The St. Johns herald., 1897-07-31
e1NIoNgp BY A WOODEN LEG,
why the Railway Engineer Made No Outcry When Caught in a Wreck,

Outcry When Caught in a Wreck,
 Every other day when the St. Louis
 limited pulls into the Union station or
 the Chicago express No. starts out over the Panhandle the honest face of
 Jacob Rumbaugh may be seen in the
 cab window of engine No. 100 waiting l for the little arm of the dwarf sema-
 phore that means go whenever it drops from a horizontal to slanting posi-
 tion.
 Engineer Rumbaugh Is better known
 as "Peggy." from the fact that he has
 an artificial limb. Years ago while fir ing he went under the engine to do
 some work and a careless engineer started the locomotive and one of the
 ponde-ous wheels passed over his leg
 below the knee, crushing it so badly that amputation was necessary. In the old days, when this incident transpired, accidents were the rule instead of the exception on the Panhandle, as they are at present, and if train got over the road without being derailed or smash ed up in collision the trainmaSters and diSpatcherS became elated, and ill the eXuberance of their swelleG heads forgot to perform their duty, and the next train was sure to meet with a ca lamitJ. After MT. Rumbaugh had re- covered sufficiently to be able to get about on a wooden leg he went back to firing again and was soon given an engine. He has been running ever since on the road and has made an excellent record. The fact that he was appointed to run the engine hauling the fast St. Louis limited No. when that train was put on the road to compete with the Big Four Knickerbocker special shows the high confidence he maintains with the officials, and as that train has never met with a serious accident since 1t was started to running between this city and Oennison no other argument is needed to show that the confidence placed in MT. Rumbaugh was not mis. placed.
 Before he began running a passenger train he had some startling adventures, the most remarkable of which was wreck at the Bloomfield tunnel, where his engine and train were derailed and the wreckage piled high against the end of the underground passage. So com plete was the wreck that the fireman had to go through the tunnel and come back over the hill to find what had hap pened, and then he was mortified to find Rumbaugh pinned down under the de- bris and held fast by the leg. The sur viving members of the crew gathered around and began to express sympathy while rendering assistance, but the old man said: "Never mind, boys, it's only the wooden leg anyhow, and there IS plenty of material left to make another one" The fact was that "Peggy's" wooden leg was caught, and they soon sawed the leg off and liberated him, and he was found to be unscathed. There is not a better engineer in the United States than old man Rumbaugh. He can make the schedule time without trouble, never transgresses a rule and is at all times gentlemanly and courte- OuS to those with whom he comes in contact. His home Is at DenniSOn, but he gets to Pittsburg every other day, and during his spare minutes here can be found in the vicinity of the Union station or at his boarding house. He is respected by all the other engineers, who admire the old man for his many excellent qualifications. - PittSburg Post.