The Roanoke daily times. (Roanoke, Va.) 1895-1897, 1895-09-24
A RAILROAD GHOST.

GnOStS! spOrtcu the conductor ScOrn-
fully. "Why, man alive, the woods arc
full of EN- in these mountains Just wait
till we take tho siding for No. 3 to pass,
and I'll tell you about Granny Whitaker
and her COW, whose spooks l seen with my
own Dyes. Ghosts There's at least ono
full grown spook for every milo post on
tho division
So it was held my peace until the train
was safely on the siding and we were
gathered around tho stove in the c;lbooSc
Tho wind was bowling wildly through the
s0rgcS, making the windows rattle and
tho doors crcak, while the unusual draft
cnuscd the iron stove to glow rcdly in the
scmitwilight One felt mighty comfurta-
bio inside tho cab that evening.
chow, about them SpookS = remarked
tho conductor, putting away his lunch
pail and lighting his pipe. lin not gon
10 tell you any fancy tales. but just give
you short account Of what l seen with
my own eyes ono winter about ten wears
ago, and you can believe il or not. as YOU
SEQ fit. AT that timc was front brake
man on old Bill Stalcy's crow, and wc had
tho name of bcin the toughest gang on the
division all through, includin the engineer
and fireman. Pete Smith was at the
throttle, and Go solcmniy believe he was
tho most impious man on the face of the
earth Swear! Why, profanity came to
his lips easier than anything else. I've
seen him sit down on log and curse the
Foad from president to apprentice because
n nut got loose or II couplin broke.
And he was as cranky rs he was pro-
fame. For instance, one day he got il into
his head the telegraph operator III big
Tunnel kept the red signal up IL few sec
ondi longer than necessary, which raised
Ia I, =
dropped old Pete wouldn't start but i'll
stead got Il wrench and began t<kin off u
cylinder head. We knew it wasn't any use
remonstratin with him. as he'd have his
own sweet will in the matter. Meantime
train after train drew up behind us. and
tho dispatcher at the hcr end of the divi-
sion WAS nearly crazy. He asked by wire
several times what WAS the nnttrr, and al
last sent message thrcatcnin To suspend
Pete unless he got started within ten min
,utes.
"Whcn he got this word, Pete who all
the timc had been tinkcrin with the cylin-
der Us if Inc was maxim big repairs, began
to swear. Ilc sat down on the pilot and
saiivatcd that dispatcher until words failed
him. Then ho renewed his lciSurcly work
upon the engine. At last hc got in the
InoCd 10 start after We had laid there =
hours and 20 minutes. The worst of it
was nobody could say positively The cylin-
dor didn't need repairs, no nothin' was
done.
II mentioned this just to show what Il
rncan, cantankorous cuss Pete was, and 50
you'd better understand what IN goin to
tGlI you. Ton years ago the country here
abouts wasn't near as well settled It's il is
now. Tho old rcsidcntcrs weren't over
good either. They had the nunc of bcin !;
bad lot, and about the worst was GRANNY
Whitaker, who lived in u rickcty little
log house in n clcarn near the top of tho
mountain. 1t was said she was u witch.
and most people avoided her rs they would
tho old Nick
She had an old moolcy COW that USED
10 run free all over the mountain, often lis
not takin the railroad for u short cut
home That COW caused lots OF trouble.
Tor there wasn't an engineer on the divi
sion who wouldn't blame sight rather
stop his engine and chase the brute away
than incur Granny Whittakcr's anger Is,
KILN 1t-that is, cxccptin Pete. One ta>
that COW got on the track ahead of him
when he was in an extra bad h,inor anC
no Tried to run IL down, sayin he'd send tn,
COW to kingdom come if he got that
chance He got it. The next day the COW
wasn't quick enough, and Pete caught il
square in tho center, knocliin it down the
bank like n feather. Then he laughed
think it was the first time ever heard
him laugh, and along with the rest Of tn,
trainmen 1 didn't like ii bit for we was
all afearcd of Granny Whitaker
The followin day when we reached
that spot again thorc was Il red flag Stickii
up between tho rails. Contrary rs Pete
was he didn't dare run past II danger sig
nal, so he blowcd for breaks, and the trai,
camo to Il stop. All at once old Cram,
Whitaker rose up from somewhere ant
opened on Pete. She called down the most
blood curdling curses on him over heard
her skinny finger pointn AT him and he,
eyes iiashin fire and birthstone. Old Pet,
Wrlggled and tried to answer but Sho didn'
give him chance until sho ran out OF
breath. / was lookin for him to do som,
sweasin himself, but he only said 'Shct
up yo old bag, or I'll send yc to jine the
cow Then he started his engine
'She run alongside his cab and scream
IN, III put spell on you and your on
Rine you murderer threw little bottle
OF what looked like ink at him 1t hit the
window and busted, fyin nil over him
and the engine. She cacklcd and yelled
with delight: You'll die by your own en-
gine, you wretch, and me and my COW
will haunt you as the engine moved
awny. Pete wiped the stuff off with soma
waste and said nothin. I saw tho old
woman standin and pointin after us till
we turned tho bend
About week after that we were
changed from day to night run. In
spite OF old Pctc's crankincss he was ono of
The best engineers on the road and had one
of The best engines too. So when things
began to go wrong with the machinery of
oiu so0 tho master mechanic couldn't un-
dcrstand it. The engine would run all