Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1895-04-05
hid HE COMMIT A MURDER


..fsed doctor, and an old man
had been the centre of all eyes
since the accident For, you see,
hy virtue of necessity and not
.rfee that these people had settled
around the red-hOJ stove in the
. chat night The Flying Dutch
that Storm or shine showed its
around the curve half a mile
Toe old shanty that did duty as
.t 1--S every evening had been
.- To- make up time that had been
Lber back on the road. The ac-
happened at the curve, which
SUCH an abrupt one that Jack Free
the engineer on the Flying
Imam. had said every time he
I il that some time he was 'gOin
have big SIN ship on that there
-. corner" And when the smash
I come at last il was a severe one,
Door jack was instantly killed and
fireman was lying on q cot IN a
room back of the bar, and the
doctor said ne could not possibly
utu morning. The engine had
rad it's way Off the track, and
u.uugiug ahead for thirty feet
. square up against the largest tree
The State. giant redwood. All
was left of poor Jack Freeman
one les and part Of one arm-at
@ that was all they could find in the
rass The fireman was wedged in
cams. the boiler. and when taken
after half an hour of hard work
part OF the rescUing crew the
. Fcs dropping OF in long shreds
over his body.
~.. Door fellow was screaming and
r- u- with the lookers-on TO either
FIN him or give him something TO kill
himself with. Luckily, no one else
s hurt as the engine and tender had
.an loose from the rest of the train
.r it Ieft the track, leaving the pas
.e- cars standing without injury
the track. But one person among
u the old man mentioned before,
- SO overcome by the horrible suf-
--- of the fireman that he tainted.
There was no hope of any Of them get
-. ont of the gulch before the next
.. so they an settled down around
toye that night, and as all of them
travelled a great deal they were
-.uE the time telling about railroad
..Geuts where they had been per-
.ly interested. lit was getting near
bedtime. but somehow they all set
f.s waiting for the old man TO say
smelling.
They had been watching him all
evening as ne struggled with himself
over some question, and they felt GER
-G be had a story to tell. if he could
Pr. persuaded to tell it, that would put
ann 10 GF
whom they had an told Of some horror
where they had had a narrow escape,
end were sitting back in their chairs
looking at nothing and busy with their
own thoughts, the Old man burst out
w.th.-
WELL boys. I'm going to just give
ur-eli mp, an YOU can lynch me or let
go. Just as you've a mind TO. I've
TODD this thing by myself just as long
PISS can. Then he stopped and look
.I wes,ioniugly into the eyes Of those
about him. as if trying to read their
thoughts The BOYS all started up
wide awake. certain that they were
about 10 hear something out OF the or
binary.
The old man sat silent awhile long
or. his long white hair rolling over his
collar, his wide brjmmed hat pushed
far back ON his head. and then con-
tinued. "I never saw such a cOinci-
dence i'm an my life before. same
kind of country. same kind of accident
same number Of people killed, only in
this other smaSb-up the fireman was
killed instantly and the engineer was
burned To- dealh-that is, If YOU want
-1 call 10 that You see, this is the
way it happened:
II was runnin a ranch then down in
Texas. and had just taken a big load
cattle East. On the way back, in
stead of coming straight home, l went
into Montana to see an uncle Of
m.ne who had talked some of buying
me- ont We were just about q day 5
journey from this place when the ac-
Uleut happened I'm telling YOU about
H. seems the engineer was a bright
young fellow and one of the most pOp-
".-r ones ON the line. He'd been mar
u.l just three weeks and his bride
on the train he was a-runnin'. lie
was more careful than usual on her ac-
count when gOin over the bad places,
nr SO when me- came to a level stretch
b. pm, ON steam an tried to make up
..a time he'd lost He was jest a min
and % half late at Altoona and he
& bound to make up the time be-
.ae1 there and ElstOn, thirty-five
niles further on.
That old train simply flew them
-arty-dve miles. You couldn't tell a
.0 from a telegraph pole and finally
4 4 D.. hot IA.
passengers got a little scary. Every
Thing went an right, though, until we
within a mile of ElstOn. There
s curve in the road, sharp, just
about like this here one. The country
@ of looked the same, too.
Hel. when we got to that curve,
instead Of steadying down a little he
oD more steam. Ought to have
.r1Vu better YOU say? Well, yes;
- Then people are usually darn fools
Pho crisis of their lives. Anyway,
coupling pin snapped and the en-
. went around the curve alone,
rug the train and tender behind.
The Inference i'm the weight made her
Jump. an she landed in a ditch
.-aeu feet down an embankment.
fireman was killed before he ever
what struck him. but the en-
got jammed up against the
just the same as this here fell
did. The steam was pouring out
his head and chest and he was
dim and prayin' for some one TO
.u and put him out Of his misery.
. men were working hard to get
.r-. but me was held there by some
u niece Of iron. like q CrOWhar.