Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1901-11-13
the rattle of coal and Bob Duncan, the
forward brakeman, stood in the cab.

the rattle of coal and Bob Duncan, the
forward brakeman, stood in the cab.
His face was as white as a sheet.
"Shut her down-shut her down, for
heavens sakev' he shouted. "a
freight's broke loose and is coming
down the grade two miles minuter
Before you could snap your fingers
my face was as pale as Bob's.
Matt Irwin never lost his head and
with GOODNESS that comes to few men
in time of danger he asked, "How do
you know?"
"Seen her by a flash Of lightning.
O'Connor and Billy have jumpedv'
And then he swung out on the step
and disappeared.
slump if you want to, Harry" called
old Matt. I'm going to stick to her"
gave one look at the Egyptian dark
ness and concluded that would stay
with old Matt.
"Keep your eye peeled for her." he
cried, and commenced to let 67 out.
''There she isv' l shouted.
And there 1t was, sure enough. It
had just come out of cut. One of
he boxes was on fire, the flame stream
ing back half car length and cutting
through the air like meteor.
"She's four miles behind" said old
Matt, land coming four feet to our one.
If we can get around the curve, there's
show of her jumping
And then began that terrible ride.
He hooked 67 up to the first notch
and then opened the throttle.
With seven cars behind us we shot
down the grade of 175 feet to the mile.
SiXty-seven set low in her frame, but
every low joint rung her bell for an
eighth of mile. She jumped and sway
ed and threatened to leave the rails.
The wind shrieked around us like a
thousand demons, and the rain poured
against the windows in a perfect
stream.
"There's danger ahead and death be-
hindp' shouted the old engineer. IF the
rain loosens a bowlder and drops it on
the track
l shuddered. There was a blasted
pine that marked the curve. The next
second we reached 1T. For a moment l
thought it was all over. Then 67 right
ed. There was sharp jerk. We forg,
| ed ahead faster, and our seven cars
cleared the roadbed and went down
the bluff with a crash that was heard
high above the storm, leaving a clean
track for the runaway behind that was
coming as swift and sure as death.
If the runaway got around the curve,
the probabilities were that we would
be knocked from the track into the riv-
| er.
We were very near to the bottom
now, where the roadbed followed the
| river, and the engineers were cautioned
not to run over fifteen miles per hour.
But orders were not respected that
| night. We were making thirty miles
per hour when a fash of lightning
showed me that dark string of cars
coming around the curve. The blazing
box was on the opposite side and invis-
ible.
| Old Matt gave 81 the steam so sud-
denly she seemed to jump from under
Us, but the runaway was not more
than half mile behind and was COM
| ing with the speed Of a tornado.
| There was no getting out of the way.
| In a moment 1t would be on us. l i'm
agined could see the black mass COM
ing down on us in the darkness, when
o. heavy rumble was heard. followed
by a tremendous crash.
| The rain had loosened the rock and
dirt overhanging the track and it only
needed the jar of 81 to set 1t in motion.
Something like 1000 tons of debris
| rolled on to the track directly behind
| US, and into this those runaway cars
plunged.
| But we did not find this out until aft
erward. Matt kept 67 up to what was
tremendous speed on that track.
| She plunged and rolled and rang her
| bell continuously. A dozen times
thought we were going into the river.
| We pulled through all right, but that
was my last trip. When got off the
engine, my hair was streaked with gray
and now it is white as snow.
| For some time II was thought that
the runaway cars had broken loose, but
the company became suspicious and
had the case looked into, with the re-
suit of running down some tough char
acters, who finally confessed to cutting
them loose with the intention of ditch
ing us between Haversack grade and
the bottom and securing the treasure.
Old Matt has retired from the road,
but do not think that either he or /
shall ever forget the run of 67.