The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-07-16
he switch rod would then be in a posi-

the switch rod would then. be in posi-
ton that would allow the, semaphore
| locking bar to pass through il. lock-
| ing the switch. When the switch was
open the solid rod was presented to
the point of the locking bar, preventing
the semaphore being pulled down. With
the semaphore at stop" the locking
bar would be withdrawn from the hole
and the switch could be thrown either
way. which was all right, as no train
would pass the semaphore when in that
position.
Surly old Mike Flanagan had been
on the day shift at the switch for
years. He vigorously enforced the rule,
everything must be clear and the
switch closed ten minutes before a
| first-class train was due. Strong in his
/ integrity, he showed but scant cour-
tesy, even to the roadmaster; so he
was respected for his fidelity to duty
as heartily as he was detested for his
arrogance.
While disconnecting. to put in a new
set of head blocks, the section gang
broke the bolt connecting the sema-
phore locking bar to it's crank: hence.
/ for a night and a part of two days. the
vital connection between semaphore
and switch was broken Mike, of course,
knew this, but during the controversy,
/ when, with unnecessary inSolence, ne
drove the way freight engine back into
the yard, it slipped from his memory.
Dave nearly pulled the whistle off the
dome when he whipped around the
curve. and Mike, the infallible, pulled
! the semaphore down. with the switch
open to the freight yard.
| When Dave saw the semaphore come
down promptly in response TO his
whistle, his faith in that Incompatible
combination. old Flanagan and the in
/ terlocking system, assured him that
here was the safest spot on the whole
division. She was going like fright
ened deer, but he dropped her down a
notch. The sharp, distant rhythm of
the exhaust blended in a continuous
roar and she fed, rolling wildly, to-
ward the open archway under the
bridge.
The longer point of cut-,lf relieved
the boiler pressure allowing the safety
valve TO seat. Without taking his eye
from the track. Dave reached in and
shut off the injector. Again that plume
of feathery white steam-indicating
the 140-pound limit-appeared at the
summit of the dome. AS Dave peered
into the shadow of the coal shed. the
red target suddenly glared at hinA like
the eye of basilisk. and he exper-
fenced the sensation railroad men know
when their time has come
With her throttle open wide, and
roaring like an incarnate field of de-
struction. she entered the switch at a
seventy mile an-hour gait.
She heeled, her head whipped around.
and, rolling over. she plowed through
ties and rails into the yard. The rip
ping up of track was drowned in the
clash of rending iron and kissing steam
when she hit the way freight engine.
The baggage car, DETECTED from its
course before the Janney coupler broke,
leaped over her and stripped the way
freight engine to its boiler. killing the
engineer and fireman. Four coaches
rammed themselves into chaotic mass
of splintered wood and twisted iron
against the railroad bridge. The rear
one upended itself on the pile-ac-
centuating the horror beneath-and
stood at an unstable angle, demonstrat-
ing What happens when an lrreSlst-
ible force meets an immovable body.
While ruin and death were rampant
at the Newtown switch, Joe and Annie
secure in Dawes absence-were snug
" ensconced in shady corner of the
back piazza. A bobolink fiuttered from
the topmost twig of the great elm into
the tall grass, filing the silence with
its joyful notes. A locust droned its
sleepy chant at their feet. All the
voices of nature sang of peace, and
they were lost in the semi-oblivion of
loves grand, sweet dream.
A railroad contrast
Although Dave plowed up considera-
BILE gravel, and knocked against the
company's property in good many
places, he was one of the first to assist
the imprisoned passengers. and super
intended the loading of his engine on a
fiat car. He laid off for thirty days,