Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1896-05-15
"No.-it isn,tn he renI;od ",t,s u

mile posts"
Nonsense" 1 cried. eat that rate
we are going at the rate OF los miles an
hour"
"A hundred and eight it is then," he
said. stoke her up, Peter"
L then called the general managers
attention to the fact that it was not
etiquette to tell AN engine driver to
stoke up" as that duty was per.
formed by Billy Jones. He apparently
learned for the first time that engir-
GERS do not do their own stocking, and
he nike me for the information. At
last the mile stones passed so rapidly
that Swipes could not keep track OF
them, SO we abandoned the attempt to
count them and took only the stations,
as we had a record of the distance be-
tween them. l saw now by making a
calculation between two stations that
we were going at the rate of 160.45 an
hour, and my hair would have stood on
end were it not for the fact that it was
standing straight out behind. The
oscillation was somewhat dreadful, and
once l realized with horror as we swuny
around a curve that all four wheels
were off the track, and that we were
flying in mid-air; luckily, however, the
wheels came down on the rails and all
was We'll once more. By this time the
stations passed is in one continuous
streak, as if We were running through
the suburbs of a big city, and l was Won
derlng all the time when we would come
to the town, but finally I realized that
it was impossible to keep time with my
excellent watch, and SO we would have
to lump the thing by calculating how
long it took us to come from London TIC
Glasgow. The lid of my watch, which
l now inadvertently exposed to the
breeze, snapped and blew away, and L
saw that the gold of the hunting case
was beginning to flake off, SO 1 put it
Ill my pocket to save the rest of it. I
knew it was not yet two hours since we
left London, and to my amazcment I
spicd the spires of Glasgow. 1 recog.
nlzed the place because l was born there.
THAT can't be Glasgow" 1 shouted
to Swipes. IF it is we have Travelled
something like 200 miles in an hour,
and the Lord only knows what speed
we attained in making up for the time
when we were crawling on at 10 and
So"
That's Glasgow all right enough"
said Swipes. Then he yelled to Peter:
For heavens sake, shut off steam.
Don't you see where we are?"
But Peter was struggling with his
engine, and all at once he yelled back
at US:
Il can't stop her, sir!!"
Heavens and earth," said I. "Iyhat
is to be done?"
Il don't KNOW" said Swipes. "It's
my own fault. 1 told Peter in the hear.
ing oil the engine, and she is one of tho
cutest engines on the road, that we
were bound to break the American
record, which is $40 miles. You see, it's
only 4o1.5 miles to Glasgow, and I'll bet
you that brute is bound to do the other
100 miles tonight, even if she has to do
1T on the highway. The railway stops
at Glasgow, and L don't know what's
going to happen"
AS he concluded the sentence there
was a crash and a bang, and the next
moment we were in the principal street
OF Glasgow tearing along the rails of
the street car line. Luckily, the same
law being in force as was in London,
nobody was out on the streets, and SO
we went at the rate of S4.T5 miles an
hour up the main thoroughfare of Glas-
gov and finally struck the north road
Tor the Highlands. Peter was struo-
Cling all the time with his engine, but
could not make any progress in his en-
deavor to stop her.
When we got about so mile. on the
main road from Glasgow, sometimes
slowing down to 63 miles an hour, on
the hills, Peter with a white face turned
toward us and shouting:
My God, sir, We're on the Craigneput-
toch Loeb road, and the Craigneputtoch
Loeb is at the end of it about so miles
ahead"
"How far is it from Londonp" yelled
swiPes, putting his hands beside his
mouth to make tho sound carry.
The middle of Craigneputtoch Loeb
is just $40 miles from London, and it is
over 1000 feet deep in the middle"
shouted Peter.
There's where she's making for"
cried Swipes, unbuckling the straps and
clinging to the stool.
The hills now rose grandly around us
in the darkness and we saw the black
water of the loch.
Jump, Peter, jump!" cried Swipcs,
as he threw of the straps.
Peter did so, and l cut the strap hat
held me. Instantly we were all-Pefer.
the stoker, Swipes and myself-lying
on the hillside on the heather. The
doomed train had plunged right into
the center of the lake. 1t had COM
pleted its 5l0-milc race and used up the
fraction by sinking 1000 feet to the
bottom.
Luckily. none OF us were hurt in the
slightest, with the exception that
swipes sustained a compound fracture
OF the thigh, Peter had both arms bro
ken, Jones had all his ribs and one ankle
smashed, while 1 had my veracitv
spraincd SO badly that no one has ever
been able to believe a word l have ut
tered since.-Dctroit Free Press.
a house is never perfectly furnished
for enjoyment unless there is a child in
it rising three years old, and a kitten