The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-01-03
IN A LOCOMOTIVE CAR.
Excitement of Ride With the Engi-
neer Of an Express Train,
From The Indianapolis Nelos.

neer OF an Express Train.
From, the Indianapolis Netos.
There Is considerable difference in the feel
ings Of man who rides on locomotive for
monthly salary and the man who rides for
the FUN" Of the thing. or TO see how the
machine works. About one ride, il it is a
fast one, generally satisfies a man who is
not In tue business. Goodness personiied is
the railroad engineer. lie never gets ex-
cited, never loses his head, and the least I'M
usual noise in the cab, no matter how faint.
reaches his ear. lie is continually on a
strain. and watches the track far ahead, as
well as the gauges, the valves and The
throttles in easy reach inside
the cab. So well trained is he that without
turning his head be can reach out and
touch the part OF the machinery that needs
his attention. One of the best rides of any
Indianapolis line Is on the Peoria and East
ern. between this city and New Castle The
road is straight one for over forty miles.
not q curve except one just east of the Belt
| road and another close to the capital OF
Henry county. Thus it is what might be
called plain sailing. There was not in
former years very much fast running on
what IS now the Peoria and Eastern. 1t
was not safe. There is plenty of 1t under
the present management. Yesterday west
bound train No. II, hauled by engine 557.
Engineer Cole in the cab and in
charge Of Conductor Brash, was seventeen
mihutes late at New Castle A Netys re-
| porter climbed on the engine at that point
| and started for Indianapolis The engineer
wanted to make up his time, and the re-
! porter wanted to be on hand when he did it.
She isn't holding steam very well to-
! day." remarked Engineer Cole, as he wiped
the nose of leaking oil can with bundle
OF waste; but guess we can get into town
all right
1t was not many minutes before the ma
chine was wide open" and 81 was pound
ing the track with a roar. The engineer
hung out the window, calmly chewing to-
| bacco and resting his left hand on the lever.
The track was as smooth and as level as an
asphalt pavement and 81 was dragging five
cars along at about mile minute The
fireman fed in the coal and more steam was
registered. The iron joints creaked and the
big engine groaned as if asking: "What do
you expect OF fellow In seventeen min
utesF' Did you ever sis in an engine cab
and see man on the track ahead of youl
The whistle toots and the bell rings; the
man does not turn his head, but keens right
on, as II unaware that death in a horrible
form was dashing upon him. Near 81 comes
the train. The spectators heart begins to feel
heavy and a cold chill begins to creep
over him. VIII the man never hear? What
does he means Can he be deaf? He must
be awtully deaf not to bear the wild scream
of that whistle. You glance across the cab
at Engineer Cole. He has changed his posi-
tion; one hand is on the lever, ready to re-
verse. You begin to feel sick as YOU ina
Gine human being beneath those terrible
wheels. The distance between life and
death is small. loot, foot, foot, loot. toot
clang. clang, clang, clang. You shut your
eyes. Oh cannot bear to see the nan run
down. There Is kissing of air, quiverlng
Of the train-6hen ''release'' the engine
bounds forward and you open your ewes.
The man stood q few feet from the side of
the track waving his hat and grinning like
an ape. lie was one OF the class of Smart
Elecks who like to see how long they can
stand on track without being struck by a
train.
Far, far down the track is a black spot,
over which hovers a great cloud of steam.
| The engineer sees it, hauls out his watch,
| Glances at it, then resumes the business of
| looking out of the window. He was TO meet
an eastsbound freight at that point. He did
| not know II the switches were in place; he
| did not know but the passenger train would
dash into that freight and the death of
many people follow. There was no way for
| him to know except that it was the duty OF
| his fellow employees to see that the switches
/ were right. He did not slacken the speed
| Rapidly the huge mogul on the side track
| loomed up. A roar and a dash, and mo.
| II" flew past the waiting freight-passing
| within three feet.
The train was running at terrific speed.
| The reporters watch showed that several
miles were made at tho rate Of ninety miles
an hour. At almost every cross-road the
train stopped, and between stations the
running was simply awful. The few gray
hairs on the reporters head stood straight
up and almost pushed of his hat. A dog
crossed the track, turned around and emit
ted an unearthly howl He was frightened,
with good cause. The curve near the Belt
was In sight. The whistle sounded, the air
Missed again, and the train came
| to standstil. A few seconds
waie--puffl puff puff enough-and