Kansas City daily journal. [volume] (Kansas City, Mo.) 1892-1897, 1895-06-17
NEW MEXICO CLoUDBURST,
The Engineer Got Bis Train Out OF the
Way just In lime.

Inc bng'necr Got HIS Train Out OF the
Way just In Time.
AS I logged southwark on my pony.
going from Springer TO Wagon Mound,
the early morning was typical New
Mexico August day, with fresh air,
| clear and hot, but not oppressive" said
an amateur ranchplan TO a New York
sun reporter. The country through
which l was travelling was the broad
mesa or table land. stretching eastward
| from the Rocky mountain, foothills to
| where, nifty or sixty miles away, 1t
breaks abruptly down into lower pla-
| teau. the next in the succession of high
| plains, which, like steps. lead from the
base of the Rockies down to the coast
| levels OF Texas. To the westward, on
my right, were the smooth, round foot
hills, sprinkled with scrub oak and PIN
on, and. far beyond them, rose the SER
tied submits OF the Snowy range. My
tran lay Just to the eastward of the
Atchison railroad here lying nearly due
north and south as IL skirts the foothills.
Upon the plains on both sides of the
track cattle were grazing in little scat
tered bands. some of them wandering
| UP among the foothills
The rainy season in New Mexico was
sttll on, and SO, toward noon, | was not
surprised to observe threatenings Of
rain. At times ] could see that 1t was
raining hard about the range of peaks.
and storm cloud after storm cloud came
from the submits out toward the plain,
only to roll off to the northward without
discharging its rain and lightning upon
the earth. A little past noon one of
these murky clouds stopped north of the
foothills, and, as If struck by a head
current of wind in the upper regions of
the air, moved slowly back as another
heavy cloud swept plainward from the
mountains, the two travelling In lines
that would bring them together among
the foothills ON my right. a little ahead,
If they met, there was bound to be a big
cOmmotion and rainfall. and | put my
bronco to his best gait in hopes to reach
shelter before the heaviest of the rain
should fall. but | soon saw that | was
bound to catch II. and donning my oil
skin slicker braced myself for what
might come AS the clouds approached
each other their progress was attended
first with deep rumblings like growls of
anger. while bolts of lightning shot
iiercely from one to the other. Like
vast phantom hosts the two clouds. with
roar of their mingled thunders, rushed
together darkened into one. and settling
upon the foothills. shut all but the near
est hill from my sight.
with my experience in the country
| was not prepared for what was to fol-
low. | knew as much as this, that the
cloudburst would fill the water courses
and gulches draining the country on
which 1t fell, and ! hurried on through
the driving rain TO get to Wagon
Mound before torrents should make my
way impossible. In an interval of the
laundering heard the toot of an engine,
and looking back saw near at hand A
long freight train forging steadily along
TO the south. The same glance revealed
a white crested wall of water appearing
upon each side of the base of the one
foothill in view directly on my right
and coming toward the track with the
speed of ocean combers. SO suddenly
did they appear that for a moment !
could scarcely realize that they were
forerunners of a resistlesS flood pouring
out of the mountains through the near
est openings upon the level plain. Then
speeding my horse along the side of
the railroad ] looked over my shoulder
To see the freight train gather speed as
the engineer in the cab stood with his
hand on the lever and the valves thrown
wide open. watching the hurrying
waters. whose front he must pass before
they should strike the railroad embank-
ment or have his train involved in ruin
THE rushing train shut me from the
view of the waters but | could see that
the track held firm under the long mov-
ing line of cars. As the rearmost car
passed that part of the track which
must take the brunt of the waters | saw
that the enbankment held back surg
ing lake, whose waters We're beginning
to flow over the roadbed as IL it were u
dam. In a minute more the waters had
cut a passage through the wide embank-
ment, which the rushing torrent had
widened to gap thousand feet in
length before the train had passed out Of
sight.
out upon the plain beyond where the
track had stood rolled the seethinG flood,
in which logs, great uprooted trees and
carcasses of drowned kline tossed and
swung, while here and there appeared
the horned head of a struggling COW or
OK fighting for life. a mile ahead the
track rose to low summit where the
grade lifted I'm crossing some malpai3.
From that point of safety / looked back
through the dwindling rain to see two
broken ends Of track facing each other
across gap of half a mile filled by an
undiminished flood, rolling outward TO
disperse itself upon the plain, on which
fleeing cattle splashed in the effort TO
escape.
1.-TWO days later / rode back up the
line of road. a temporary track had
been built past the place where the
washout had occurred the rails resting
upon a cross piling of ties, \ thin de-
posit of mud upon the prairie sod, an oc-
casional shallow pool and the full rail-
road bitches marked where the waters
had spread, and upon this part of the
plain, now dry, lay here and there "A log
or tree, brought on the food out of the
mountains or the body Of a drowned
COW or steer. Beyond these evidences
there were no signs Of the tremendous
flood that had dropped in a few minutes
from the sky upon the arid earth to
find its way where it would"