St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1894-05-04

OF car hook themselves, OctOpus-Iike.
around everything within reach. This
eonglomerate mass has to be shaken ND.
Heavy drag ropes and wire cables are
brought out OF the tool car and firmly
iAs!ehed to q part OF the wreckage.
Then the engine of the wreck
Train tugs. aud stratus, the driv-
ing wheels slipping with every
turn: Perhaps a steady pull does
not do any good, aud the engine lets
sthe rope slackep and takes running
estart. Biff! The rope breaks and lis
1.-TWO parts snap like rubber Bands. A
Ikea,ie: rope is brought and tile wreck.
oge stirred up. Parts Of 1t are dragged
here and there out Of the road: somc OF
1t rolled down convenient embank.
mcnt. No time is lost In uselessly try.
ing to save cars. The tracks must lie
as soon as possible and trains
allowed to proceed. Empty cars are
fEollrd over out OF the road. with the
help OF block aid fall. Wrecked coal
I9r coke is shOveied out OF the way as
last as The men can work.
h There are some cars, however, that
!" require much slower manipulation.
suppose car, weighing, with Its
lading, about $50 pounds, to have its
trucks Knocked out from under 1t, but
otherwise uninjured. u is evident that
this car cannot be easily pulled out of
the way. Besides. 1t would not paw
10 destroy the car ara its fading
when they can be saved. So the car Is
raised up off the ground by hydraulic
Jacks far enough t allow new trucks to
be put underit. These hydraulic jacks
are wonderful helpers ON q wrecked
train. With their aid one man can lift
twenty tons a foot minute. They
hn, 81.
presses. worked on exactly the same
principle as the cotton press shown in
many books on physics.
remember one wreck which hap
pened few years ago, to which / was
calico about p. III. 1t was little
cloudy. and after little thought, /
concluded to take a rubber coat. A
telegraph operator went along with us
to open up telegraph office at the
wreck. He was quite young fellow.
dressed very nicely. but he thought an
umbrella would 90 for himself. We
got to the wreck about o'clock. An
empty freight car in the middle of a
north-bound freight train had broken
down and fallen across the south-bound
track, WHERE 1t was run into by a pas
senger tram going seventy miles an
hour. The freight car was knocked
into pieces about as big as your hand.
One pair of driving wheels OH the en-
glne OF the passenger train were d. :.
rallied. but the engine ran On the tie
until stopped. 1t was very narrow
escape all around.
When we got to the wreck 1t was
raining cats and dogs and blowing
tigers and lions. never saw sucn a
time. The wind blew all our lamps
out. and the rain seemed to soak away
all our ambition. If our bodies once
got little off of plumb the wind upset
US. 1t was terrible. got a position on
the lee side of the engine, and went to
work to put her OH the track. A brave
few worked on the windward side
But it seemed as if we could never get
her OH again. We could hardly see.
talk, hear OF move for the wind aud
rain.
In the meantime a lineman had "cut
ln' temporary wire, and the telegraph
operator started 10 send and receive
messages. His umbrella had long ago
blown away. and he was wet to the
skin. But he bravely stuck at it, al
othough he was absolutely unsheltered,
and out in that bowling tempest he
tried 10 hear the faint tick-tick of his
instrument. He was fairly successful
for 4 while, but when he tried to write
310ut an order in all that rain, work his
instrument and hold himself together
Gall at the same time, be succumbed and
! had to give il up. admired him for
his pluck and wished l had the power
!. to reward him for 1t.
-, Well, after all was over and 1 was
back at the Office ] came across the
Superintendent hauling this operator
! over the Goals for not getting the mes
xsases. lie would take no excuses. or
course. 1t was bad night, but still the
message ought to have been taken, and
: so forth! The young fellow wrs very
meek: over it all but his conscience told
him lie. had done his very best. What
more was possible? After he had gone,
however. l soon fixed his case up with
the superintendent. What hard
thing 1t is i'll this hard world to do the
best that can be done aud be blamedfor
ont doing better.