The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-07-22

whereby great speed was to be attained.
L was superintendent of the road then,
ana determined TO take it out myself on a
special schedule and ascertain if the new
IDEAS were practical. l picked out a first
class engineer and fireman to accompany
me: The latter, particularly, l want TO
call attention to, as he PLAYS a very i'm
portant part in my tale. He was six feet
Tall ana built in proportion, and as he
stood IN the glare of the open fire-box pre-
sented picture worthy of the finest ar
fist.
We'll, the locomotive proved to be all
Une builders claimed for her, and ran the
re- ord up TO sixty-one miles an hour,
wnlch Is quite a speed for our road, being
possessed of many sharp curves and
graoes. When the engine was going her
best and had Just rounded a sharp curve
notlt ed directly ahead of me little girl
nan way across a siugle-track bridge
mat spanned quite a body of water.
L mere was no room for US both on the
structure, and in despair l pulled the
whistle and tried, although l knew it was
a hopeless task, to sop the engine AS
the shrill SHREK of the whistle reached
the little girls ears, she turned, and,
seeing the engine bearing down upon her,
ran ahead few steps, and then, realiz-
ing The lmpossiOihty of reaching the
oLher side before the engine would be upon
her, she spraug to the side of the struc-
ture, and, with a scream, jumped into the
deep water, twenty feet below. My re-
versing the engine startled the half do en-
railroad men in the single coach l was
hauling, and they Immediately rushed
out on to the front platform to find out
the cause.
BRAVE FIREMAN's JUMP.
GAS the little girls form sank beneath
the water another figure whirled
through the air. 1t was that big fireman
of mine. He had seen the child stimuli
taneouslY with me, and. acting instantly,
had jumped down between the engine and
tender, and as the girl sprang into the
water he leaped after her. Owing to the
velocity of the train his body whirled
around like ball before he struck the
water. The stream had become quite
swollen by recent rains, and the current
was swift. My fireman had hardly dis
appeared under the water than the girl
was seen several yards in front of him,
but he quickly came to the surface and
struck out after her. The little thing
went down second time, but as she
arose my fireman was by her side, and,
grasping her firmly, he turned, and, after
a struggle, managed to reach the shore
almost exhausted.
while the struggles in the water were
going on l was struggling with that pesky
engine, and finally brought it to a stand
still a short distance from the end of the
bridge. We Immediately deserted that
special and one and all rushed down to
the bank of the river and yelled encour-
agement to the brave fellow. AS he came
out putting like porpoise, we gave him
three cheers and tiger, and he only re-
piled to it with the remark Christie
pher Columbus, but that water is cold 20
"Of course the crowd Clipped In neat
little purse, but wasn't through with
him. l sized him up this way: A man
with his nerve and self possession would
certainly make good engineer, and the
next pay roll he signed was as one of that
class"
GOT MIXED AS TO THE TRACKS.
'You fellows all run toward the dra-
matte in telling your stories" chimed in
a demonstrating man of about 40 years
who was hidden behind a great cloud OF
cigar smoke. ''Why don't you tell some
thing funny. Listen to this one, and yoJ
will have the laugh on me. 1t occurred
about year ago and, of course, out in
the wild western country.
From Butte to Helena the tracks Of
| the Great Northern and the Northern
Pacific roads run side by side for miles to-
gether, each taking the same curves
around the Dase of the same mountains
and jogging along in genial companion
ship. About half way to Helena from
Butte the Great Northern plunges into
an obstructive mountain and runs through
tunnel nearly mile long. The North
ern Pacific here leaves the Great North
ern, and instead of passing through tun
mel, winds about, twisting and turning
reversing itself a dozen times, until one
imagines, as he stands upon the rear
platform, that he sees a dozen different
railroads instead of one. The grade is
extremely steep. From the top OF the
decline one can see the track five differ.
ent times. each track being from twenty
to twenty-five feet below the one above
it.
"At that time official business called
me from Helena to Butte, and a special
train was ordered out for my accommoda-
ton. l well remember the conductor
! shouting up to the engineer as he stood at
the entrance to his cab: DO You under
stand itn He referred to the orders just
given to run as fast as possible. We
started all right, but soon began to lose
time, and, of course, became hot under
| the collar CHANGING out of the window
suddenly espied almost directly be ow.
about 100 feet, another track. | remem-
bered that the Great Northern ran par
| aUel with the road was using and that
! the latter'S train would soon De que ana
place me in Butte ahead of my slow
| special Without a word I pulled
/ the bell cord clambered of the car
! and made an uncomfortable climb down
| the 1OO-foot cliff. l sat down on the end
| of tie and waited for my train. Fully
! twenty minutes passed and no train. Five
minutes later l heard a whistle and a
/ minute later locomotive came into view.
7 whirled my hat and the train stopped.
Running forward TO climb on the first car,
| who should confront me but the conductor
| I had left twenty-five minutes before, and
/ II then dawned upon me that l had
mounted my own special again.
''Weu, reached Butte finally, but 1t
! cost me something like S1.40 for drinks
! for that train crew so as to keep the story
west of the Mississippi river"
An Odd Calculation.
| From the New York Tribune.
T,.1s Ca1l ~ % ~