The Van Buren press. [volume] (Van Buren, Ark.) 1859-1914, 1896-05-09

Nonsense I cried. at that rats
we are going at the rate Of 10s miles an
hour
a hundred and eight it IS then he
saiJ @stoke her up. Peter
then called the general manages,
attention to the fact that 1t was mo-
etiquette to tell an engine driver 10
"stoke up" as that duty was per.
formed by Billy Jones. He apparently
learned for the first time that eBeiB.
GERS do not do their own stocking. and
he thanked me for the information. At
last the mile stones passed so rapidlv
that swipes could lot keep track OF
them, so we abandoned the ATTEMPT In
count them and took only the stations
as we had a record Of the distance be.
tween them. I saw now by making a
calculation between two stations that
3e were going at the rate of 1G0-45 an
hour. and my hair would have stood on
end were it not for the fact that it was
standing straight cat behind. The
oscillation was somewhat dreadful. and
once I realized with horror as we SWIM,
around a curve thst all four Wheels
were of the track, and that we were
flying IN mid-air; luckily, however. the
heels came down on the rails and all
was well once more. By this time the
stations passed us in one continuous
streak, as if We were running through
the suburbs of big city, and was won
dering all the time when we would come
70 the town, but finally l realized that
it was impossible to keep time with my
excellent watch, and so we would have
10 lump the thing By calculating how
long 1t took US to come from London To-
Glasgow The lid Of my watch, which
now inadvertently exposed to tho
breeze. snapped and blew away and I
saw that the gold Of the hunting ease
was beginning to fake off, SO / pat it
IN my pocket to save the rest of it. 1
! knew it was not yet two hours since we
left London, and to my amazement 1
spied the spires of Glasgow. / recog.
nized theplace because I was born there.
s'That can't be Glasgow l 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
v hen we were crawling on at 20 and
| So"
That's Glasgow all right enough"
said Svipes. Then he yelled t9 Peter:
For heavens sake, shut off steam,
Don't YOU see where We are21
But Peter was struggling with his
engine, and al at once he yelled back
at Us:
Il can't stop her, sir!'
Heavens and earth said /. What
is to be done?7
Il don't know" said swipes. sft's
my own fault. I told Peter IN the hear
ing Of the engine, and she is one Of the
eutest engines on the road. that We
were bound to break the American
! record, which is SO miles. You see. it'3
only 401.5 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
It on the highway. The railway stops
at Glasgow, and I don't know what's
| going to happen
/ As he concluded the sentence there
! was crash and q 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 S4.75 miles an
! hour up the main thoroughfare of Glas-
| gov and finally struck the north road
for the Highlands. Peter was strug-
| Cling all the time with his engine, but
could not make any progress in his en-
deayor to stop her.
When we got about so miles on the
main road from Glasgow, sometimes
slowing down to 90 miles an hour, on
the hills. Peter with a white face turned
toward us and shouting:
MY God, sir, we're OH the Craigneput-
toch Loeb road, and the Craigneputtoch
Loeb is at the end of it about 80 miles
ahead"
"lIow far is it from London o. yelled
swipes, putting his hands beside his
mouth 10 make the 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 fer"
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 Swipes,
as he threw off the straps.
Peter did so, and cut the strap that
held me. Instantly we were all-Pcfer,
the stoker, SNipes and myself lying
on the hillside on the heather. The
doomed train had plunged right into
the center of the lake. Ii had COM
pleted its 5l0-mile race and used MP the
traction by sinking 1000 feet to the
bottom.
Luckily, none Of us were hurt in tho
slightest, with the exception that
Swipes sustained compound fracture
OF the thigh, Peter had both arms bro
ken, Jones had all his ribs and ono ankle
smashed while | had my veracity
sprained so badly that no one has ever
been able to believe u word l have ut
tered since.-Detroit Free Press.
THE UNDER EARTH.
"ahs Dependence Upon Products Be-
meath the Surface.