The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1896-11-12
TRIES THE NERVES.
AN Que s,ssmAs ON TIE EFrscr
OF I sc sIous ACCIDENT.
rhs rheal hss That Flash rhresgh the
Enxinemans Brain Just Before . Col
lislca oceurs-A smash rp Nskss . Man
scary Ever Thereafter.

! railroad life 10 the man who once en-
tiers IL. The railroad companies rarely
give mp a reliable. faithful man he
: may become MANNED and unit for the
mJst remnnerative positions and be
forced 60 accept some humber place
with a smaller salary attached 10 az.
but il is an unwrittsn law with most Of
the great railroad companies that the
man who is injured in their service
shall be placed in some position where
he may obtain his livelihood.
Thus il may happen that when Won
fall in conversation with the man who
occupies q humble switchhouse or q
fagman's shanty You are talking with
one who has had his share Of excitement
and been through experiences that
would make the hair Of the average man
stand upon end. A reporter met a
switehman the other day the pathos Of
whose life was expressed in the wooit n
leg which he used. and rs the Empire
dashed by be looked up and said:
eyes. like railroading. have been
in the business all my life and expect 70
spend the rest Of my days over the rails.
| but l am quite content 90 remain here
| IN my little cottage and tend to my flag
| ging rather than have the position Of
the man who holds the throttle on that
big engine which Just whizzed by here
You may think IL a snap TO sit there
and ride over the country at the rate Of
mile minute. but tell you the man
carries load II responsibility on his
shoulders which would not want ON
mine and which the average man knows
very little about. know something Of
It for was fireman some years ago on
one OF the fast engines and lost my leg
IN an accident between here and AL
bag. But IL had come out of that &C.
cident as sound as you are I never
should have been able TO hold my nerve
for any more fast trips. That finished
me for that work"
Then if a man has been hurt in a
railroad accident it makes him scary
Of that kind Of work, does it?' asked
the reporter
"You bet IL docs" answered the
switchman with emphasis, land don't
let any one fool you that it doesn't. The
man who was running that engine the
day was hurt escaped with hardly
scratch, but he never could keep his
time up the way he did before that and
finally was put ON a freight engine,
where the running was q great deal |
slower.
II shall never forget the way he look |
cd the afternoon the smash up occurred. |
Just before the crash came looked at |
him We Were rounding curve down /
by Schenectady. His long gray hair i
was flowing in the breeze, his face was
set and his eyes fixed on the track
ahead.
All at once he jumped to his feet
and reversed the lever and exclaimed in
startled tone, My God, we are
caught IL was probably not more than
half n minute after when l was lying
beneath the engine with my leg crush
ed, utterly unconscious Of the fact that
a great wreck had occurred, but every
movement and occurrence Of that half
minute IS as wildly impressed upon my
mind as il it had taken weeks Of time
to impress 1t there.
las he spoke I looked through tho
cab window ahead Of us, and there.
within 20 rods. was a freight engine
coming straight at Us, and there was no
possible chance 70 escape a crash. The
engineer was doing his duty. knew
that He was reversing the lever. apply.
ing the brakes and doing his best to
avert what he knew was inevitable. but
had nothing TO do. and it seemed as il
in my life was before me in |
those few seconds. felt absolutely sure |
was going TO die. Strange as it may
seen, the thought did not seem horrible
10 me. A whole lot Of the slang say
ngs. such as, You are learning to FIRE
here In this world SO as 70 be prepared
'or the next, and You won't mind a
not Job over there and number Of
hose stale things which a fireman has
% take, came into my head, and even
m that awful position il occurred TO me I
n humorous sort Of way that I had
made a good start here below, or here | {
above, as / might say. The next mo-
nent was thinking Of my wife and
and of mother, too, who
had been 6esd number Of years. A
nan always thinks Of his mother Mt such (,
! time. Bot don't think I had a par
icle Of fear of death. The last thing Z
hat was on my mind was the question,
Who was TO blame for the accident!
And that is the last I remember.
When / came 70 my senses, was
n a hospital and was minus O leg. !.
since then have been constantly en- ,
'loyed one way and another by the rail- d
Dad company, but I never see one Of Z
he fast trains 60 by without thinking
4 that wreck. The engineer miraculous {
y escaped with scarcely bruise, but il Q
Inished him for that kind Of work. He
vas always seeing engines ahead Of him
fter that, and have heard that more
han once he has slowed up his train in 9
rider not to collide with an imaginary :
ngine, which have no doubt was as
eal to him as il was on the afternoon :
he wreck speak Of occurred As said h
efore, he was transferred TO freight &
ngine, but even there he was timid n
nd finally left the road altogether
You can put 1t down az pretty j
ure thing that when an engineer has |.
cen in an accident once he il minus n =
God share Of the nerve which it takes y
D make his runs on time to the tick, b
nd If he isn't on time he has got TO go b
ooner or later. "-Rochester Democrat q
nd Chronicle. y
DID 1T HtIRT vow i