The news boy., 1896-06-13
THREE TELEGRAPH STORIES
Showing How Much Depends on
the Railroad Operator.
One of Them Made Up for a Blunder by
Saving the Limited - An Accident
Where Accidents Were Deemed
hn Impossibility.

night operator at town near Altoona,
on the Pennsylvania railroad. He had
lost great deal of sleep and was very
tired. The night wore along and trains
were few. 1t was hard to keep aw AXE.
Finally the operator in the signal tower
next to the west reported No. 4, the cx-
press. passing east. The track was
clear and Jones pulled the white signal
and waited for No. 4. He had almost
fallen asleep when he was aroused by |
the roar of the train as No. swept past |
the white signal. He saw the red lights
ut the rear Of the train as she disap- |
peared around the curve and he re-
ported her to the operator at the sig |
nal tower next east and west. Then he |
waited to hear that she had passed the |
tower east. Three or four minutes was
all it should have taken her 10 reach that |
tower, but he waited long after that and
no word came to him. He called up
Smith, the opeator there, and asked
him if No. had passed. Smith said
NO They talked over the wire and
concluded that she had broken down or
been wrecked between the two towers.
AT about that time the train dis
patcher called up and asked anNiously
where No. 1 was. Jones said that she
had passed his tower,and Smith was sure
that she had not passed his. Everybody
was wide awake now, for the train was
certainly lost, and a lost train is Il
serious thing on railroad. The dis
patcher thought that she might have
slipped past without Smith seeing her,
the towers ali along the road beyond de-
clared that she had not passed them.
A freight going west was stopped at
Jones' tower and the conductor was
asked if he had seen No. between the
two towers. He said that there was no
sign of her.
"Then the perspiration began to stand
out on the operators and dispatchers.
The track between the two towers lies
along the river. a high stone wall sup
ports it. The only possible explanation
seemed to be that No. had gone over
| the wall into the river. She could not
have gone up into the air. Nearly an
| hour had passed. The river seemed the
only place where she could be. The
| freight conductor received orders to
uncouple his engine and run back
slowly. He ran back past two towers,
but could see nothing of No. 4 on the
| track or in the river. There was not
even n displaced rail where she could
have gone over the wall. Then he was
ordered to run slowly west, to see how
things looked there. About half way
between Jones' tower and the one west
or him the express was found, with a
broken cylinder head. She had never
passed Jones at all. Jones had dreamed
it, although he declares to this day that
he was wide awake all the time.
"Jones was in bad reputc for time,
but he was not discharged, as he was n
good man, and his mistake had not
caused wreck. He redeemed him.
self within few weeks. BY his pres
ence of mind and quick action he saved
the limited. That was an unusual case
also. 1t was the train dispatcher's mis-
take, so far as know, but he may have
been misled by some one else's blunder.
One day the limited was going east in
two sections. 1t is very, very seldom
that the limited runs in more than one
section. A freight was lying in front
Of Jones' tower waiting for the limited
to pass. The train dispatcher sent out
an order saying: No. 4 (.he limited)
will run 40 minutes late That gave
plenty of time for the freight to get to
The next siding. The message should
save read: Second No. will run 4C
minutes late The first section was on
time. Jones handed the order to the
| - -hn M
down out of the tower and started his
train on to the main track.
Just as the big freight engine begar
pulling the telegraph instrument begar
ticking, and Jones read n report saying
that the limited had passed thu
tower above. 1t was just around the
curve, not a mile and half away. L
was a question of seconds. There wa:
no time to run down the stairs, ant
It was no use to drop the red signal
The engine had already passed. There
was no time to think. Jones graspet
his ink bottle and his red flag. He raj
out on the balcony in front of thu
tower and threw the ink bottle at thu
engine. Then he waved the red flag
and yelled with all his might. The bottl
struck the cab and attracted the engi
neer's attention. He looked up and saw
Jones waving the red flag and yellin.
like a madman. Just at the same mo
ment they both heard the shrill scream
of the limited's whistle as she ap
preached the curve.
"The engineer did not stop to ques
, ton what it was. The engine was clea
out on the main track. He reversed
the engine and sent her humping bacl
against the heavy train. The a:ar,
motion was stopped, but the tr;,
so heavy that it would not start back
About half the engine was still on tn
main track. The limited swung aroun,
the curve not half mile away, com
ing at the rate of 40 miles an hour
The engineer of the freight Shove,
wonderful GOODNESS. He ran his engin
forward several feet, so as to separat
the first few cars as far as the draw
heads would allow, and give him
chance TO get some momentum in hi
engine going back, and thus start tn
. train. The plan is known TO all engl
. neers, hut to deliberately start forwar
with tbs limited In sight took nesss
When - bsd gone 3 lew feet hs n