Free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1888-1908, 1900-12-22

Passenger train No. was whirling
| It's load of humanity over the MohaVe
desert, a great, wide expanse of mid
mountain country whose parched
bosom has exposed many an uncanny
secret of death from thirst and Indian
deviltry. Wearied with the monoto-
nous view of treeless, waterless plains,
| the passengers gladly welcomed the
approach of twilight The sun went
down in an angry glare, outlining the
| bare peaks of a far-away range IN
| fantastic forms, and gradually,as night
came on. there were more hopeful
signs of vegetation. 1t was the Z4th
| of December, and most of the passen-
| gers were building on spending mer-
| ~ Christmas in the favored spots OF
| the land of sunshine and flowers
| California.
| Suddenly we heard the warning
Shrek Of the engine, and saw scat
| tered band of cattle flying away in
| terror from either side of the trtack.
Again the engine shrieked, the train
| jerked nervousIy and seemed to sway
uncertainty on its course.
The next moment we were bounding
along the ties in an uncomfortable and
terrifying manner. The cries Of star
tied women were drowned in the roar
of escaping steam, and panic-stricken
men looked Vainly for means of es-
| cape. A group of MeXicans, awakened
from sleep by the jar, plunged head
long through an open window as
though the devil were after them. The
train finally spent its speed, and the
| thoroughly frightened passengers
emerged to learn the number of the
dead and wounded, and to tender what
aid they could. The engine was COM
pletely hidden in a great cloud of
steam, which marked its position about
! half the length of the train. When
| the steam finally exhausted itself, a
sad wreck was exposed. The tender
of the engine was upturned, and the
| engineer sat upon piece of wreckage
| dazedly nursing an injured hand. The
| fireman was some distance away, his
hair and whiskers singed by the hot
| outpour from the engine. Neither was
seriously injured, and not passenger
was scratched. Beside the track, shiV-
| ering in the throes of death, lay a
| handsome steer-the cause of all the
| trouble. His neck had been twisted by
a mad rush at the coWcatcher. As the
engineers eyes fell upon the form of
the animal a smile of satisfaction
spread over his wan face. as he said:
That critter must have been in the
bull fights at some time in his career,
for when he spied that red flag yOnder
on the cowcatcher, he shook his head
viciously and refused to leave the track
with the rest of them. 1 slowed up
and whistled several times to give him
a chance, but he only snorted defantly,
kicked his heels in the air and kept on
his stubborn course. Finally he turn
ed, and l opened the throttle wide,
thinking that the best method OF
throwing him clear of the track. With
an angry roar he came full at the en-
CINE, his head bent low to the track
We all know the rest
The steer at once became an object
of great interest to the relic fiend One
man secured a horn and another cut
out tooth, and the next day various
camera views were taken Of the vail
ant animal that had wrecked a train.
We were twenty miles from the next
station, and the eastbound passenger
was due within an hour. Luckily z
telegraph operator was on the trair
and the wires were hastily tapped sc
that the dispatchers could be informed
of the accident and hold the train:
both ways.
We passed a cherries night on the
desert, and Christmas morning found
us a disconsolate party. There was NJ
dining car attached to the train, ant
those travellers that were not provided
with lunch baskets rallied at the i'll
luck that had placed them in so mis-
cradle plight. Finally, some of then
went on a foraging expedition, anC
down the track a few miles they locat
ed a section house controlled by Mex
leans. Here they appeased their hun
ger on frijoies, chile con carne AM
the other warm dishes of the natives
A wrecking train at length arrived Oh
the scene, but the work of repair wa
slow and tedious. Several yards o
track had been torn up, and it wa
necessary to construct a 'shoo-hy
around the wreck. This took tn
greater part of the day. Meanwhile
the passengers looked on in a helpIes
way, and all vowed that they had neve
l passed a Christmas amid such desolat
surroundings-C. N. Stark