Las Vegas daily optic. [volume] (Las Vegas, N.M.) 1880-1908, 1905-01-24
Miss Mary Mckee
Dies on Train
A Mysterious Death on No. 1
Sunday Nieht-Heart Fail
ure May Have Been the
Cause.

The body of Mary Mckee. who died
on the train between here and Las
Vegas, was taken from No. 1 last
night upon It's arrival here, a y yes
terday mornings Albuquerque Jour.
nal
Tie death OF the woman on the
train occasioned quite q little excite.
ment and a rumor spread that she
had committed suicide in her berth. II
Is thought, however, that heart fail.
ure is most probably responsible for
her taking off.
According to the story OF passen.
gers, Miss Mckee was put on the train
at Chicago ~ Mrs. A. Mcneil. an Off.
Ger OF the Young Women's Christian
association Miss Mckee was evil
IDENTITY not very well. but did not ap-
pear 10 he an Invalid. She stayed In
her berth. however, most of the way
out and had her meals brought 10 her
by the porter.
When the train WAS at Las Vegas
yesterday The porter went to her berth
and asked II she wished anything. She
responded in an impalicnl tone that
she would call II she needed anything.
and the porter withdrew. About two
hours afterwards H. spite CT her re-
quest that she be not disturbed except
upon her own request. the porter went
to her berth again and was very much
startled to find that she was dead. She
was half sitting up in her berth and
had been combing her hair. On the
window sill was an open bottle which
contained whisky, and from which
she had evidently been drinking.
The story which at first spread
among the passengers was that she
had poisoned herself, but the conduc.
tor and porter both said last night
that the cause of her death was more
likely heart failure, probably superin-
duced by the high altitude.
The ticket of Miss Mckee read to
Los Angeles. Efforts are being made
to communicate with the Women's
Christian association headquarters in
Chicago to ascertain what is to be
done with the body.
The fact that a number of other
bottles were in the berth and that the
woman had been acing in a myster-
ious manner gave rise to the story
that she had taken her W life. but
an inquest will be necessary to deter
mine whether this is so.
The woman lias been heavily veil
ed most of the time while on the
train said a passenger last night.
"and there was certainly something
queer about her. She acted to me
like a woman trying 10 conceal her
identity and 1t may be that she left
Chicago to escape arrest or detention
somewhere"
Monkey-Motion Engines Tried.
A new type of engine, known as the
''monkey-motion" pattern, which, it Is
claimed, will revolutionize steam To-
cOmotion on railroads, was successful
ly operated on the Southern Pacific,
when a Utah train of 1900 tons was
run from Ogden to Wadsworth, New,
hauled by one of the new engines.
The new type of engine was design
ed by Edgar M. Luckett of the South
ern Pacific. There are many advant-
ages owe the standard type. claimed
for the monkey motion" The driv-
ing mechanism is located on the sides
of the engine, making 1t easy of ac-
cess. The steam exhausts very rapid
ly. and there is no back pressure.
1t is estimated that the new engine
will save from % to 40 per cent in
coal consumption, being able TO run
fifty-four miles with n ton of coal,
as against twenty-five to twenty-eight
miles under the present system. The
standard engines now in use can be
changed to the monkey motion" with