The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1902-04-09
FOOLS SEEN FROM THE CAB.
A Locomotive Engineer Mentions Several
Varieties of,Ihe1n.

The other day I found a locomotive
engineer sitting on pile Of ties near
his great Rodman engine. which was
steamed up ready to make dash
across the country. l told him l
wanted some facts connected with his
long experience as runner. "Wcll."
replied the engineer, ''if you could
see with my eyes the things that l
have seen throughout thirty years Of
running an engine, you would wonder
why our asylums are not ovcrsupplicd
with inmates. a man will come driv-
ing along toward railroad crossing.
One Of the inmates of the vehicle will
see the train and call the drivers at
tention to it. The driver will then
whip his team into run, cross the
track just ahead Of the train, and then
stop and watch us pass by. They
simply take desperate chances to cross
ahead of us, while if he had driven
along at the rate he was going when he
first saw the train. we would have got
out Of their way before they would
have reached the crossing. This
thing happens many times in month,
and causes more accidents than you
would imagine. 1t is no use to try to
make jury believe that it was the
fault Of the tcamster, of course.
"When women and children are
about to cross ahead of us, We arc
scared every time. The woman will
stop few feet from the track and
turn around to watch us approach;
she will forget all about her smaller
children and while she watches us
come along. the little fellows walk
right along and on to the track. Nine
times out Of ten where children ac-
companying their parents arc killed
by the cars at crossings, it is because
the parents were watching the train
instead Of the children.
Zone Of tho worst fools with which
we have to deal IS the idiot who will
sstry to stay OH the track as long as
tpossiblc He will pretend that lie
does not hear the train. and of course
we sSKpow that he does. Just as we
getright on him, he will jump to one
side and laugh. ! never sec this done
without wish coming in my heart
that the simplcton had fallen and lost
leg. We kill great many pcdcs-
trians throughout the railroad world
just from this one cause. SO many
idiots will treat us that way, and we
make many sudden stops, only to be
laughed at by the pinhcad who has
done it, that We finally conclude to
pay no attention to it, and then some
unfortunate creature pays the penalty
for all their foolishness. OF course
the villagers say that engineer on en-
gine so-and-so was the cause Of old
Mr.. So-and-So being killed on the
track near town, when the real cause
Of it has been that number Of their
smart young men and women have
been continually doing just as the
old man was at the time he was
caught. Instead of different legisla-
lures spending their breath framing
laws to make railroad pay for pig
they kill, it would be better sense to
pass laws making it pcnitcntiary
offence for person knowingly to re-
main on tho track as near as / 900 feet
to an approaching train.
Another kind Of fool is that one
who will get out of his wagon as the
train approaches, leave his wife to
hold the lines, while he gets as close
to the train as possible in order to get
q better look at it. This is almost a
daily occurrence, and while the team
becomes unmanagcable and runs off
with the wagon and family, the fool
husband waves his hand to every man
in sight on the train, only to look
around after the train has passed, to
see his children scattered over the
sage brush. | know rushing train,
.--.--=.-u..s---.