The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1895-02-24
MISHAPS ON THE RAIL
OCCASIONS WHEN SOME OF THEM
PRESENT LUDIcROUs FEATURES.
Been I'm Mans Accidents-Incidents
which Afforded Amusement.

1 W n1cn An0fOeu AMuScmchts
/ New York Herald.
| A railroad accident affords never-to-be-
/ forgotten sensation The sudden lurch of
/ the car, the propulsion of the human body
i through seemingly limitless space, the
shock. the sinking feeling at the pit OF the
| stomach. the impression that everything is
| afloat, the sound of crashing wood break
! ing glass, kissing steam. and the cries or
| fright and the shrieks Of pain do not fade
| readily from the memory Of one who has
| once been in a smashup.
Railroad accidents are always serious TO
the railroad company. if not to the passen-
| gers. If, fortunately, there be no loss of
| life, there is still the liability OF damages
1 for shattered nerves of passengers whose
/ cases have fallen into the hands of shrewd
attorneys. Then, too. the company has
| heavy bills to meet in the loss of rolling
| stock, repairs to engines and roadbed. and
| for merchandise delayed or destroyed by the
| accident.
| To the uninjured passengers, however.
| railroad accidents sometimes present ludi-
| crous features A well-known commercial
| traveller who was in the cafe of a hotel
| the other night, remarked that he had been
| in at least score of railroad accidents
| 81 have always enjoyed the very best OF
| drummers luck" said he. "for, oddly
| enough, considering the number of COM
| mercial travellers in the country, the pro-
| portion of accidents among the craft IS
| very small. This is due probably to the
| fact that the commercial men. as class,
/ travel in drawing room and sleeping cars,
| which, from their great weight, fare better
| than ordinary cars in an accident, ana hence
| have come to be considered by the drum
mers as the. very best accident policy.
L fnvA Of ft1, Gycf oh
| experienced" he continued. occurred in
March, about ten years ago.. on the Mis-
| AS an accident it amounted to nothing. A
misplaced switch threw northbound ex-
| press car off the track. and delayed US for
..The car. which contained a consignment
of Louisiana strawberries destined for CHI
| crates containing the fruit only slightly
damaged, were scattered around. This was
| too good an opportunity for the passengers
| and train hands to miss. and so all went for
the berries.
There CHANGED to be in the Pullman car
| a young. bride and bridegroom. The lat
ter, anxious to get any delicacy for his
Which he carried into the car for her
sew W xaoa d s dos sas ns
berries les" in INA March, and such Beautiful ones.
too But she continued, a moment later,
where are the sugar ana cream? can't
"The train conductor. who had heard the
| remark, retorted Next time we have an
i IL
! of sugar and cream spilled out with the
/ berries. Then the passengers Will have no
| in the case Of a smashup.' Then he left
| the car muttering something about fool
/ women and 81, COO accidents.
/ OF SIMILAR CHARACTER.
| 1.-Two little accidents in which partici-
| pated," added the drummer, occurred a
| year apart almost to a day, on the same
| road, the Jellico route, between Louisville
| and Knoxville, and on the same stretch
| of track. The conditions were precisely the
| same both times. 1t in the spring of
| the year. and the rain and the frost COM
| ing out of the ground had softened the
| roadbed, which was Graded embankment
| too narrow possibly to sustain the weight
OF the new and heavier rolling stock.
| IN each case one side of the embank-
ment gave way. gradually under the train
| carrying the rails with it, leaving the cars
at an awkward angle and delaying the
| excitement created by the accident. The
| lurch threw all the passengers on one side
the others up against the side Of the car
theatrical company was in the sleeper
| out of their berths was a caution. II was
about o'clock in the morning, and of
J course all further sleep. was out of the
/ question. Dressing well we could and
| being told that it would be several hours
before. the train could be righted, we all
| started down the track for little hamlet
i about three miles away in search of break
fast;
and the party proved bright and entertain
| ing Probably the villagers had never
se as ro arsS number h.aor Of ms In their
| wives were pressed into service, and very
satisfactory meal was served. Then fol-
and actresses furnished much amusement
and then ,,lo. we got up baseball game Il
| left our little mountain retreat.
%Of all railroad accidents 'head-on
drummer. yet j can recall one in nv which ieh
nobody was injured and which possessed
an amusing aspect. i occurred on sun
| day afternoon just outside of Atlanta Ga
oyer the same tracks Like nearly all
which they passed was single line. with
turnouts and sidings for the trains to pass.
train leaving Atlanta on the day in aues-
tion was informed that he. would pass an
excursion train not Of the rival road at GER
| Of this kind Is that the regular train has
the right q, way and that the other Is to
las the regular train approached the
DESIGNATED place the engineer discovered
track and that several coal cars were on
the siding. This. would make it necessary
out again after the other train had passed
The, The ,engineer of the regular train adj
| five feet of the excursion. then he put on
his brakes, but they did not hold. and the
| ueAl INSTANT the engines came together.
| THE shock was not particularly severe
not much more so than that of North
| river ferryboat entering her slip 1t was
| SUFFICIENT, however. to demolsh the pilots
| OF both engines. crush in the forward end of
| the cinder boxes and destroy the head
lights. In fact it was surprising to see
| the extent of the injury. slight as the blow
was. -"
| LUDICROUS INCIDENTS.
| THE passengers were naturally somewhat
shaken up, and in an instant were pouring
| from both trains. The first men out were
| treated to a novel sight, for at the instant
of the collision the engineers and iiremen of
| both trains had leaped from their cabs
! and there they We're, all four in a heap.
rolling around and punching each other in
rough-and-tumble fight This continued
! until the conductors and some of the mas
| sengers ran forward and separated the
| combatants. W
The excursion train was able to pro-
| ceed TO Atlanta after the engineer of the
regular train was induced to go on the
siain ago Then at the expiration Of an hour
| or Two, another engine arrived from At
! lanta, and the regular train procee6ed an