The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1903-06-11
EXCITING TIMES.
What wouli an Engineer Do In Case
of Colliaion.

What wouli an Engineer Do In Case
of q Collision.
In the st. Nicholas Cleveland Moffett
tells many good stories about the loco
motive engineer and his experiences.
l asked If an engineer plans ahead
what he will do in a collision. 1t SEEM
ed reasonable that man always un-
der such menace would have settled
his mind on some prospective action.
But they laughed at the idea, and de-
clared that an engineer can no more
tell how he will act In an emergency
than the ordinary citizen can say what
he would do in fire, or how he would
meet burglar. One engineer would
Jump, another would stick to his throt-
tie, and the chances of being killed
were as good one way as the other
The only thing man wouldn't do Is
reverse his engine, for that would
make the driver slip, and set the whole
business to skating ahead.
The mention of burglar led one Of
the newcomers to tell of William Pow
ellis adventure with some Sing Sing
convicts. Powell was the oldest engl-
neer on the New York Central.
On one occasion four or five convicts
outwitted the guards by dropping from
q trestle upon the tender of moving
locomotive, and the first thing the en-
gineer knew he was set upon by a
band Of desperate men, who covered
him and his fireman with revolvers.
"Out you go now, quick" said the
convicts; "we'll run this engine our
selves"
The engine was No. 105, PowelPa
pride and pet, and he could not bear
to have unregenerate hands laid upon
her. so he spoke up very politely: Let
me run her for you, gentlemen; I'll go
wherever you say"
They agreed to this, and some dis
tance down the line left the engine and
departed into the woods. And the Joke
of 1t was" concluded the narrator
that the revolvers of those convicts
had were made Of wood painted black
and couldn't shoot any more than the
end Of a broom! 1t was big blufi
they had played, but it worked"
"Wasn't any bluff when Denny Cas-
sin got held up at Sing Sing" said an
other engineer. "COnvicts had revol
vers all right that trip, and Denny
threw up his hands same as any man
would. 1t was right at the Sing Sing
station, and three of 'em jumped into
the cab all of sudden, and told Denny
to open her up, and he did-lndeed
Then they told HIM to jump, and hi
did indeed! Then they told him t
jump, and he jumped; but first he man
aged to fix her tank-valves so she'C
pump herself full of water and stoI
before she'd gone far. That was Den
ny's great scheme, and he wslke(
along, laughing to think how maC
those eonvicts would be.
ut turned out, though, that Denny
spoiled a nice trap they'd laid up a
Tarrytown to catch those fellows wheI
they got there. You see. the telegraph
operator wired up the line that runa
way locomotive was coming with thre,
escaped convincts on her, and tn,
train-dispatcher at Tarrytown just Sc
the switch so the locomotive would sal
plump over a twelve-foot stone EN-
bankment down into the Hudson Riv
er. That's what would have happene,
, to those cOnvicts If Denny had left hi
tank-valve alone. but, Of course, 50 90
! so water-logged long before she reach
ed Tarrytown; she just kicked out be
J cylinder-ends few miles up the tract
and stopped. Then the cOnvicts climb
ed down and skipped away. Two o
'em got caught afterward, but one the,
never caught"