c..
If the sle@E>- AM tae conversation m
Pleasantly enough. Grfted into tae gue-
uon II ra1lrJ4G wrecks. Il was strange.
TOO. that tais sh9ad be. for We were al
odd hands II travelling. That syr D.
pople seldom talk about wrecks. but w
were sDou . tie thick q =. every Han
# u t@A.a. his experiences. - spgEz
Jams 4. Hart, 20 whose mind this at5-r
wa D-oughT By tae occurrence Of Soy
eral bad wrecks IL the east. We w4.
travelling from ~ town 10 another
wont say WHEREIN a road | VIII call
the Afghan. b=c1ase | don't want &c
q tad friends II the railroad people.
But the experience i worth telling. +:
III never forget Il II | live 10 II 4 thou
sand rear. 4Lj 4 day Old IL4r- wa
L biz feL5T- IN the =r15ker-a drum
mar who evidently was a kicker. Al IL
eveEts II did not ike ing Alegaz4n
road Way. sz.I b.. II wouldn't s7--
as ne Z BIT Il We were 10 20 srnz-l
befo-e the night Is over. | never ri3s
Oh this rJad without buying tn dollar.
wo-h of accident policy. Oh. this Ale
gazam Is 4 beauty. II there was a
horse car line alongside Of il | would
take that The big drummer was get
ting 10 be a nuisance IL the conyersa-
ton
AT the end Of every horrible tale he
would brighten up and say: That isn't
marker to what viii happen some day
on the Alegazam. Mark my words.
This road l. a hoodoo if there ever was
one. Our cigars were smoked ont as
cigars 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 poked
his head ont between the curtains and
said in a hoarse whisper, Let your body
hang half cut the window 80 you'll he
On hand when it strikes and then turned
In, and, | don't doubt, went sound TO
sleep, never looking for an accident. not
witnstanding all his talk.
Now, a railroad wreck is a funny
thing" continued Mr.. Hart. Every
body thinks he's the last man ont and
the last to hear the shock. and conse-
quently thinks there's no hope for him.
People don't stop to consider that in
n~lnety-nine out Of a hundred wrecks the
damage is ali done at once or not at all.
And this case is a good ezernplar. |
sleep soundlr but lightly when | travel.
and | am q ready walker when there i
any unusual n0ise-that IL. noise NOT
caused By the ravei Of the train over
the rails. This night | turned Ia
With 81 a~.-Fo - ,u-J-
was fast asleep III ten minutes. The
ruL-a-duD-duD Of the Wreck sung he
into a sound slumber, and I'm sure
don't know how long II lasted until |
was awakened by d combination Of three
things. and pretty thoroughly awakened
at hat. First, the train had STOPPED
and there was no rattle. Then | heard
a voice cry u in the night outside:
For Gods sake stop that enaiuer
And then following that up almost
instantaneously there was a great crash
ing sound Of breaking glass. That was
all. Following this there was a silence
20 profound that | could hear my watch
ticking under my pillow. What diQ ir
mean: A 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
a voice rang through the car in a tone
the like of which | never heard before
and hope never to hear again.
Jump for your lives!
Il have heard and seen some queer
things in my day, but before | heard
that voice | never knew what horror
meant. The feeling Of a mans whole
life was concentrated into that voice.
and it struck into my nerves as might a
streak OF lightning that had no power TO-
kill.
las / jumped to the ground and
rushed up the track | saw approaching
our train on the same track, coming to
meet u engine, the headlight of an
other locomotive. That headlight and
the dark outlines Of the engine behind
1t ooked to NE like some horrible mon
ster from another world. It was more
than a simple piece Of machinery. The
thing was alive, and seemed to be about
ten times as large as it really was. The
impression | had of it then was the most
singular feeling | ever knew, and | can't
describe it. Everything had been done
SO quickly, and | was so terribly excited
that it was not for some seconds that
noticed / was the first mar in the train
that had got out. The strange engine
slid along the rails until it was within a
few feet Of ours and stopped. Then the
people began coming out.
why, in the interval that elapsed be
tween the cry of Jump for your lives
and the time the passengers were alarmed
and had begun to come out, a thou
sand trains might have been wrecked.
Nearly all the passengers were now ont .