The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1896-01-26

ing nothing that a crazy man or a
drunken engineer finds as soothing as
a steam whistle. [ couldn't explain
our flying around curves and over
level crossings without sounding the
whistle, except on the theory that the
engineer had dropped dead in his cab
But then there would have been the
fireman. Both of the men couldn't
very well have died at the same
minute, and if there was anything the
matter with the engineer, the fireman
would naturally either have stopped
the train and tried to get help, or he
would have run it very cautiously, that
not being his usual business, and
would have been very particular about
whiStling at the proper places. Not
hearing the whistle was, on the whole
more astonishing to me than finding a
Pullman car without a passenger, or
without a niger porter; and with the
bed clothes soaked with water, and the
bell-cord almost too rotten to bear it's
own weight.
There wasn't thing to be seen
through the car windows for they were
thick with dirt. So, wanting to get
some idea of the locality that we had
got to, went out on the rear platform
again, and getting down on the lower
step / leaned out to have a look all
around. Just them we started around
another curve and what with the
swaying of the car, lost my
hold, and was shot off that
train like a mailbag that is chucked
on to our platform when the
Pacific express goes booming by.
luckily I fell into a snowbank and
wasn't seriously hurt. However, the
shock stunned me for while, and
when I came to, and found that I had
no bones broken, and that my skull was
all right, picked myself up and start
ed to walk down the track till I should
come to a house. After walking, as
should judge, about half a mile. I came
to East Fabiusville, where there is a
little tavern, and mighty glad I was to
see it. I knocked the landlord up and
got bed, and it was noon the next
day before I woke up.
There wasn't any train to Jericho
until after O'clock so not having any,
thing to do, I looked up the landlord,
and found he was an old acquaintance
of mine, by the name of Hank Sim
mons. When I told him that I had
come to Fabiusville by night train,
he sort of smiled, and I could see he
didn't believe me. I don't say that the
train stopped here I said, for the last
[ saw of it was a mile or so UP the
road, where fell off the rear platform
into a snow bank. But all the same, I
did come most of the way from Manlius
last night in Pullman sleeper
Then you must have come on what
the boys call the ghost train says
Hank
What trains that? says I.
Why, it's the ghost of the train
that went off the bridge on the Musk
ahoot river The boys do say that
every once in while there is a train
made UP of a locomotive, a baggage
car. and Pullman sleeper, that comes
down the road hustlin', and goes off
the Muskahoot bridge into the river. [
never saw such train myself, but
there's lots Of folks living along this
road that have seen it, and you'd have
hard work to convince 'em that it
isn't the ghost of the wrecked train
Come to think of it, that there train
was wrecked just a year ago last night,
and it's probable that her ghost was
out for an airing, as you might say
We'll, when L came to think the
thing over, I came to the conclusion
that Hank was right, and that the
Pullman with the wet bedclothes, and
the rotten bellcord, was nothing, more
or less, than the ghost of a car. How
ever, ] didn't say much more to Hank
about it at the time, for the less a
man talks about seeing ghosts the bet
ter it is for him. if he wants to be
considered a reliable man. But as soon
as I got back to Jericho went to see
the division superintendent and told
him the whole story
See here, he said. when had got
through, I suppose [ ought to report
you, but considering that you were
not on duty last night, and that you're