Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1896-12-04
The COST TRAIN.

" Nhen The Rio CIR Ide Western
was narrow gauge road it was
very crooked. E, en- in the Utah
desert there were many curv, S
among the sand hills that have
been piled up daring the past few
thousand years. A locomotive
oEe OF a type known as sewing
machine b,cause all their ma
cLiuery was in sight--waS' trying
to make squirt tor the general
managers special, agent winch
she had time order. Tie time
was growing alarmingly shOr', I'd
the Griv,r Of the light engine knew
that the man on the special with
The grt erdl manager behiud him,
would be cTOSdlus the limit.
To be allowed to pulp the gen.
erdl IA anager Is an honor earnest
ly >tfiyen for by engineers, and
when once obtained it Is carefully
gulrded. 1t was a clear, dry day
III the early autumn, the very best
time of the year for fast run. and
Cd Sam had been ganging his
sIeed for fifty miles back so as to
hit Coyote spur on the dot, and
break the record for fast running
on the Alkali division.
BY the rules of the road i've
minutes were allowed for the varia-
ton of watches, but the rule is not
always wholly respected, and as
the man on the special was known
to be a daring driver the sewing
machine crew saw they wera In a
close place long before the smoke
Of the approaching locomotive was
seen. Now they had barely five
minutes lett and nothing tor the
variation and the coveted siding
four miles away. If the opposing
train failed to respect the five
minute rule she might at that mo
ment he passing the spur. At
last there remained but a single
mile, and Only a minute to do it in.
The throttle was wide open and
the lIttle engine was rolling so that
the bell rung continually. The
fireman bad put III his last fire
and was now straining his eyes to
catch the smoke of the special.
The engineer, with his left hand
on the whistle rope, cluDg to the
side of the cab to keep from being
thrown out of the right OF way.
The wheels uuder the sewing
machine were so small that the
best Sue could do was forty five
miles, and now when she came
down to be very last second there
was still a quarter of mile be
tween her and the meeting point,
but at that moment the flying
wheels of the special engine crash
ed over tue switch and shut her
out. The little sewing machine,
hid among the sand hills was STAIN
ing every nerve to reach the pass
ing point at which she was already
overdue. The man on the special
was Just beginning to feel sure OF
bis position when he rounded a
curve and saw the light engine
emerging from a shadow cut. Ol
course he shut oft and tried to
lessen the force of the collision
but to stop was out OF the question
The fireman on the light engine
saw the special and warned his
companion for they were cnrVinl
to the left aud the driver could moi
see, but the tour nen knew thai
nothing could prevent a dresdfd
collision and that in few seconds
time they would all be piled up IL
a heap. Both DRYERS had called
to their fremen to Jump, and th'
firemen had turned to their win
dOws. The special engineer was
in the act of reversing. that h'
might take the good opinion OF th
official with him. The other drive
only showed the throttle IN, brace
himself and waited Tor the shock
A man who has never lived owe
his last moment on eartn and sur
vlved to tell sbont it afterward
can never know how much busi
ness one can transact in his miO
during that moment In which h
waits and listens for the swish {