Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1892-05-14

Strange as it may appear the trade of a rail-
road engineer is the only avocation that permits
one or more visits from the grim skeleton of
death without receiving the final summons to
follow him. The miner in the bowels of the
earth If he survives an experience of fire damp
or the bursting Of an underground reservoir
will forsake his trade forever. The painter,
should he live through fall from treacherous
ladder, also foreswears outside painting. The
same can also be said of the bridge builder. the
marine diver, electrical engineers and other
pursuits This assertion is only made after
careful investigation and will hold good ninety
pine cases out of hundred. Superstition, of
course, enters into the case to a remarkable de-
gree, which may account for the strange anom-
alism, but deep, unaccountable foreboding APP
pears to those most interested and no further
explanation is desired.
A railroad engineer has the hardihood to face
two ''calls, but he knows the third one means
death. The other trades look upon the second
"call' as final.
A STAR reporter some years back was per-
united to look over a series of books kept BY a
friend In the employ of large railway corpora
ton, wherein history of every accident is
infinitely recorded The histories run back to
the time OF single tracks and the crudest rail-
road devices. The stories of thousands of acct
dents are told therein, but after careful perusal
not case was discovered wherein an engineer
had experienced his third accident and lived.
The railroad engineer registers in his mind the
score against his existence. and strange. indeed,
is the case II the record is increased against him
through carelessness.
This theme is welcome one to the majority
of engineers. and they love to tell of the many
cases in which their belief has been substan-
tiated by fact.
The case Of Jack Conner is an interesting one
and will illustrate how strongly this idea Of sur
yiving two calls is grated on the minds Of the
everyday engineer His engine was hauling
gondola car, which was loaded some 300
pounds Of dynamite, over the New York Cen
trail road about year ago. About twenty
Italian workmen were also on the car. A spark
from the engine, through gross carelessness on
the part OF the handlers of the explosive,
man and about dozen Italians were blown to
atoms and the car and engine almost demol-
ished. In the fraction of second that inter-
vened between the discovery of the igniting
spark on the slight covering over the dynamite
and the terrific explosion that followed Jack
Conner threw himself behind the fire box of his
engine. When found he was almost buried
under the coal and debris of the engine and car
Many bones were broken and he presented a
horrible sight, but his friends and physician
we're cheered nightly when upon regaining
consciousness he said in gasping voice: IN
come through all right. This is my first call
I've one more yet before SAYING goodbye"
Conner ultimately got well, contrary to the
PHYSICIANS diagnosis Of his wounds. although it
was close call, and he is now Swimming the
rails as Of yore, keeping sharp lookout for his
second warming
BY way of contrast the case of Dick Little
wood, an engineer some years back running be-
tween Washington and Richmond, Va is cited
as illustrating the effect .'cal" has on differ
ent persons. One dark, rainy night. Just as his
engine was rounding short curve about fifteen
miles north of Richmond. it jumped the track
and he was terribly hurt in the wreck. He was
taken to Richmond and it was a couple of
months before he was able to go to work again.
Then he was given light work about the Rich
mond yards or daylight runs until he was
thought to be fully recovered. About six
months after the wreck in which he received
his injuries he began taking regular night runs
and appeared to be as good an engineer as he
ever was.
One night it happened that he was put on the
same train that he was on when hurt. 1t was
noticed that he was little nervous, but no at
tention was paid to him. The night turned ont
to be the same kind of one that on which he
had gotten hurt more than eight months before.
1t was dark and dismal and rainy.
As the train reached the point where the acct
dent occurred the fireman noticed the engineer
slack up his engine, and at the same time he be-
gan to get paler and paler. and as they rounded
the curve where he had been ditched before Lit
tlewOod uttered a shrek and fell over in a faint
The strain had been too much for him. He was
taken to Richmond and was again taken off his
engine, this time for good, of course and was
for couple years later doing switch work in the
yards. As an engineer his first ''call'' had
ruined him for life, and he often remarked to
his fellOw-engineers that amount of money
could hire him to steer an engine around that
curve again after dark, and he was known to be
man OF great nerve, too.
All the old engineers on the Baltimore and
Potomac road still like to tell Of the experience
oftdarry Freeburn with close calls, and how he
finally paid the penalty with his life in not heed
ing two warnings and dropping out of the bust
ness. Freeburn was one of those fellows who
are said to fear neither man nor devil. He was
ion-hearted, sturdy and generous to great
degree. Large quantities of bulldog courage
were grated on to his hardy frame and the word
fear was a thing to be laughed at. He was an
exceedingly fast running engineer and whenever
the occasion arose for fast run to be made
Harry Freeburn was generally selected to pilot
the engine through.
A STAR reporter recently came across an en-
gineer doing duty at the present time between
Philadelphia and Washington, and who was
Freeburn's fireman for several years and was
with him when he received his last call" This
engineer related many stories of interest," the
chief of which were the three thrilling expert
ences in which Freeburn and he played import
ant parts. 1t might be mentioned that Free
burn could discount the best trooper in the
land in the swearing habit. 1t entered SO con-
tinuany and persistently into his conversation
that Freeburn hardly knew when he was COM
hitting a breach, and was forgiven by his
superiOrs for this one weakness on account of
his reliability and general good nature.
Freeburn's first call came in the shape Of
close shave, as he termed it at the time, and
while he was not hurt he told his fellow en-
gineers that he thought the grim specter was
going to call upon him to follow his beck with
out even the ceremony Of first warming.
Freeburn was the engineer on q very fast
train that left Washington about noon. The
train was not q very heavy one, and for this
reason great speed could easily be attained.
About two miles south of the Union depot.
Baltimore, be struck the double track, and .
little further on freight train going south ON
the opposite track hove in sight running at a
good speed. When within hundred feet of
the freight train Engineer Freeburn saw a car
in the middle Of the long line of freight cars
leave the track and bound over on his track. II
struck the rail 80 hard that il bounded back and
turned partly over on the south track. Free
burns train shot by the derailed train an
instant afterward at the rate OF forty miles an
hour. Tbs place ut which the accident occurred
was near q culvert and steep embankment some
fifty feet high, and had he struck the car ter
rible wreck must have resulted.
In speaking Of this accident Freeburn said
with several oaths: "You can't imagine my
feelings when saw that car bound over on my
track. ! believe my heart stopped beating, and
when it bounded back and left my way clear ]