The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1897-10-21
DARING ENGINE RIDE.


Ah0W CnuFie& CfOAGE S&VcO the Ocn
trial Pacific Railroad.
One of the most exciting and danger
GUS rides / ever had was made on a loco
motive in California in the Sos, = said an
old resident OF San francisco to the
writer. who had been speaking of the
remarkable GOODNESS exhibited by two men
while riding behind a runaway horse.
THE ride to which l refer happened
shortly after Charles Croker and a few
other men inaugurated the Central Pacific
Railroad. The tracks of the road had been
laid as far as Newcastle. and the company
was in debt and dependency, and L. l..
Robinson, who then owned the old original
railroad from Freeport to Folsom, was
laughing in his sleeve at what he called
'the Dutch Flat swindle." The stages
then wen from Folsom to the great min
ing camps of Nevada especially to Vir-
ginia City, and It was the boast of the
Freeport and Folsom road people that the
Central Pacific would never be built be-
yond Newcastle.
well, one morning Charles Croker left
SalF Francisco on the steamer bound for
Freeport with three gentlemen, including
myself. When the steamer had reached
Freeport the mail and newspapers from
San Francisco and Virginia City were i'm
mediately put aboard the Freeport and
Folsom train. which then hurried away
on it's journey. A spirited team was wait
ing for Mr.. Croker and his companions,
and we quickly left the steamboat, got
into the coach and were driven rapidly
off for Sacramento City. Arriving there,
we found an engine and coal tender wait
ing for us at the Central Depot, n Mr..
Croker gave orders to the engineer to run
the locomotive at every pound of steam
she could carry to Newcastle.
when we started, all of us, with the
exception of Mr.. Croker, who stood at the
back of the engineer, were seated in the
tender on various Jumps of coal and wood,
and it didn't take us long to realize, from
the awful jolting and swaying of the en-
CINE, that the road was UNPUBLISHED. and
in a very poor condition for speeding.
Much to our relief, after We had passed
beyond the American River and our arms
fairly ached from our exertions to hold
on and keep ourselves from being thrown
out of the tender. the engineer suddenly
lowered his rate of speed and at the same
time informed Mr.. Croker that it would
be extremely dangerous to run any fur
her at the rate we had been going.
Mr.. Croker looked annoyed and said:
Nonsense! If you are afraid you had bet
ter get off the engine!
HE then took hold of the lever and
pulled it to the furthest limit. OF course,
we all thought that MI. Croker was crazy,
and that the engine would soon jump the
track, but Mr.. Croker would not listen to
remonstrances, never moved a muscle, and
stood at the lever until we were all scared
out of our wits, and the engine, painting
and throbbing like a huge wild beast en-
veloped in a cloud of escaping steam,
reached Newcastle. Here we were hustled
into a waiting coach n driven away. At
each ten miles between that town and
Virginia City there was a relay of horses.
At various points along the mountain
roads ever the drivers were afraid to
obey Mr.. Croker's orders, and in two in
stances he took the reins himself and
whipped the teams into a lively gallop.
1.-The result of the whole exciting, wild
and dashing race was that Charles Croker
presented in the business office of the Vir-
ginia City Enterprise. a eopy of the
San Francisco Bulletin" and some mail
matter twelve hours before the mail agent
on the opposition railroad had reached the
city. That was the deathblow to the
Freeport and Folsom road and the sal
walton of the Central Pacific" -Evening
Star.