The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1897-04-22
IN FRONT oFALoCoMOTlVE.
An Experience That Beats Football For
Making Man Hungry.


Making Man Hungry.
The young engineer who has inst
been graduated from college is like
ly to remember the incidents of his
first ride ca Il real steam engine
longer than some of the lessons he
took four years to learn at the uni
versity.
Invent up to New York the other
day on my first engine test said
young M. f. of Philadelphia, whol
is in the employ of a locomotive
works. 1T was novel and inter-
esting experience and one / very
much enjoyed. But, then, fellow
could enjoy almost any old thing
after working four months inthe
CRIME and dirt and grease of the
shop at the munifcent rate of s.
cents an hour.
1.-THE engine we tested was made
for the Jersey Central railroad to
haul the Royal Blue express from
New York to Washington. The en-
gineer of tests and Irode from Phil
adelphia in an engine cab to Jersey
City, where the engine we were to
test was waiting for us in the round
house. It was beauty-a great,
shining iron beast, with drivers 81
inches high. 1t had been brought to
the roundhouse the day before, and
the mechanics had trued up or lined
up its crosshead guides. We placed
the indicators in the cylinder coaled
our engine, filled the water tank,
backed into the station, hitched to
our train and were all ready to
start when the time came.
1.-The engineer of tests and took
our places on the front of the engine
on the right hand side. He read the
draft gauge and speed, and 1 sat on
top of the cylinder, taking indicator
cards. You haven't any idea of the
breeze created by train running at
the rate of more than q mile min
ute until you get out on the front
end of an engine. The engine cab
is calm and sequestered retreat in
comparison. 1t seemed to me that
we were tearing the very heart out
of the wind. The engine under me
snorted and painted and quivered
like wild animal in a rage as it
sprang forward wildly into space,
shrieking shrilly half the time. The
wind smote my cheeks like the blow
of a sharp blade. My eyes smarted
with smoke and the tears that the
wind dried. But for all that it was
glorious-the very apotheosis of
motion. The landscape rushed past
me like frightened.thing. Farms,
towns, rivers, the earth, the sky,
all was an indescribable blur. At
times wondered if the iron mon
ster wasn't running away. And
then 1 thought of the darby who
said he'd rather be in railway dis
aster than steamboat smash up,
for in the former case, Oar you is !!
but in the latter, What is your
when we reached Elizabeth, we
discovered that one of our crosshead
guides was getting hot. 1t had prob
ably been lined up wrong. We
stopped, oiled it up well and started
again, but it troubled us SO that we
had to slow down considerably, and
by the time we reached Belle Meade
it was almost hot That ended our
test for that day. We took off our
engine and let the train proceed
with switch engine we picked up
at Belle Meade, while we backed
into Jersey City. 1t was z O'Clock
at night by the time we had all our
traps off the engine and were ready
to start for home We hadn't eaten
bite since morning. Well, I used
to think after a football game that
l knew what it was to be hungry
and stiff, but my ride on that engine
cylinder convinced. me that | had
previously had only the faintest
conception of what hunger and
WEAKNESS mean. New York Sun.