The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-09-15

We had 10 wait till they were fixed, and
| that made us late.
| "EveryhOd was mad because we'd have
/ TO tear the ground up to make connec-
| tons ahead for the southeast and south.
| No. 7G was one Of our great big engines.
/ The boiler stood high and the engine
cab roof was pretty near down on top Of
! It. There was only room to stick my arm
/ over If ! wanted TO get a light for my
/ pipe from Jack, my fireman, and my side
! OF the cab was that narrow and crowded
] that when ] was inside and the weather
was cold and I'd shut the door, nobody
! on the outside could open It unless
| squeezed up toward the front.
| well, sir, as / was saying, we had
| heaVy train and the passengers were most
| ~ wei or people, going south Tor the
winter. That's why We had two extra bag
| gage cars on besides the mail and regu-
! lar When we pulled out the depot mas
ter said TO me that he hoped we'd make
the southern connection, because there
were lot Of Florida bound folks aboard
who'd have to lay over and lose WhOle
day, and this would give our road black
eye 1 told him I'd try my level best, but
the train was heavy and 7O7 was hardly
equal TO the business because her fiues
weren't drawing half right and she ought
to be at the shops.
Then a sharp voice rang out in the
dark. saying: Don't kick about your en-
E4its II pretty near AoD EOoA AtA goh
to run / knew It was the division super
intendent who spoke, a mean, overbear-
ing sour man, and l made up my mind TO
make the Southern if 1 had to run the
drivers off and get there on the steam
chests"
The night was dark nights can well
get There was no moon, and II there had
been the clouds were too thick to give II
show. 1t wasn't raining. and the rails
were dry, and the cold, that had gotten
right sharp. made EN- just right for quick
running. Away We went, and now and
then Jack would say to me over the boil
err when he came up into the cab after
firing up, that the fiues were working
bully and that we were just tearing down
the lost time. Pretty soon ii began to
get chiller and l shut the door. We ran
on for a long time this way, stopping once
for water and three or four times for
instructions, and when we reached the
curve near Ruggles Bend, forty miles
from the southern junction, / saw we
just had forty-seven minutes 10 make thar.
Il thought to myself I'd show that
hound of a superintendent if 707 was too
good for me to run and telling Jack to
pile in the coal / pulled her wide open,
and picked up the air brake wire, letting
the throttle alone. 1t was nearly straight
road to the junction, but there was Il
sharp curve on a high embankment just
before you got there. AS / told you, it
was mighty Odihi anu the glass was uOWn
in front. 1t had got a little smoky, so l
opened the side window to look out"
The engineer paused a nOment and sig
nihcantly touched the red scar.
II never knew anything after poking my
head out. A mail crane that had been left
swinging out after the train in front of
us had passed just fetched me clip where
you see that mark. / heard about what
happened afterward, though, and it makes
my flesh creep every time I think of 1t.
Tell 1t to you? oh. yes, sir; that's all there
is 10 the story When that crane struck
me it knocked me back into the cab, sense
less, OF course. AS told you the door was
shut, and when Jack saw me fall and
jumped up to get in he couldn't open the
door, because 1 was jammed in against it,
He went uD on the other side, but he
couldn't get across the boiler. l tell you
sir, 1t was terrible.
There was 707 going wide open on a good
sixty mile an hour, with the grade begin
ming to drop and the speed getting faster
every second. Jack said he expected to see
us jump the track at every little curve,
and it seemed a million years to him. But
people have got to think quicker than a
trains running at such a time as that,
and Jack thought of that sharp curve and
high bank this side Of the junction and
now not five. miles off.
He got out of the cab, grabbed the
edge of the roof. and drew himself up
men ne GfdNlcQ over anu SlEtu up Atlb
window I'd been looking out of when
the crane hit me. There was no way of
getting in except in bending himself
down from the roof and letting go every
thing and making a sort of curved dive.
He could hear the southern blow for the
junction as he made the jump or the
Slide for that's what it was. Hi4lOdy
got caught in the window, but he was
far enough in to grab the throttle. With
his legs sticking out of that window ne
closed her down slowly, so as not to
break things up, ana ne was working
me air brakes when i07 ran easy onto
that high curve. and came to a stop
about forty yards from the junction.
They took me out for dead, after cutting
the door, but they helped Jack out first.
He'd tainted dead away with the air
brake wire clutched in his hand"
The engineer wiped the perspiration
from his brow, and the scar seemed all
the redder.
People up in front have some pretty
close calls sometimes, and know when
they miss EN-, but. bless you, the people
behind EN- don't dream of how near they
are sometimes to kingdom come"