Los Angeles herald., 1892-08-25
UNDER A MOVING TRAIN.
Sensations of Man Who Thought Hi
Last Hour Had Come.


Last Hour Had Come.
To fall under arunning railroad train,
to lie on the rail and see death approach
ing one at the rate of fifteen miles or SO
an hour and only a few feet distant, is
an experience not given to many to be
able to relate. Yet this is what hap
pened to Chicago man.
"How did it happen? What were you
thinking about?D he was asked the other
day.
"Well," he replied, ST had no time to
find out how it happened, but l do re-
member a good many things that l
thought of while it was happening.
Now it seems utterly impossible to me
that such flood of thorghts could flash
through my brain and leave their indi-
vidual and distinct impressions as did
in the almost immeasurable short space
of time that lay on the rail in front of
those wheels 1t is said that just at the
moment of ones death the whole doings
of lifetime are held up for review in
less time than it takes to wink ones
eye. can readily believe it,
"In less than second / thought of
the many railroad accidents of which /
had read. 1t flashed through my mind
that had often seen men credited with
willful negligence or reckless intention
in allowing themselves to be killed or
manned, and there was on the track
ready to furnish another illustration.
Yes, sir; there lay, fiat on my back on
the rail and saw the wheels of the after
truck of the car come rolling along and
only few feet away. 1t almost seemed
as if I felt them crushing and grinding
my bones, yet l had, it seems, time to
think also of how easily fellow gets
killed.
II thought how foolish it was to ac-
'cuse others of foolhardiness in getting
run over when / myself was about to
become a horrible example. / thought
of how often had let up lightly en-
gineers and conductors and helped to
take the blame from them and put it on
the fellow who got killed. But my
greatest regret, in the time I had to
think, was that had so often adversely
criticised the man who got run over.
Strange as it may seem, however,
these were not half my thoughts.
realized that | was yet alive, in the best
of good health, every bone and limb
sound, SO to speak, and the next instant
l would, | felt, be ground into pieces
and my flesh and bones spattered over
the railroad track. There was no power
in the world to help me, SO it seemed;
not all that the engineers or conductors
or brakemen could do would be of any
avail. Then it flashed through my mind
that was ON the brink Of the other
world and had not even a chance to
make one repentant prayer. Wondered
what it would mean for me.
"While these ideas were running
through my mind must have made
some sort of an effort to escape. have
no knowledge of how did it, but did
roll off the rail outward. The wheel
caught my heel, though at first it seemed
as if my foot was cut off above the
ankle and was powerless to move it.
l managed to get onto my right foot
and balance myself on that for a second,
to get my thoughts together as to what
should next do. 1t has taken me ten
or fifteen minutes to tell this thing, but
it did not, should judge, from the rate
the train was going, take anything like
a second of time for it all to happen -
Chicago Tribune.