Pawtucket tribune. (Pawtucket, R.I.) 1890-189?, 1894-08-18
CHANGED THE ROUTE.
A Short Story BY E. T. Appleton.

hnu tnySeI-hnu INC AOriliSF hoa pootA Nh
pertaining US In his best manner with tho
Fund Of stories and anecdotes with which
he is so plentifully supplied.
AS We came out OF short tunnel near
the station known as Farman, however,
our host frowned slightly, and nodding
back toward the fast receding hole In tho
pnountain be said:
"Did either Of you know that that tun-
mel has no good reason for being theref 10
Is out OF the way, was not In the original
survey of the road and is altogether I'M
necessary, for there Is n shorter and better
route along a natural grade, which tho
road first used for its tracks. Yet we went
out Of our way to make that tunnel and
added threo unnecessary miles TO the line
in doing IL. ;"
''What in the name Of common sense
tid YOU do It for, theni' asked Markham.
1T wasn't In the name Of common
sense that we did it." remarked the presi-
don't grimly. 1T was In the name of tom
foolery rather-tomfoolery and ghosts.
But take another cigar, and lot me toll
you the story;
s'Ten years ago, when we first projected
this line, the tracks, as / said, ran around
the small mountain we have just come
lnrOUKn nIlu Dcelut llo ~ was %
oomparatively straight route and per
fectly natural one, and our surveyors
found very little to do for 10 miles on ei-
ther side of this spot. The trackmen also
found their task easy, and, In fact, the
work was pushed forward very rapidly
when the construction gang came 20 that
section. But one day, as the men wero at
work on tho rail laying, singing and talk
L. A. .tA s..AAaplsr ey.,v,N Nb.. n1ffT1
above there came roar and rumble, and
q tremendous body Of rock came hurting
down upon them without a moments
warning. 10 fell square upon the newly
laid track and killed eight men outright.
Naturally enough, this unfortunate oa-
tastrophe cast something Of a gloom over
the others, and they hastened TO get
through that part of the country with
their work after the dead men wero gath
cred up and carried back TO the last sta.
ton. But as accidents Of this sort are
constantly happening tho matter was soon
forgotten, comparatively speaking, and be-
ing busy with other affairs we who heard
of It did what we could for the wives and
children Of the men who were killed aQd
then iet the matter drop, But not 50 Tie
men who had witnessed tho accident. flk6
oil ignorant people, they were suporsti-
tious, and one among them, made half
crazy by seeing his own brother under the
mass ot stone, shrioked out that the place
would be accursed from that minute on.
And you may believe me or not, but that
prophecy has come true,
''TYelve months later tho first train
passed over out road, and in the flush OF
victory and natural pride the entire board
Of directors, Of which was one, accompa-
MED 1t. Everything was going well, and
wo were enjoying the trip in more ways
than one when suddenly, as we came 70
that particular spot where the rock had
fallen, cur engine stopped, and the next
second the fireman came running back 90
tell us that the engineer had dropped dead
ct his post. This unwelcome message
rather dampened our spirits, but laying
the poor chap out I'm tho front car we
drafted another engineer, whom we had
with us, TO take his place, and went on 20
the end Of the line AS got off, upon
reaching there, TO direct the Others what
20 do with the dead man, l passed one or
two of the original construction gang talk
Ing, and q single sentence that ] caught
gave me queer feeling down my spine,
] acknowledge. 1t was, And this very
day year ago, Jim, them follcrs was kill
ed in the gorge, do you mindp The
gorge was the name given TO the spot
where our engineer had died that day.
Had been a superstitious man the coin
cidence would have had an unpleasant Of
feet on me, ! am sure.
"But the end had not como yet a
year later to day wo had our first so
rious wreck-a head end collision, IL was,
too, and 10 passengers killed and wound
ed-and, own, my mind rather misgayo
me when learned the accident had hap
pened In the gorge. OF course the place
itself had nothing to do with IL, but there
did seem to be kind Of organized plan
between fate and that miserable spot TO
do as much damage to us as possible. And
the men, learned from section bosses
and others, were beginning 60 talk n good
deal about the curse on the place.
well, TO make a long story short, for
six years straight running we had an ac-
oident of some sort in that gorge upon the
anniversary Of the day Che first one oc-
CURED, and every one seemed to be n little
worse than the last. Wrecks, collisions,
landslides and what not seemed 70 choose
that place out Of preference until it had
o name as evil as the damage it did was
great. The grumbllngs and talk about IL
being haunted by the victims of them all
began TO grow TO alarming proportions,
and though we strove to overlook and
shut our ears to such idle talk we were
compelled 10 think Of IL at any rate. Once
we even went so far Ms TO bring It up seri-
ously in Stockholders meeting, but as
there was nothing, absolutely nothing, to
do except caution the trainmcn
But the climax came at last. 1t was
seven years 20 a day that the first trouble
had occurred there when a hurried mes
sage from the little station nearest the
gorge announced the wreck we had almost
become used to looking for, and as l was
near the relief train at the time, which
was sent forward at once, jumped
aboard, determined TO see the last of il.
When we arrived on the scene, however,
was as Mortified as the most supcrstitious
of the workmon, for, as live 600 yards
of tracking had actually been swallowed
mp by cavein. such as has never been
known on this road before or since. And
one Of the finest trains we had plunged
forward into an abyss goo feet deep. You
arc both probably familiar with this terri.
bic accident, which was exploited fully in
the papers at the time, so / won't repeat
Il 10 you. But you perhaps do not know
that tho next day 1900 of our men went
out on a strike, and when We came 60 find
what the trouble with them was-though
this did not get into the papers-we were
Informed that the gorge must bo closed
and the track taken through this noun
tain.