The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-03-13

Neiii'" W hSldh was the next victim
OF the 'hoodoo.' He had been one OF me
Oldest employees of the allev o. and his
NE seemed charmed. He had come through
numerous dangers unscathed and his
trisnds predicted that he would die peace
Iuily IN his bed with his family about him.
Nheh the permanent retirement of No. a
was advised after the worlds fair and the
reason given he laughed and declared ne
"oulo moi mind sleeping in the cab Of the
engine all night.
wen, you'll probably be sorry for get
ting the old machine into working order
again, advised one of his associates
On, I'm not afraid of a little thing like
mat declared 'Vhelan. My skin is so
tough that even if No. 70 did strike me il
could do me no harm"
Whelan was the only one of the force Of
oraKemen that would venture on top the
cars while they were in motion, but he
haq displayed such agility at trying mo-
ments that danger was never associated
with his pos ition
he climbed up on the tender one night
at Thirty-ninth street to adjust the water
supply hose when No A gave one Of It's
ipeeuliar starts and the veteran was thrown
AGAINST the building to the ground. He was
picked up with nearly every bone In mis-
body broken, but he managed to revive
the spark of life and say:
NeI1, thcy got me at last | did not
mink l would ever be such baby. No. AZ
ought to have been kind to me, but the
old engine can't appreciate a good turn
III n I'd advised her retirement she would
have saved the company a whole lot of
trouble and l would not have lost my
Hfe.'>
TIE terrific ride from Forty-first street
without stop nearly drove 200 passen-
gers insane in November. This was one of
tie most recent freakish performances of
Vae engine and was chiefly responsible fer
its retirement
Tom Hart was at the throttle when the
engine, with Its string of cars. turned off
the loop at Harrison street, bound south
( At Twelfth street all the steam gave out
\ and another train had to be pressed into
! service 10 push AZ and its consorts to Six
| ty-frst street. In the meantime the boil
| ers had become sufficiently hot and enough
steam had been generated to assure AZ a
| speedy run down town
| How Is the engine now?" shouted the
| tralnmaster to Hart, as the signal was
given to proceed at the far south side
| terminal
| Got plenty Of steam now and there is
no danger of trouble" replied Hart
We'll, then, don't make any stop from
Thirty-f1rst street to Congress to make up
for the time you lost" was the instruc-
| ton.
Hart stretched point in favor of the
| company and got into trouble. 1t seems
| that the conductor and guards were not
Informed of the new order and were as
| completely in the dark as the frightened
| passengers. The engineer did not make
single stop between Forty-first and the
! entrance to the Union loop, and the pas
sengers were in a furore.
As the train sped around turns at top
| speed old men who tried to appear calm
as the coaches swayed from side to side
| lost their hats and spectacles Children
| climbed under seats, while mothers wept
loudly and prayed. The conductor and
more resolute passengers tried to break
down the front door in the first coach
{ and communicate with the engineer In
the excitement some one seized on the FIRE
AK and would have battered down the OBJ
struction had not cool. heads Interfered.
i never passed through such anxious
moments in my life said one of the &C.
! cupants of the train. II thought every
moment would find me in a mass of de-
bris underneath the superstructure Every
one thought that the engine had gotten be-
| yond the control of the engineer or that
the men in the cab were intoxicated"
AS the flying train approached the turn
| onto the Union loop excited men and wo-
men became frantic. Would the engine
with it's human freight plunge into another
| train on the closely crowded square or
drop into Wabash avenue through a
| open switch? Station after station was
left behind and still there seemed to ne no
| indication of a cessation of the terrific
| speed. Imagine the relief when the coup
| ling pins ratified at Polk street as the
brakes began to grind against the wheels
Men and women who had thought that
death was imminent cheered as if some
sudden and unexpected blessing had come
upon them. In their JOY over escape they
| lost all enmity for the men who had I'M
consciously caused them pam.
| When the train, drawn by engine A.
| came to a standstill at Congress street a
stream of passengers poured out on the
! platform Every coach was deserted by
| the terrified but jubllant passengers
Those who had threatened to hang the en-
gineer and fireman If they escaped alive
were most eager to reach the sidewalk and
assure themselves that they were once
more on terra firma.
| Explanations were demanded of the man
ayers of the company by the participants
in the wild ride when they had regaints1
the responsibilities until Tom Hart was
finally called upon to answer charges. He
told of the instructions he had received
! and the free Interpretation he had given
them. Someone had Numbered and an ex-
| ample had to be made of somebody. Hart
was discharged for neglect of duty.
| "Well, it was that old engine that got
me to lose my job said Hart TO his fell
lows. II had worked for that company
| until / came to the conclusion that 1t was
| about time for me to be placed ON the pen
! sion list l knew that my train was far
| behind time and hurried up matters a
| little, thinking was working for the best
| interests of the concern. = think that
! steam coming from the ugly smokestack
| had a temper in it. When 1 approached
| Forty4first street, l said 70 my fireman.
/ Frank, let's make her hurn,' and we did
| We shot around turns as If our lives and
those of the passengers W ere charmed. It
was great sport to speeSi at right angles
| with no let UP. l could hook straigh. down
to the ground from MY cab window.
"Peope on the stat5 IN platforms stood
back when they saw us coming and looked
with eyes as big as bill lard balls / do be-
| lieve We covered thos e four miles a great
| deal faster than the Empire State express
could have done. I'll wager that no other
| engineer can duplif ate the feat without
bringing his train On top of a garbage box
\ or a Dile of tin ems