Wood River times. [volume] (Hailey, Idaho) 1882-1915, 1893-11-27
JUMPING FROM A TRAIN.
A Locomotive Engineer Relates His Varied
Experience.

A Locomotive Engineer Relates His Varied
Experience.
"Did you ever Jump from your cab
while the train was going at full
speed?" l asked of a locomotive en-.
gineer the other day.
YES, three or four times" he an
swered.
whats the sensation?"
That's according to how YOU land.
One night three years ago the train
dispatcher got two Of us headed for
each other on single track at a gait
OF forty miles an hour. The first
thing saw was the headlight of the
other locomotive rounding q curve
thirty rods away. / shut 'er of.
threw over the lever and set the air
brakes, and then made a jump I'd
no time to pick for a spot, and as
jumped l realized that I'd have q
bad time of it, as l knew every foot
of the ground. Itwas On level COW
cred with Il thistle patch. There
was Il strip of them forty rods long
growing up like ! cornstalks eX-
pect they broke my fall somewhat,
but don't know that l ever hit the
ground until fetched up fur good.
1t seemed to me that l just swept
through that patch about knee-high
from the ground, and when there
were no more thistlcs to knock down,
l landed 'kerchug.' against an old
stump and uprOoted it. l broke
leg and an arm. but that wasn't the
worst Of it. The doctor estimated
the number of thistle-points sticking
into my body at 1000, 900, 900. NV
wife and l have been picking 'em out
ever since they got me home. and
we've only finished one side Of me-"
Landing in a mud-puddle would
he soft thing" l suggested.
"Fve been there" he replied, with
fleeting smile. ''While l was rum
ming freight they built side-track
to gravel pit at Il certain point. In
eXcavating at the main line they dug
a hole about twenty feet long by ten
wide and four deep AS rule this
hole was always full of water, and as
it was on my side of the engine and
always came under my eve, got to
thinking what snap I'd have il
had to make jump right there"
'.But you never had to"
"Didn' I? There was little sta
tion just a mile above this hole, and
it was a sharp upgrade. One day,
while we were humping along TO
make the station, a dozen cars broke
loose from freight sidc-trackng at
that station, ana down they came.
like so many roaring lions after their
prey. by the time l had whistled
for breakes and reversed my engine,
it was time to jump ana bless my
soul! If it vast just where I wanted
ffNh e, risrtNt r
to pass the mile-post and then shut
my eyes and took a header, feeling
sorry at the same instant for my
fireman, who'd got to jump among
the stumpS Well, struck"
I'm the water?" l asked as he
paused and worked a finger in his
ear
'Oh, no! There had been a long
spell Of dry, hot weather, and every
pint of water had evaporated out OF
that pond. The mud was left be-
hind, though. There was three feet
of it waiting to catch some sucker
and it caught me. l went head first
to the bottom. Then 1 rolled over
and fioundered around for five min
utes, and could never have pulled
myself out unassisted. l didn't
break any bones, Dut-ugh!'
WHAT"
'Mud! took twenty-seven baths
before l got down so l could see my
hide, and it was hours before mud
quit washing out OF my ears, nosa.
and mouth. l tasted mud. I felt
mud crawling up and down my back.
l snutfed mud. l found mud in my
pockets and combed it out of my
hair until got tired and let the bal
ance 60 I'm running on the road
yet but I'm not spotting Off any mud
holes to land in. On the contrary. IL
things turn out as l have figured. my
next Jump will be into a patch of
blackberry bushes, swith an old dead
tree in the center, and confidently
expect to NOW down everything in