Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-03-25

old farmer was made . eonfdant Of He did
not betray the trust reposed in ham and in good
time came his reward. He was fully convers-
ant of the details OF Col. SCOTS final move and
like the sagacious rabbit Of the later day fairy
tale he lay low.
Directly in the way OF the contemplated
branch to Washington we're the lands OF the
farmer to whom the ''stove committee had
given the Tip" and for a considerable distance
south they were pointed ont Agents Of the
company made frequent trips to the old farm
house and heated interviews generally fol-
lowed. The old farmer argued that his land
was the best in Maryland while in reality i. was
hard to find worse, but when asked to name his
price he refused and said he didn't want to sell
HE GOT THE TIP TO GIVE IN
Finally the Tip came from the .'stove COM
mittee" to give in and come to an understand
ing with the railroad, state Of affairs the old
farmer was only too glad to profit by. as he be-
gan to think he had carried his bluff too far and
was going to be left out in the cold.
Col. Scott was furious at the old farmers oh
stinacy, but told his agent to try him once more
with a final raise Of $40 per acre over the last
price offered.
The old farmer must have been good poker
player, because he handled his cards well and
raked in the limit. q sum Of money more than
triple what his entire farm was worth. and only
for the privilege Of running through it.
1t was said afterward that boy taken from
the state reformatory and raised to manhood
by the old farmer held q Confidential position
around railroad headquarters in Philadelphia at
the time Scotts great coup was under way.
Perhaps he was chairman and secretary Of the
stove committee" Of the Pennsylvania road
at that time. Who can tell?
RECENT INVESTIGATION.
Down at the ''oil house" on Virginia avenue
the trainmen were discussing a late wreck one
night during the past week, and one man said
he had it straight from the Royal Purple" why
no one was punished for the catastrophe The
accident in question occurred on the outskirts
Of Philadelphia Several people were horribly
mangled and for a time President Harrison was
thought to be among the number injured. 1t
Representatives and Senators struck a suburban
train. cut one car in two, but the engine that
did the smashing was not damaged. The special
was bound for New York, the passengers being
booked to participate in the raising of the
American flag over the steamship City Of Paris
All the railroad officials were DESTROYS Of the
train making exceptional quick time as it had
been widely advertised, and one of the best en-
gineers in the service was selected to handle
the throttle. All went well until Just outside
OF Philadelphia the special received orders that
the track was clear ahead. The track was clear
ahead. but this did not take into account the
fact that a train was due to cross over the track
a few miles below. On went this special at
terrific rate Of speed: the crossing hove into
view and the suburban train sighted. Down
went the air brakes, but it was showing at the
time and the train slid, like huge toboggau
sled, right into the center car and the loss Of
life followed.
Then came the investigation. The engineer
OF the special had jumped from his engine
when he saw that the accident was inevitable
but crawled around to the investigation to tell
how he had received orders to the effect that
the track was clear. The engineer Of the
suburban train told Of his train having the
right Of way and was On time. The operator
at the signal tower testified to HAVING the
danger signal down, and the train runner in
the Philadelphia Office went into details as to
the rules Of the road and what orders he had
given. The coroner's jury returned a verdict
to the effect that the accident WAS unavoid able
owing to the slippery condition Of the rails and
the railroad officials censured no one.
Now comes the sequel as leaking out through
the Royal Purple" and retold to q party Of
men at the "oil house,
As before noted, the officials Of the road were
anxious for great speed. One Of the highest
officials Of the road strolled into the train
runners Office on the morning Of the wreck
and inquired how the special was doing.
Not being satisfied with the reply he ordered
the train runner to inform the engineer Of the
special that he had q clear track and for him to
'let 'er out" He no doubt forgot the suburban
train. The engineer was q speedy man and
liked nothing better than such an order. He
'let 'er OUT and the wreck followed.
As q natural result no one was punished for
the accident How could the railroad do it
when one OF its most prominent men was
responsible for it? And once more the true
insight into the cause Of q wreck comes out
through the Royal Purple" or the ''stove
committee"