The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-06-20

| s. W. but OF late goes under the name
| OF Brandy and Soda The latter road,
| on account of its connection with James
| town. is known all through the railroad
| world as The Jimtown' road. To come
| closer home, the Chesapeake and Ohio is
| called the r. F. " taken, no doubt,
from the name given its fastest train.
| The Baltimore and Potomac, the B. and
| P; the Baltimore and Ohio, the B. and
o. and the Richmond Terminal the r.,
t. These are authorizations, but what the
trainmen know these roads by would not
| look very well in print, and II made pub
lie might perhaps ruffie the courteous de-
meaRor of the managers of these roads,
who are certainly the princes of good fell
lows.
There is a road up in Pennsylvania
that runs from York to Peach Bottom
that the people living in the country
through which it passes called the 'Ac-
commodation. 1t was, when originally
built, narrow-guage road, and as bust
ness had to be developed the train service
was much on the order of the go-as-you-
please. There were two trains, and each
made one round trip a day, the road be-
ing about sixty miles long. The officers
gave orders to the trainmen to make
friends with the people, so as to make
them go out of their way to patronize the
new road. The trainmen took advantage
of this order at every opportunity
There were no telegraph or telephone
stations on the road. and when the trains
left the terminal stations the conductor
was master Of the situation until he got
back again, or arrived at the other terTni-
nus. They say that the superintendent Of
the road had the hardihood to ride over
the road one day, and that the hired a
horse and buggy and rode back TO York
as he was in hurry.
THE train that puts up at Peachbottom
! for the night leaves York about o clock in
the afternoon, and II is optional with the
| trainmen as to the time they arrive home.
| One of the trainmen on the road told some
| time ago that on one of the trips down
| they picked up a drunken farmer who had
| stretched himself out on the track for
! quiet sleep. The conductor CHANGED to
| know him, and held the train while the
| brakeman and baggage master carried
| him to his home nearly a mile away. In
| about an hour the two men returned with
an invitation from the farmers wife for
| the crew and passengers to come over to
supper.
There were only three passengers and
! they quickly accepted the invitation. Of
| course the crew went, and after the repast
! an old negro with a cracked fiddle was
| brought in and dance was inaugurated
! The conductor then wanted to proceed,
but the engineer had become sweet on the
| farmers daughter and persuaded him to
| dance few more rounds.
THE train was due in Peachbottom at 6
| p m, but that night IL did not reach It's
| destination until midnight. Only one more
| passenger was picked up on the lower end
| OF the road, and he only grumbled a little
| so no harm came from the incident the en-
| gineer accounting for the delay to the SUI
| perintedent with good story about the
| engine giving out.
| That road is now owned by Baltimore
| people and is broad-gauged and the train
service is almost first class. I might add
! that it was a comomn thing for the train
| men in tn earlier days of the road to take
/ large tin pals along to stop the train at
| good locality and fill them with blackber-
ries before proceeding. But that only oc-
| casioned an hours delay and was little
thought of. No wonder they called it
Accommodation road, eh?'
| Have you ever known of a road being
| chrlstened through a specially exciting in
cident?" inquired the representative.
| when the Erie road was first built
| the railroad man continued (which now
runs from Harrisburg to Canandaigua, n
Y, 1t was nicknamed the 'Davy Crockett
and for many years thereafter the name
chung. 1t was brought about this way:
'One dark night, when the conductor
was taking three passenger cars through
| to Sunbury, he noticed the headlight of a
| locomotive in his rear. He instantly in
| formed the engineer of the fact. and both
began specializing what it meant The
| train was running at high rate of speed
| but the headlight in the rear was gaining
! steadily on them. As there were no lights
In the rear of the headlight, they conclud-
ed it must be an empty engine. That road
twists in and out among the mountains
and skirts the banks of the Susquehanna
| river in such way as to permit any one
| looking back to observe what is going on
in the rear for a considerable distance.
The conductor ordered the engineer to
I n ct .r,1 =
the throttle wide open. Then followed a
wild, weir chase through the night. Pur-
suer and pursued tore along at the high
est speed. Everybody on the cars believ-
ed that the engineer of the pursuing en-
CINE was either drunk or crazy.
"At last a bright idea struck the en-
gineer. He recalled the fact that a To-
connective can make little progress on
greasy rails. The contents of two large
cans of lard oil were poured on the track
from the rear of the last passenger coach
The idea proved a great one. Soon the
headlight of the pursuing engine grew dim
In the distance. When 1t was safe to do
so, the train stopped and backed up to
solve the mystery. A very funny sight
was revealed.
lone of the finest engines on the road.
called the 'Davy Crockett'-they gave the
locomotives names in those days instead
| of numbers-had broken away from q
hostler up at Williamsport and started
down the track on a voyage of destruc.
ton. The oil poured on the track had
baftled all the destructive abilities tina,
locomotive possessed. There stood the
'Davy Crockett putting and snorting and
paving like a wild Texas steer, the driv-
ing wheels buzzing around on the creased
track like a fiywheel in a machine shop.
but hardly moving an inch.
Not a sign of an engineer was found
and the fireman Of the pursued train
mounted the engine and shut her OFF. 'rheV
towed her into Spnbury, and there found
dispatch ordering them on to a side
track out Of the way of the runaway. bu,
the oil had saved them.
"A large excursion was returning from
Niagara Falls that night and the escape
from destruction was really brought
about by the oiled rails. The 'DavD
| Crockett made many trips after that
but the road went under that nickname
for long time, owing to the peculiar wav
the lives Of many people had been saved"
PRECIOUS STONES.