The Havre herald. [volume] (Havre, Mont.) 1904-1908, 1907-05-03


limestone bluff that looms up fifty feet
above the river.
But it Is one thing to order con-
tact opened and another and very diff
ferent thing to open it at in the morn
ing on Dec. 25 by men who know no
more about track cutting than about
logarithms. Side by side and shoulder
to shoulder the man Of the law and the
men out Of the law. the rough riders
and the railroad boy. pried and wrench
ed and clawed and struggled with the
steel. While Harvey and Banks claw
ed at the spikes the cowboys wrestled
with the nuts on the bolts OF the fish
plates. 1t was battle. The nuts
wouldn't twist: the spikes stuck like
piles; sweat covered the assailants.
Harvey went into a frenzy. "Boys,
we must work fasterv' he cried, tug
ging at the frosty spikes. But flesh and
blood could do no more.
'There they come-there's the run
away train. Do you hear It? I'm 60
ing to open the switch anyhow" Har-
vey shouted, starting up the track.
"Save yourselves"
Needless Of the warning, Banks
struggled with the plate bolts In
silent fury. Suddenly he sprang to his
feet. "Give me the maul!' he cried
Raising the heavy tool like a tack
hammer, he landed heavily on the bolt
nuts once and again, and they flew IN
stream like bullets over the bluff.
The taller cowboy. bending close on
bis knees, raised yell. The plates
had given. Springing to the other
rail, Banks stripped the bolts even
after the mad train had shot into the
gorge above them. They drove the
pick under the loosened steel, and
with Il pry that bent the claw bar ana
. yell that reached Harvey, trembling
at the switch, they tore away tle
stubborn contact and pointed the rails
over the precipice.
The shrek of locomotive whistle
cut the wind. Looking east, Harvey
had been watching SOS headlight.
Ehe was pulling in on the siding.
tie still held the switch open to send
the runaways into the trap Bucks
had set If the passenger train failed
to get into the clear. but there was a
minute yet-a bare sixty secondhand
Harvey had no idea of dumping $10,-
900 worth of equipment into the river
unless he had to.
Suddenly up went the safety signals
from the east end. The 1O1 was cough
Ing noisily up the passing track-the
line was clear. Banks and the cow
boys. waiting breathless saw Harvey
with determined lurch close the main
line contact.
In the next breath the coalers, with
the sweep of the gale in their fright
full velocity, smashed over the switch
and on. A rattling whirl Of ballast
and dizzy clatter Of noise, and be-
fore the frightened crew Of 50 could
see what was against them the run
away train was passed-gone!
II wasn't going to stop here tonight"
muttered the engineer as he stood
with the conductor over Harvey's
shoulder at the operators desk min
ute later and wiped the chill from his
forehead with piece of waste. "We'd
have met them in the canyon"
Harvey was reporting to Bucks. Cal
lahan heard 1t coming: Rails cut, but
80 safe. Runaways went by here fully
seventy miles an hour"
1t was easy after that. Griffin is the
foot OF the grade. From there on the
runaway train had hill to climb.
Bucks had held $50. the local passen-
ger. sidetracked at Davis, thirty miles
farther east Sped by the wind, the
runaways passed Davis. though not at
half their highest speed. An instant
later 25O's engine was cut loose and
started after them like scared collie.
Three miles east of Davis they were
overhauled by the light engine. The
fireman Donahue, crawled out Of the
cab window. along the foot rail and
down on the pilot, caug' t the ladder Of
the first car and running up, crept
along to the leader and began setting
brakes. Ten minutes later they We're
brought back in triumph to Davis.
When the multitude of orders was
ont of the way. Bucks wired Ed Banks
on 80. Sixty was the eastbound pas
senger Dire at McCloud at $50 a. N. 1t
turned out that the cowboys had been
arrested for lassoing Norwegian
who had cut their wire.
1t was not heinous offense, and after
1t WAS stra ehtene out by the inter-
vention of Bucks. who was the whole
thing then-they were given jobs lasso-
ing sugar barrels In the train service.
One of them, the tall fellow. Is pas
senger conductor on the high line yet.
1t was 8 o'clock that morning-the
18th Of Deeember In small letters. on