The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1894-04-13
RAILROAD MEN AND FArr.


The Strange Case OF a Conductor VINO was
Always Being Injured.
81 hardly like 70 say that believe in
fntalism, - said a railroad man, "but from
the way fate seems 70 rule things Ia the
lives of different persons who follow rail
reading hardly like ~ say that don't
believe in g. Take poor Fd Sullivan for
instance, 20 long the conductor 81 the swell
Tuxedo express on the Eric railway. There
are engineers Fad conductors who have
run on this or that railroad for 40 years
aud more, aud who, although they have
run hundreds Of thousands Of miles Ia MI
kinds 81 weather and under many adverse
circumstances, and been In scores Of bad
smAshups, have never ns much as received
q scratch ia all those years. / know half
a dozen such men myself. Then there are
others who have Hilroaded not half 10
long and have not been beset by half as
many perils and yet 10 whom run with
out "A mishap Of some kind might be said
60 be a memorable exception.
Now, TAKE Ia Sullivan. A better,
more careful or thorough railroad man
never lived than he was. He had been a
good many years in the employ of the Erie
before he was put IN charge OF the Tuxedo
express. lie hadn't been on the road long
when he was knocked down by a switch
engine In the Port Jervis yHrd. His right
leg was broken at the knee aud ia such "A
way that he never recovered the proper use
Of tho leg. lie was freight conductor
then, and some time after he was able TO
resume work his train ran into another
train that had stopped ahead Of him, the
rear Of which hadn't been guarded A bad
smashup resulted. Ed sullivan WINS bur
led in tho wreck and taken out with an
other broken leg and a side all smashed In.
They Thought sure he would never get over
those bad hurts, but he did, although he
was many weeks doing it,
"When he was well enough, he went to
work again. One night he discovered that
his flaginan was missing from his train.
lie stopped the train and went back To
look for the lost man. lie hudn't gone "A
great way ia his search when he fell
through bridge to rocky creek n dis
tance OF 90 feet. This time he was badly
hurt about the head and bnck, and he had
two or three ribs broken, but he managed
20 make his way back 10 bis train. l don't
know what the fate Of the missing flag
man was, but Ed was laid up again for a
long time.
For year OF so after that he slid along
without anything ont - the common hap
pening TO him, and then he was put on
the Tuxedo express. Two years ago at
Garfield, where the train stopped, Ed was
struck by passing engine and knocked
into the ditch. One of his legs was bro
ken, his right shoulder was dslocated, and
he was badly cut and bruised about the
body. 1t was a good while before he was
in shape TO report for duty again, and then
he was appointed yardmaster at Middle
town. His first mishap there was to have
several of his fingers taken of while he
was helping make up a train. few
months after he was run over by "A yard
engine. This time he did not escape with
a few broken bones and cuts and bruises.
" This Is the last one = he said as he
was being carried away.
"And IL was He died few hours later.
A strange fact in connection with his ca
rcer on the railroad was that he was the
only one who was ever hurt when there
was an accident on or TO his trains. Now.
why should he, careful and experienced
man that he was, have been so persistent
ly victim 10 the perils Of his calling,
while others, twice as long in service as
he was and many more times in greater
peril, never had as much as broken skin
as a result Of their experiences on the railY"
New York Sun.