The Philipsburg mail., 1899-07-28
RAILWAY ACCIDENTS.
MOST OF THEM DUE TO LOSS
OF SLEEP. v
Engineer Grows Reminiscent Over the
Reading Wreck-iIow Lilly Gardner
AwOke just In Time to Prevent =
Freight Crashing Into Passenger.

ing the terrible accident at Exeter,
Pa, on the Reading railroad, the other
day, and while it is contradictory, l
believe that the verdict of the coroner's
jury will be that some one of the en-
ployes was asleep while on duty" The
speaker was one of the oldest railroad
engineers in the country, who, after
twenty years in charge of the throttle
Of locomotive, voluntarily resigned
to seek other pursuits not SO dangerous
or exciting. When the Pennsylvania
railroad was completed to Pittsburg
nearly fifty years ago he took the sec
Ond locomotive over the Allegheny
mountains, with the late Thomas l..
Scott as his conductor At that time
the Pennsylvania railroad named all OF
its locomotives after rivers or creeks
along the line, and this engineer was
known as Billy Gardner, of the Black
log" the latter part of the title being
the name of the locomotive and the
former the engineers name. Resum-
ing, the engineer said There is
something about railroading that con-
duces to sleep. 1t may be the rumbling
that causes drowsiness, it may be the
long hours On duty, but in many cases,
in my judgment, it is the failure of the
employees to secure needed rest when
they have the opportunity. During my
twenty years experience as driver OF
the iron horse | knew of hundreds of
severe wrecks due entirely to some one
being asleep on the post of duty
Even the responsibility imposed on the
man would not have the effect of caus-
ing him to keep awake. Sometimes it
is the fault of the higher officials in
compelling the men to work too long
without sleep.
II remember one occasion during
the first year of the civil war when
all the members of my crew, includ-
ing myself, were required to work Y
consecutive hours without sleep, and
then were dismissed because we de-
clined to make another trip before
seeking repose. During that period
there were times that the only way l
could keep awake was to rub tobacco
juice into my eyes and the pain, Of
necessity, banished slumber for a time.
However, when the superintendent
was told of the facts leading up to the
dismissal he not only reinstated all
those dismissed, hut gave them two
weeks leave of absence with pay. At
the same time the master mechanic,
who made the dismissals, came in for
a severe scoring at the hands of the
superintendent.
But once in my railroad career did
l turn my engine over to my fireman
and 60 back to the caboOse for a little
rest, and the narrow escape that then
had from a severe wreck and the kill
ing and wounding of hundreds of
sleeping passengers taught me les
son that was never forgotten. The in
cident occurred in Illinois, in Febru
ary, 1870. At that time l was running
an engine pulling a fast freight on
the Illinois Central railroad. My fire
man was young man named Houck,
whom l had instructed in all that he
knew about railroading My health
was not of the best at that time, as
l had been an annual victim of the
ague that pervades southern Illinois,
and my system was shattered from
the Shakes In addition, there was
some sickness among the members of
my family, with the result that my
nights at home would be broken up
in looking after the comfort of the
loved ones. Business on the railroad
was brisk, and there was heavy pas
senger traffic due to the annual Mardi
Gras celebration in New Orleans.
"On the night in question my train
was running south. I had a five-and
a-half foot Rogers engine and was
hauling 40 loaded cars. Along about
10 o'clock | found that l could hardly
keep my eyes open. The road ahead
of me was clear of trains for an hour
or more. About the only thing of i'm
portance in view was to meet and pass
the Chicago express at Makanda,
which was "a miles away. then yield
ed to temptation. Placing my fireman
in charge Of the trottle, with the head
brakeman to do the firing, l went back
to the caboose to secure little rest.
| should not have taken this step if |
had not reposed every confidence in
my fireman, and | believed that he
was thoroughly competent to run the
engine.
How long I slept l do not know.
but I awoke with the premonition tina,
something was wrong. AS l regained
my senses l realized by the swaying
of the train that it was running much
faster than it would have been had |
been in charge Of the throttle. There
was a heavy down grade for five miles
to the point where l was to meet the
express, and my first thought was that
We had struck the grade and gained
the impetus. Springing to my feet l
hurried out the front door OF the ca
boose, and climbed to the top OF the
first freight car. The sight that met