The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-02-21
SPEED CREATED
 FORGE.
ADHESIVE
Train Made Such Headway That the Wind Held Hobo Against the End

FORCE.
 Train Made Such Headway That the
 Wind Held a Hobo Against the End
 of a Car.
 MT. Griffitts, of the Burlington, has little piece of recent history which he relates with considerable feeling. The Burlington reinstated the swift Worlds Fair flyer No. i a few days ago after a long discontinuance, and the question of the speed she would be able to maintain was uppermost in the minds of the railroad people. By the schedule No. had to be fleet of mo- tion, leaving Chicago at 10 o'clock in the morning, reaching Omaha at 11:5O that night and running into Denver at 1:30 the afternoon of the next day.
 A man who was aware of the keen interest MT. Griffiths had taken in the initial trip met the railroad parsonage a few days after the resumption. We'll" he said in greeting, did she go fast? Keep up to her card time?'
 Keep up?'' witheringly. T should say so. Why, she-but say, what's the use of mentioning figures? Compari- sons are what count. Circumstances, you know. Incidents. Those give you the best idea. I'll just mention one thing that happened in connection with the run. You know there's stretch of about twenty miles from PIattsmouth into Omaha after we cross the bridge into Nebraska? Well-and understand this is an official report from the yard master at Omaha-there was a tramp a hn of hrt Icra h Nebraska side hoping to ride from there into Omaha on the platform of the baggage car. But he made a mis- calculation. There are no platforms on those baggage cars. They come out flush like a box car. In the darkness the tramp didn't notice this He swung on board the tank of the loco- motive, worked his way over the coal to the rear and jumped down, expect ing to light on the platform which wasn't there. It had taken him a few minutes cautiously to reach the edge of the tank, and by the time he had got to the jumping-off place the train was going at it's regular gait, or a shade l faster.
 'The engineer, realizing that this was the first run of the train and de- siring to make a graceful finish and a good record, had pulled her out just a little. She got to going, and going good She was doing her incest and gracefulest when the tramp jumped. Now, what do you think happened That the hobo was mixed up for five miles along the roadbed? No, sir. l Not bit. Wasn't hurt at all. You've seen an amateur magician put dollar | coin on the flat palm of his hand and move the open hand so swiftly through the air that the coin didn't drop off, haven't you, and the magician pre- tended that it wasn't there just be- | cause it didn't drop? Well, sir, that was what happened to that tramp. He was like the coin against the fiat palm. l He rested against the blank front end of that baggage car like fly on win | dow pane. There wasn't anything be- low for him to stand on or anything above for him to hang to. He was just 1 held there, as I say, by that force which came from the fast forward mo- | tion of the train. Below him there was space and car wheels. It was a pretty tieklish position, I want to tell you. l No wonder the fellow roared and
 shouted and said as many pious things l as he knew how and said them very | loud. Of course he understood that | when the train began to slow up for
 the Omaha yard that force would be diminished and he would drop down
 and be macerated.
 l Well, he was a lucky tramp. Just
 as they were passing Bellevue, four
 miles out of Omaha, the fireman heard
 him and hurried back and saw him
 He was a quick-witted fireman and yelled to the engineer not to shut off | just yet, and reaching one of his long
 pokers over, he caught it into the
 clothes of the hobo and tried to pull
 him off and into the safety of the tank
 But he couldn't budge him. Then he
 got to reasoning, and he saw they
 have to shut off and ease down before the adhesive force of the speed would let the man be pried off. The engineer
 slapped on the air and threw her over and after two miles of easing they got
 her to a pace that admitted of loosen
 ing the fellow.
 Tt was very interesting. We have g full report of it in the office, writer by the head of the mechanical depart 1 ment at Omaha. He explains it tech
 nically. Of course can only give you
 the bold facts. .''-Chicago Record.