Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1893-03-11
SAVED BY LIGHTNING

The eject Of the electrical phenoms
nm On the nerves Of finely strung tndi
IDOL, il not unlike that communicates
Nv. sudden and severe fright when tn
,sn.roIlinz power Of the brain seems en.
tirsly cut Of from action In pszsons d
..ronger nerves the effect Il not 20 gres,
mics at some former period the nervous
s-..ern has been severely shocked, and
zen stunned, by the force Of an electric
current.
No person has had more frequent dem.
ors.ration Of this fact than myself.
lam strong and robust by nature and
~oud ,corn the idea Of being nervous,
I have several times been placed In De.
-nliarly dangerous positions, where con.
adorable nerve and pluck were required
~ the right performance Of my duty.
snd on all such occasions ! have acquitted
,,v.elf 10 the satisfaction Of all nv
fIeods. Bat brave and strong ~ am
4, the face Of most dangers, am weak
.nd helpless in heavy thunderstorm.
Since . certain memorable night IN
,ses hsye been abeurdly susceptible &c
Inc irsuence Of electricity in any form,
ard il IL an easy matter for me TO pre-
Act rising storm long before it has
co,us up by the condition Of the atrnos-
pbers and the effect it has upon my
nefy@-
was telegraph operator at . ANAL
vsy station on a northern railway. Ny
duties consisted in signaling the trains
that passed by my door, selling tickets
and acting as telegraph operator.
These combined duties kept me busy.
and a. there was scarcely house within
two miles Of the station the quietness 81
the place would have been unbearable
had been at leisure to notice it. But
when my work was finished, late in the
afternoon, always found short time
to devote TO reading before the evening
express came in, and this was soon looked
forward to with genuine delight by me
az a relief from my other duties.
Tho express was not always up 10
time, and | frequently found myself
waiting until s o'clock before she ar
rived. reading. walking and otherwise
passing the time as pleasantly az possible.
Twas engaged in the former occupa-
ton rather earlier than usual one warm,
snltry afternoon in August.
The weather had been so excessively
hot that had been compelled to lay aside
all superfiuous garments and to do my
work in my shirt sleeves. II was Just
such day as always closes with heavy
thunderstorm.
About g o'clock the atmosphere began
TO change. A few clouds appeared upon
the western horizon, and the sounds Of
distant thunder could be family heard.
A gentle breeze swayed the pines and
r1istled the green leaves of the tall oaks
| thought at the time that it had a
mournful. ominous sound. and as the
distant cry Of a loon fell upon my ear
an unaccountable shiver ran through me.
laughed at my own fears and arose
from my feet to dispel all gloomy fore
bodings, and began to lock up things
around the freighthouse before the
storm was upon me. When this was fin
ished, returned to my seat and watched
the clouds scud across the now dark
heavens.
In little while the rain began to de-
scend in torrents, pattering upon the tin
roof Of the station house like lcadea
bullets. The thunder pealed out with
heavy reverberations, and the lightning
was fairly binding.
closed up my instrument In the Of
fee and did not approach it again until
tho storm had passed. To have tam
pered with it in such tempest would
have been folly. The lightning. rs it
was, played with the wire and the keys
i'll an unpleasant manner and made me
move farther away from it,
For half nm hour the storm continued
with undated fury. and all along the
track little rivers of rainwater were surg
ing and rushing. The afternoon had
grown suddenly dark. and it was inpos-
sible TO discern an object twenty yards
of The usual time for the arrival Of
the evening express had passed. and still
no indication of her coming had been re-
eeiyed. This did not seem strange to me,
as there was some danger of the track
being washed out ct different crossings
and it was probable that some delay
would be caused.
| felt the lonesomeness of my position
extremely that night. When l glanced
out Of the window into the murky dark
ness and heard the fitful rush of the
wind through the pines and tremble at
the heavy crash of the thunder, | was
forced to admit that did not enjoy the
Etuation.
Twice went out on the platform IN
sec If could hear anything of the com
luz train. but on each occasion was met
with such blast of wind and rain that
! WAS only too glad to seek the shelter of
the house again.
When the small office clock struck 0.
tould stand it no longer, but donnlng
my cloth cap and coat l opened the door
to sally forth again. As l did SO the
khrill shrek Of woman greeted my as
tonished ears.
At first l concluded that it was the
work Of the wind. but second time the
Try rose above the storm. clear and dis
tinct. Therewas no installing the sound.
u was the cry Of a woman in distress,
bud came out Of the storm not far dis
tant.
started along the platform with an
answering shout and had not gone far
before | encountered a woman stagger-
ing along the track. ~As
What's the natter" l inquired in as
lond voice as could command.
For heavens sake. come quickT she
shrieked wildly Come quick. The
train has run off the line. All are lost
my husband-my child-dead--deadv'
The horrible situation flashed over my
hewildered senses in a moment. Just
around the curve was deep crossing. and
the rain must have washed down the en-
hankment in time to wreck the evening
express. This woman was the only one
saved, and she had managed to crawl up
10 the station for assistance.
| helped the woman up on to the plat
form. and told her to hurry into the sta
tion house and wait until my return.
Then, with lantern in hand, started on
run toward the scene of the disaster.
II was barely a quarter Of mile to the
crossing, but it seemed ages to me before
reached it.
All was quiet; not moan nor shrek
Of any kind could be heard. The storm
still ragged around. I looked down the
emhankment. expecting to see q heap OF
broken. twisted iron mixed up with the
dead and dying passengers.
then examined the crossing and
found the line in good condition. A
small slip had been caused by large
current of water, but everything FAR