Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1902-02-14
A SHOCK TO THE ENGINEER.
Always Unnerved if His Locomotive
Runs Down a Man.

Always Unnerved if His Locomotive
Runs Down Man.
Some one with a fondness for the
compilation of statistics has evolved
the theory that engineers hold their po-
sitions on an average ten years. Den
yer knights Of the throttle must be SUI
perior to their brethren in other places.
for it is not at all unusual to encounter
men there who have labored for the
same corporation from fifteen to TWEEN
ty years and feel that they still have
many years to toll in the harness.
Charles Frye of the Rio Grande is
one of these. Last year he completed
his twentieth consecutive year with
the company. He is a splendid speci-
men OF the engineer-a man of Drawn
and brain. His hair is quite white. but
his physical and mental visor has not
decreased; rather has 1t grown with the
flight of years and the. assumption of
greater responsibilities He bubbles
over with good nature and laughs at
the suggestion that anything in his ca
reer would prove of interest to the
general public. He was born in Frank
lin. Mass, April II. 1916. He began fir
ing on the Boston & Albany in 1852,
but the war fever was contagious and
he enlisted with his father. The au-
thorities discovered that he was too
young and his father too old and both
were compelled to return to peaceful
pursuits. After three years shoveling
of coal he graduated to the upper side
of the cab and pulled trains all over
the Bay State. In 1878 he came West
with an engine from the Taunton
works and ran between Cheyenne and
Sidney, Neb. Two years later he came
to Denver and went to work for the Rio
Grande. For the last eighteen years he
has pulled passenger train out of Den
yer toward the South.
He has been unfortunate enough to
kill several persons who got in front
of his engine, which is one of the speed
lest on the system.
What were my sensations after the
tragediesT' he asked. and the smile
faded from his face 81 can't describe
1t. l suppose fellow of my size should
be ashamed to confess that anything
caused him to collapse. but after we
crash into some one and l know that
a fatality has resulted | am unable to
stand. When I see the danger [ con-
centrate every energy to avert the
catastrophe. l am not nervous then,
but when 1t Is over l collapse. About
five years ago, a few miles below Col
orada Springs. on clear day. we were
bowling along at forty miles all hour,
and l observed a man walking down
the middle of the track. l pulled the
whistle, but he did not pay the slightest
attention. I thought he would get out
of the way. and we were upon him
before l realized that he did not intend
doing so. L reversed and put on the
brakes. but the cowcatcher caught him
and hurled him against a telegraph
pole. Life was extinct when we reached
him.
1--WE turned him over to the coroner"
said Mr.. Frye. according to the Denver
News. land afterward that official told
me that the dead man was fugitive
from justice. He had murdered man
in Oregon and for months had evaded
the authorities. That day he had
learned in Colorado Springs that the
local police were looking for him. He
had evidently grown weary of fleeing
from place to place and determined to
commit suicide"