The Opelousas courier., 1898-09-10

Il told him not to get ratified. !
dropped the lever ahead, closed the
cylinder cocks, and gave her a little
steam. She stopped at once, and we
resumed Dull conversation, I, mean
while, keeping a sharp watch through
the fireman's window on the side of
the bridge to see if she moved again,
for my mind was not quite easy.
She had a leaky throttle, as nearly
all locomotives have. There was a
heavy frost, and the slight backward
movement had landed her on a frosty
| spot on the rails. The cylinder cocks
| .3ing closed, the leaky throttle allowed
the steam to accumulate in the cylin-
ders unttt its pressure was sufficient to
ove1eome &csadhesion to the slippery
rails. Then;ssf course, her feet Went
from under hen and "Whir-r-r!" she
slipped. u
The throttle leMgUide open. l shut
her off instantly, busc en- she stopped
slipping, she began tC ,a!A-sly back
again. I applied the seam brR> but
it had no effect. Tho fireman yef4a:
1Oui drake > 1FOZG. anu Juulpeu VI
and disappeared.
The locomotive hae D tender-only
a small coal box being on top of the
boiler. CHANGING hurriedly out the
back window, l saw that the coal box
already appeared to o%''erhang the cold,
black water of the river.
1t was less than four feet from the
coal box to the rear driving wheels. If
they went OF the end of the bridge she
was a "goner," and SO was my situa-
ton and all hopes of running a loco
motive for years to come, even If l was
lucky enough to escape drowning. Ger
tainly / was in trouble.
was tempted to follow the iremaI's
example, and let engine and employ
ment take care of themselves; bus 1t
was an awkward cab to get out of. The
first thing | had done in the cab that
evening was to button my side curtain
securely down to keep out the cold. i
feared l should not have time to climb
down from my high seat, cross to the
fireman's side and jump before she
went over.
To jump from my window out upon
the icy and steeply inclined surface CT
the bridge would be equivalent to
jumping overheard, and the engine
would be sure to fall on me.
/ could see the tugs lights out in the
stream, and I heartily wished the float
in the slip.
No sand had been supplied to the
yard engines for years. In fact, the
sand boxes had been knocked off this
old trap in some previous rough en-
counter, and as l had carelessly al.
lowed the brake to freeze up, the throt-
tie wa my sole reliance.
l had no time, either, to experiment
with it in an effort to get a grip on the
rails, for l could see that the engine
was moving steadily, although slowly,
back.
These observations all passed through
mind in IN instant.
I seized the throttle lever with both
hands, and while l invoked a left
handed blessing on the draughtsman
who devised that side valve throttle, /
tried anxiously, n%ervously, with the
perspiration beading my forehead, to
open it easily.
1t would not bulge. The engine was
still moving, slowly indeed, but with
the persistence of fate, back toward
the end of the bridge.
In desperation I gave a strong jerk
haaL. ont II 20 mo-Of oo11rco wide onnn
Now the wheels flew round like buzz
saws. scattering a shower of sparks
from the rails. I felt rather than saw
that the backward movement was
checked, but l could not be sure Of this.
The tug now had the float nearly u
tered in the slip. If l could keep her
from slipping until it made connection
with the bridge 1 should be saved; nut
glancing at the steam gauge I was hor-
rifed to observe that she had barely
forty pounds of pressure.
l had pumped her full of cold water
to prevent her blowing off, and the fire
box door was wide open for the same
purpose. At the rate that I was using
and with the furnace door open,
the pressure would last only a very
short time. / could see the pointer on
the gauge walking back steadily.
Desiring to save steam, I worked the
throttle carefully in until the engine
almost came to a s%tandstill.
Then, fearing that with the rapidly
decreasing pressure l should be unable
to start again, / yanked it frantical!y
out, repeating the operation.
The tug now had the float jammcd
crosswise in the slip.
To close the furnace door I must
leave the throttle, descend in the dark
by a short, perpendicular, slippery iron
ladder of four rungs, and probably fall
the shovel or the hook. Where
would the engine be by the time l
could get back to the throttle? Why
had that cowardly fireman deserted
me? Why hadn't he brought help? Or
why didn't the crew, hearing the noise
l vas making, come out to see what
the matter was?
It seemed years since the fireman
left.
/ saw a flicker Of light under a box
car, then a lantern-several lanterns.
The tug had whistled and the crew was
coming. I glanced a%nxiously back. The
float wa stuck again. I wanted to yell
to the crew to hurry up, but was
ashamed to do so.
They had started when they heard
the tug whistle, but had seen that The
tide had damned the float again, so