The Somerset reporter., 1902-03-27


endangered by your carelessness, mar
rowness and stinginess. On yonder
mountain side tonight people play at
the open door of death as
"Ahemw said the managers friend,
returning to the box. The wind crank.
seeing that he held the gentleman's
seat, arose, smiled, bowed ana walked
away.
Always after that the manager car
ried about with him haunting dread
of the wind crank. He would turn
corner in a crowded street and meet
him face to face, and for the briefest
moment the man would search the soul
of the manager. Once in the city that
was headquarters for the company
they held a great exhibition, and the
general manager was chosen TO wei
come the president of the United
States. The moment he came TO the
edge of the platform and faced the
waiting multitude, waiting not to hear
the railroad man, but the president, he
became embarrassed. Ladies and gen
tlemen," he began, 81 see before me-
Here the peaker paused awkwardly,
like a sehoolboy who has forgotten his
lines. Before him rose the gaunt face
of the wind crank. who stood In the
front row, towering above his neigh.
bors.
Pulling himself together, the railroad
man went on. His friends began to
tremble for him. What he said had
- 4 = 1T ,ftf
president or the people there assem-
bled. "The company has always en-
deavored to keep abreast of the times.
We have adopted every safety appli-
ance that has been invented, but so
long as human hands, guided by the
brain of man
At that point man who was intelli-
gent when he was sober broke in on
the orator, "Oh come often tn perch
an let som'on' talk at can talk senser'
Blushing to the very roots of his hair,
this local orator, the man who had
been called the Chauncey of the
west" stumbled from the stage.
At last the long winter came to an
end, and the inventor went away with
lut EllOo. ~ dll GNtniS, tllc uEtI
had been rid of him for Il long while
when one day his special stood upon
short spur near the mountain top wait
ing for the eastbound overland express.
Presently the party were made aware
of the appr ach of the opposing train,
but instead Of the low singing of thu
rail, for which they had been listening,
fhau hoo o,,J nd ,>p
away train and the frantic cry of To-
comotive for brakes. The fiagman who
had opened e switch to let the spe-
cial back in on the spur stood there
waiting to let them out again when the
express should pass. All the people had
climbed down from the waiting train
to stretch themselves. The engineer
was oiling his engine. The fireman had
climbed up bank to gather some wild
flowers that grew where little stream
of clear cold water gurgled from the
rocks. Seeing the fagman still holding
to the switch, the general manager ran
toward him, calling to him to let go
and stand back.
What mi"ht have happened II the
lldu ltllldilItu 1ulcI nO l1uh
knoweth, but when the flagman saw
him coming and heard him shouting
without understanding what he was
saying he glanced nervously In the d.
recton of the approaching train. The
wild engine at that moment rounded n
curve and headed down short tan
gent straight for the switch. The flag
to ola hopk roi at
his own train, which stood well in the
clear, then throw his weight on the
switch lever. Over went the rail for
the spur, and across it came the flying
train.
An air hose had blown Off just as
they tipped over the top of the hill Chis
was before the days Of the self acting,
self adjusting automatic air brake),
and the few hand brakes at the crews
command had served only to steady the
train. They could not hold the big
mountain engine, and now she shot In
on the spur, wide open, splitting fire
and screaming like a wild fend. She
hit the special with a crash that shook
the very hills. The special train, with
three cars or more and crushed like an
eggshell against the rock cliff that rose
perpendicularly at the far end of the
spur. The heavy sleepers crushed the
mail and express cars against the
wrecked locomotives There were the
old familiar shrieks of the broken en-
gines, the means of the mangled and
the excited shouts of the rescuers. The
general manager had succeeded in
dragging a man from the ruins and
placing him in an easy position. The
man appeared to be quite dead. As the
manager WAS about to turn away some
thing tugged feebly at his sleeve The
manager stopped down, put his ear to
the mans breast, peered into his face
and then stopped back with startled
expression. Now, with the superhu-
man strength that sometimes comes to
dying men, the wreck lifted his head
and looked with strange, wild eyes in
to the face of the manager.
"Oh, you murderer! DO you still ar
que that you can hold train with
mountain air? Now, with a system of
air pipes-runnihg up from the valley
all this wreck-and- death
The general manager put his ear
down again, but the troubled heart was
hushed.