The Worthington advance., 1896-09-10
BOOTHBY'S HARD RACE.
hut He Kept Ahead of the Train That
Was Pushed by an Earthquake.

eooTHBY's HARD RACE.
hut He Kept Ahead Of the Train That
Was Pushed by an Earthquake.
Boothby told us another story about
phenomenal natural disturbance. He
said he felt tender about it because he
had figured prominently in it himself.
The story concerned a habit engineers
on the Vandalia and the Ohio & Mis-
sissippi. roads had of racing. Just
east of East St. Louis is the crossing of
belt railroad, and from there on to
the bluffs, seven miles away, is a
straight streak of parallel track. AS
the outgoing passenger trains all leave
East St. Louis at about the same time,
it was the regular thing for Ohio &
Mississippi and Van engineers to
hammer for their lives over the seven
miles, while the passengers yelled de-
fiance at one another and whooped and
got excited. The Ohio & Mississippi
had one engine, the 60, which was able
to walk away from everything ever put
up against her. She had Inundated all
the Vandalia engineers, except Booth
by, and he fairly aehed to get at her.
One day, just as he had whistled for
the crossing, he heard another whistle,
and, looking over, saw the Ohio & Mis-
sissippi train abreast. The engines
number was 60.
Boothby Strengthened up for the
race of his life. Tenderly, notch by
notch, he opened the throttle, while
the fireman kept the old kettle just
off the popping point Over the belt
tracks they went, the 60 alongside.
To his joy, Boothby saw he was inch
ing away from his opponent. Like
statue he sat, coddling the machine,
and at the first mile he was two coach
lengths to the good. His passengers
were shrieking their JOY. while those
on the o. & NJ. were dumb. The O. &
M. crew, too, seemed astonished, and
gathered on the platforms to look over
at the Vans new racer. It was Booth
by's race in a walk.
Suddenly the Van engineer saw
something was happening. Looking
over his shoulder he found the o. & M.
train only half a car length back and
surging along like lightning. It
scared him, and he pulled her still
wider open. Then did that noble 1872
respond. She leaped through the air,
hardly seeming to touch the rails.
Right at her shoulder was the 60.
Boothby gave her more. They were
both going within a mile a minute.
Boothby said he never saw locomo-
tive go like the 60, but he knew his ma
chine was as good as the best. They
plunged forward more furiously than
the wind. Three miles, four, five, and
then-oh, joy!-the 60 began to fall
back. At the sixth mile she was two
coach lengths behind, and as the trains
swept away from each other at the
base of the bluffs the O. & M. train was
three lengths off to the rear.
At Collinsville Hank Hibbard, white
faced, came rushing up to the 1872 as
she lay under the water tank getting
| water.
"Great heavens, Boothby!" cried the
conductor, "do you know what you've
been running against?"
''The o. & MS. hottest stuff, and I
cooled it for EN-"
eyes, you have. You've been run
ming against an earthquake. The O..
& NJ. train was picked up by it just out
of town. A hill 20 feet high followed
her last Pullman and she was running
down hill the entire way, being pushed
forward all the distance"
"Say, Hank" said Boothby, "did that
earthquake help US any?"
"No; we were 100 yards ahead all the
time"
Boothby climbed back on his box
and Hibbard returned to the train.
But although Boothby's achievement
brought glory to his roundhouse, he
would never race again. He said he
didn't mind whipping an ordinary en-
gine run by ordinary steam, but he
didn't want to combat thing that
"laid up" with devils and was in
league with cyclone, storm and earth
quake
These are the two instructive stories
told by Engineer Boothby to David
Lawrence and myself-two trusting
cyclists who stopped to rest with him.
Chicago News