The Van Buren press., 1898-01-15

,eaS gong 70 happen Just as usual and
h. eand be given 90 ehaaee 70 s1ss
ringsasb Bis5fs,'is.
&ad SOW word a<o9< "a l6eastclG 81
nadsrs Is necessary 10 enable tae read
er 70 understand clearly WHAT hap
nenea in the nexa few moments
III a Situated midway 5n hIll thaf
il reaarkable not only Tor is length
and steepness, bat for The sharpness
af some Of the curves the track : com
neasd 10 make in order % have SOLID
bed.
fl IS five niIes iong altogether, the
0oas5 curves ard hog backs . A. the
traiamen eag them, being At sas top
that il. narfh Of Baders. fhe direction
the frsi gh6 was Ginning ffom-Ehen i
is straight for a mile and half, md
fbea inst below Baders 10 IS full d
curves again
The bin il 50 wei known to the train
msa mat hey have pet same for It.
though where the u significance comes u
+. woald be hard 20 tell.
Tasg call it the Dutehman, ard, az
The inhabitants O. Baders had se'fsaf
times made formal complaint about
fast running through their city limits
fse railroad company had issued sPee
eiaf Instructions 70 have all trains %
through there under complete con
troll.
Joe had scarcely heard the operator
an Frederick report Forty out
WIN be heard a whistle 70 the north
Well, there comes tae freight he
sad 70 himssf, in a rather dissa afisfied
manner. 4 guess III 20 out and watch
tbem pull fa on the side track. The
agent will be back in a few minutes
now anyway"
Ife had scarcely reached the platform
when be heard the whistle again.
Hello be remarked. still 70 him
self. II wonder what that neans3 Ihaf
wasn't a road-crossing ssKnaL
And now he heard it again, and then
again. az the train appeared N s'ght
40 the traelx-Ionxs loud blasts, as
though the engine were in distress.
and. az he looked again. he could see
that something was wroas, they dld
not intend to stop at the sw1 tea=-they
we're running too fast,
Then, "a the faH train rounded TIE
curve. he could see what appeared 70
be a big gap in the train. and knew In
an Instant what was wrong Tie traia
had broken in two. and, as is The rule
In such cases, the head end was keep
fng away from the rear end, aatfl they
succeeded 10 stopping it with the hand
brakes and thus avoid a wreck.
This is something that often happens
on bill, especially one On which there
are sharp curves. FOR. As anyone may
readily see. @hen a long train = run
nsng around reverse curves one part
il running ID one direction and another
part m another, and az each car makes
the turn On the angle, the result is
sudden Jolt that often jars tae coupling
pin Or pulls the Gfaw-bar loose, and
thus discOnhects the train
This is one Of the points the brake
men nave to guard against. and no mat
ter how steep the hill, how sharp the
curves. what the nature Of the weather
nor how fast tbs fraln IS running, l.
= their duty to be out on top to mold
her IA with the brakes.
There are two brakemen 70 each
train. and one walks from one end
and one from the other, until they sue
oeed IN reducing the speed 10 the re.
quired limit.
The squipping Of all cars with the air
brake is now doing away with much Of
this dangerous work on the part Of
the brakeman; but this was before air
brakes had been applied to freight cars.
Realizing that he could do nothing
10 help them and that the conductor
and rear brakeman would soon succeed
iu stopping the half they we're on, Joe
simply stood still to watch them.
But he had hardly taken a good look
at the train, which vas drawing nearer
every second, when be made discOy-
cry that seemed to fairly stop his heart
from beating
They we're broken in three, instead Of
two, and there was no one on the mid.
de section.
10 keep away the second section, the
first would have 10 run 10 The bottom Of
the Hill. and then far enough out on the
level 10 allow the second room to lose
the momentum It would gather going
down The hill
And there was Forty-seyen coming!
n the first kept on, there would be an
awful wreck and many people would
be killed. then, too. If the first stopped
before The engineer, fireman and brake
man could get OH. the second would
pile into them and they would be
killed.
lie could not reach the switch in
time to open it and allow the second sec
ond section 10 run in on the side track
because " was too far from the station.
What could be donc2 What ought 10
be done2
Al this passed through Joe's mind be-
fore he even seemed 10 have time to
think. and he at once showed his rail
roadinR ability by doing the best thing
possible under the circumstances.
lie reached In through the open win
dow to the key and called Browning.
Getting an immediate answer, he
clicked on the words. Hold Forty
seven;" but the reply came In on in
stani: "Too late gone"
Then the full truth Of the situation
dawned upon him, and he turned around
Just as the engine reached the depot I;
but before he had time even to notice