Western liberal. (Lordsburg, N.M.) 1887-1919, 1895-02-01
A PLUCKY ENGINEER,

1 am a civil engineer, or rather I
was one until 1 retired a few years ago
with a comfortable fortune. Many men
in our profession nave had exciting OK
periences, but / doubt whether anybody
but myself has ever travelled at the rate
Of 60 miles an hour, suspended beneath
u railway carriage.
1 was never a man to seek adventure
for its OWL sake; neither was I inclined
to be timm when a task attended with
danger had to be performed. Ny work
often brought me into great peril; but,
except on the occasion Of which / ant
about to write, I had, fortunately, kept
clear Of accidents.
1t was in the seventies that I received
the appointment of chief engineer to one
of the big railway lines connected with
Boston. Twas Of an inventive turn and
had recently taken out a patent for a
radial axle frame for six wheeled
coaches. This was a device that enables
the wheels'of a carriage to adjust them
selves to sharp curves and so obyiate the
friction of the rail and consequent dan
ger that attached to the ordinary fixed
axlea.
This patent of mine was applied ex-
perimentally to several coaches ON my
line, and the results were to all appear
ances very satisfactory However, 1 had
a technical dispute with a brother engi-
neer, an old friend in whose opinion l
generally had the fullest confidence, re-
specting u rather important detail. AS a
matter Of fact, we held different opin-
ions as to the behavior Of the mechanism
when in actual operation, and my work
ing model did not help us much.
'I'l tell you what Twill do, - 1 said.
"I'll satisfy myself by seeing how it
works"
How do you mean?" lie asked.
''Why, I'll travel underneath the
coach, hang myself up in a hammock
and watch the whole thing"
My friend smiled incrednlously.
twill you accompany mt? 1 am in
earnest, a" L continued.
"No, thank you, " was his reply. 81
must decline to embark IN such a hare
Drained adventure. 1 have a wife and
family dependent III me.
But l was determined to settle the
point. If what he said was correct, the
sooner the modification was made the
better. So / made arrangements for my
journey on the Boston express next day.
When Preached the railway station, 1
found that my instructions had been
carried ont. A large piece of sacking
was suspended beneath the carriage by
four stout hempen ropes, passed through
wrought iron staples and properly tied
and dashed. examined it carefully and
found everything secure.
A few minutes before the train start
cd 1 Crept into my hammock, assisted
by my friend, who had come to see me
off on my strange journey, He wished
me bon voyage, the whistle blew, and
we began to move out of the station.
Lying as l was on my back, smokingat
n cigar, the motion was at first decidedly
pleasant, but as we got up steam and
increased u speed my position became
one of considerable discomfort. 1 was
rocked from side to side with ever in
creasing violence and soon became COW
cred with dust ind ashes, which, with
the tremendous draft, were driven
against my face in a that wal
at times quite painful. My eyes were,
however, protected by a suitable pair OF
spectacles that / had taken the precau-
tion to provide myself with.
/ was able from my position 10 watch
closely the behavior Of the axle frame.
I was acquainted with the position and
character of every curve on the line,
and consequently knew just when to be
specially watchful. Ny qualification
was complete when l found that in
every respect the views l had advocated
were correct Every swivel and lever
worked splendidly, and the undue strain
ing that my friend had insisted must
occur at certain points did not exist
There was absolutely no way o. improv.
ing the mechanism that / could see.
We had passed the worst curve on
the line and were now greatly incraas-
ing our speed. We were entering un
the fastest bit Of the journey, md
things were getting lively for me. rle
pitching and rolling Of a small boat in
midchannei in ''choppy" weather were
not to be compared to the motion / ex-
perienced. II was more like being VIC
lently tossed in the blanket.
One jolt sent me flying upward, and
struck my head against the framework
with such force that the blow nearly
stunned me. At another time ! wn'
nearly rolled ont beneath the wheels
was compelled to hold on to the sides Of
the sacking for dear life, and my bands
were battered q good deal. To make
matters worse, q giddiness and nause;
were coming over me-a virtual seasiok
neEs-and ! kept asking myself why
had been mad enough to embark on suci
q foOlhardy undertaking.
Suddenly turning my eyes 70 one o.