Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1896-09-05
Just seeoRe THE COLLISION.



Engine Mans Mind.
A Rochester N. ~ Democrat and
Chronicle reporter met q switchman
the other day. the pathos of whose life
was expressed in the wooden leg which
he used. and as the Empire dashed by
he looked up and said:
Eyes. | like railroading. have been
In the business all my life. and expect
to spend the rest Of my days over the
rails, but I am quite content to re-
main here In my little cottage aud teud
TO my tagging rather than have the
throttle on that big engine which Just
whizzed by here. You may think II a
snap to sit there and ride over the
country at the rate Of mile minute.
but tell you that man carries load
Of responsibility on his shoulders
which the average man knows very lit
tie about. know something OF IL. fer
I was fireman some years ago on one
Of the fast engines. and lost my leg In
an accident between here and Albany.
hut IL I had come ont Of that accident
~ sound as you hre ! nevc. should
have been able TO hold my nerve for
any more fast trips. That finished me
for that work"
"rhcu II a man has been hurt in
railroad accident IL makes him scary
Of that kind Of work. does it," asked
the reporter.
"You bet II does" answered the
switchman with emphasis. land don't
let any one fool you that 1t don't. The
man who was running that engine the
day I was hurt escaped with hardly a
scratch. but he never could keep his
time up the way he did before that.
and finally was put on freight en-
CINE. where the running was a great
deal slower.
II shall; never forget the way no
looked the afternoon the smash.up &C.
Cured. Just before the crash came
looked at him. We were rounding n
curve down by Schenectady. His long
gray hair was flowing in the breeze
his face set. ana his eyes fixed on the
track ahead.
"All mt once he jumped TO his feet
and reversed the lever and exclaimed
In q startled tone. My God. we are
caught. 1t was probably not more
than half n minute after when I was
lying beneath the engine with my lee
crushed. utterly unconscious Of the
fact that a great wreck had occurred
but every moment and occurrence OF
that half minute Is as wildly i'm
pressed upon my mind as II II had TAX
en- weeks Of time to impress II there.
AS he spoke I looked through the
cab window ahead Of us. and there
within twenty rods. was a freight en-
CINE coming straight mt us. and there
was no possible chance to escape I
crash. The engineer was doing hi
duty. knew that. He was rcvers
ing the lever. applying the brakes
and doing his hest to avert what h
knew was inevitable. hut had moth
ing 10 do. and II seemed as II every
thing In my life was before me In thos'
few seconds. felt absolutely sure
was going to die. Strange rs It ma!
seem. the thought did not seem HORT
bic to me. a whole lot Of the slnnl
sayings, such as. You are learning 4
Gre here In this world, SO as to be pre-
pared for the next and You won
mind hot Job over there and mum
Der Of those stale things which fire
man has to take. came into my head
and even In shat awful position It oc
Cured TO me In sort OF humOrou
way that I had made q good star
here below, or here above, as l Nigh
soy. The next moment was think
ing OF my wife and children, yes. an
Of mother, too. who had been dead
number Of years. A man always think
OF his mother ut such time. But
don't think had a particle Of fear O
death. The last thing that was on m
mind was the question, Who was I
blame for the accident? and that Is til
last I remember.
when l came to my senses ] was !
q hospital and was minus leg. Sine
then I have been continually employee
one way and another by the railrOa
company, but I never see one Of tn
fast trains 60 by without thinking Q
that wreck. The engineer miraculous
y escaped with scarcely bruise, bu
Il finished him for that kind OF wOrl
He was always seeing engines ahea
Of him after that, and I have hear
that more than once M had slowed u
his train In order not to collide with a
imaginary engine, which ] have n
doubt was as real to him as 1t was o
the afternoon the wreck l speak Of o.
Cured. As I said before, he wa
transferred to freight engine, bu
even there he was timid, and finall
left the road altogether.
you can put 1t down as a prett
sure thing that when an engineer In
been In an accident once he Is minu
q good share of the nerve which
takes to make his runs on time to III
tick, and IL he isn't on time he has e
to 60, sooner or later"