The Penn's Grove record., 1893-07-28
NUMBER l

tangled himself from his Kissing,
broken engine at the foot Of the en-.
ankment crawled back TO the road.
J led again, m With q grOan foil into
! Al; arIn! Looking up into the fire.
mans eyes he said, with a sal sm!ig
uLo? his face:
" Charley, it's all over. 1 think l
saved about h4lf the paop,o on the
train, and If there's a Cod above I'll
face Him like a man with that record
behind me, and with a gasp OF pain
he passed away.
II do not cite this case to demon
strate that all irfdsls are brave, but
merely to show You that l am not
prejGdirel ard think it necessary u
be u Christian to DC courageous and
sclf-sacriacinE.
Another Of my friends among
tho engineering craft was Emory
stevenson. Un!ike Gilman, be was
ar out.and-out believer in Christian.
ity, and my r.ght-hand man 1T
p aver and class meetings lie aad
Gilman were great friends, and may
a battle-royal of words they had oyeI
the Bible and its teachings.
stevenson was wCrAing for thu
Reading Road at the time. FraniIlg
b. Gowen, the roads President,
issued his memorable order eXpelliHR
all Brotherhood men from his ruaG OF
permitting them to remain ii they dc.
serted the association. Stevenson
took it in his head that he owed al.
10 ytp nra 10 Z ta 20 IL rCG1 md Mt 81. II IA
standing the protests and ajgunents
of his Brotherhood friends, Withdrew
from the orGer. The bitterness aud
length OF that gfeat' labor struggle
can no doubt be easily recalled by the
reading public. Month after month
the light went on and at time5 the
battle drifted away from the fearless
engineers, and settled into the handl
OF O rougher element OF railroad
sympathiIers This latter class hest
tated at nothing whereby they could
damage the company's property or
injure the men that remained true to
their empl0y,--t
'One Of 'he most ingenious ant
~dastardly plots ever concocted wa!
tried on ono of the branches of the
road during that boycott, a2d Steven.
son figured as the hero of the occa.
sio1. He was coming from the mines
toward the little own / was sta
toned at n dark night in Novem.
ber, aud had behind him thirtY-fout
cars loaded with coal The train had
just started down a steep grade aul
was fully under control when a sud
den impetus was given the engine
that almost broke the links holding
1t to the train. As car after car
reached this spot the same motion
was given to all OF them. aud rs a re-
suit a high rate Of speed was soon
g1ined by the train. Do what they
woIll the hands on the train were
lowc:lcs TO check its speed, and as
1t continued to gain Roadway they
picked o%Utinvittng places and jumped
his engine, and at three different
points, when be thought he preCeived
Il ~s.acseaing up Of speed, the same
strange sliding sensation was felt.
lie knew that IL the track wa.
Gear in the town be was entering
with lightniug-iike speed, and his
engine Kept the track, his chances
were fairly good for o safe ending OF
his thrilling experience. Looking
back ovas his train he found the Ca
bose lights missing and rightly sur
missed that a portion Of the train had
parted and gone down over the en-.
bankment
1T was discovered afterward that
so,ue unknown mlscreant or miscre,
ants had poured soft soap on the rails
ut different points on the steep In
cline, which was about five miles in
length and full of curves, and this
had prevented the brakes from hold
ing, and a thrilling coasting by the
train was the result.
"Well do l remember that night
The little town had a code Of signals
in case of fire, which were furnished
by TIL many steam whistles of the
engines 10 the yards and SHOPS
When Stevenson discovered that
the train vas beyond his control, he
started his engines whistle going
with the danger signal; the engineers
in town heard it AMI took it up;
switches were hastily thrown; fire
beils started ringing and, with the
fire apparatus, almost the entire popu
lation rushed through the streets
LAS the signals had started from
the railroad everyone, Of course, went
that way. and as we all lined up along
the high clif overlooking the shops
and tracks. around the last bend
came the flying train. Like a fash it
was abreast Of US and beyond, but a
seconds view disclosed Stevenson
grim as death at his post, with one
hand on the throttle and the othe'
pu' ling the whistlecord.
The train of twenty cars stin
holds the record for Ave miles
On 1t went through the town.
The track was clear, and as the level
was reached 1t was finally brought to
a stand-still, and later on backed up
into the local yard. Fourteen splint-
e ed cars was the sum total OF the
wicked plot A large reward was Of
fered for the perpetrators but they
we're never apprehended. The COM
pany officials and pres of the Stats
lauded s%teyenson's Merry exhibition,
and ! was the first 10 grasp his hand
and congratulate him upon his escape
from harm, as he stepped down from
his engine, lie was very cool, and l
couldn't discover Il CULVER in the gra p
Of his lrn right hand. His only
words were:
~ knew God was with me all the
time, and | was only worried about
killing some one else. / tod my tiie-
man If he didn't believe in the Lord
he had better jump; he jumped and l
had to 90 1t alone
"Stevenson atterward loft the road,
a. new men came into power ard
failed to appreciate his loyalty. This
failure OF app eciatiou leads many a
good man to desert an employer and
20 out on a strike. lie Is now hold
ing a position OF trust with a private
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