St. Paul daily globe., 1892-02-19
1t was 12;4c. He sighad heavily and
continued.

III was l2:4C. lie signal neaVlly ana
continued:
Look at No. sailing through j..
Why, she should stop! But it won't
matter. Everybody knows enough to
keep out of her way"
Then the poor fellow subsidized for
moment. 1t was only for a moment,
however. He was standing beside his
desk, with his wild eyes upon the train
sheet. Suddenly he became possessed
OF his mental faculties again. and sank
into his chair all a trembling. and with
sweat standing on his forehead.
Look, look, boys!" he moaned.
"There's McGill flying around the curve
lust beyond the flats, from the west,and
No. from the east. Don't you see
them? My God don't you see them?
They should have met at J."
A moment later he shouted: ''Did
you hear that crash? Did you see the
fire?''
1t was 1880 by the clock. De Forest
was all in heap in his chair. He was
laughing ironically. 1t was the laugh
of maniac. His companions were
motlonless. None dared to interrupt
him for fear of violence. Various sta
tions had been calling De Forest to get
orders for other trains, but for few
minutes the SOunder made no i'm
preston upon him.
But when the day operator at j
called, De Forest pulled his chair up to
the table instantly and answered. The
operator at J--WaS exceedingly nerv-
Gus. 1T was easy to tell by the way he
handled his key. The message was
this:
Extra East-bound freight No. 100 collided
with West-bound express No. on the curve
just west Of the big flats about I2:45. Both
trains in the ditch and on fire. AT least a
dozen killed outright and many badly in
"MoGIL1.''
De Forest took the message without a
break. He was as firm as rock. and
not nerve in his body so much as
quivered. He was De Forest of old
again. In moment the wire was hum
! were ordered out from all nearby sta
tlons, and orders were issued to the
wrecking trains stationed at either end
of the division to proceed to the scene
of the wreck.
Physicians and surgeons were sum-
moned, and special train was made up
started for the wreck, with orders to
pick up the wrecking crews and as
sistance as it passed the various sta
ii ons.
Sandwiched in between all these
HunClOQS CdIllG Ut
tails from the scene of the disaster.
Message after message came to De For
rest giving particulars. and each one
increased the number of killed until
they footed up an even fifty
Then the names of the victims, so far
| as could be learned. began to come in,
and later description of the unidenti-
fled dead. 1t was plain. however. that
the dispatcher did not pay any attention
| to the names of the killed and injured.
| He received them mechanically.
De Forest remained all night with his
hand upon the key of the telegraph in
Strument. From the time the official
! news of the accident came to him over
the wires from j he never looked up
from his desk, never spoke word to
| his colleagues. He appeared to be
totally oblivious to the presence of any
| one.
At exactly Z O'clock in the morning
| Dispatcher Thatcher arrived to take his
| regular trick. The track had been
| cleared sufficiently to let trains by, and
| everything was running on time. De
| Forest arose when Thatcher entered,
and put OH his overcoat. The wild look
returned to his eyes. He glanced at
the clock, and passed out of the Office
| He was never seen again, and not q
| word was ever heard of him.