Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1907-06-26


| down my legs SO l can't move.
Keen a grip or yerself; III holler
He scrambled to his feet Sine
men were hurrying past him up the
track
Here youse, youse!" he screamed;
but they paid no heed.
He dropped to mis- knees again. BY
putting his head close to the ground
he could look under the sides of the
car. Sewer-pipe and broken timber
| in a confused tumble barred all
chance Of crawling beneath it.
Strange to say, the rear end was bat
| tered and broken, while the front end
was apparently uninjured. He went
to the forward end. and lying fiat or
his stomach struck a match space
of FIVE or six feet he could see was
| perfectly clear Beyond. a huge piece
Of pine lay across the car. blocking en-
trance or exit from that way. The
| forward end Of the car must be
raised; that was plain.
He stood looking meditatively at
the overturned gondola. Here was n
question Of dynamics. It was f;lain
enough what should be done, The
1 question was how to do it. He ex-
| per eneed vague feeling of pleasure
the same feeling which always came
to him when be tinkered a farmhouse
clock; the same he had felt one time
when. for want of better man. he
had been permitted to try his hand
at repairing dCnkey-engine in a
quarry.
The clanor OF the crowd about the
wrecked COACHES he scarcely noticed.
There s,aS a man under the gondola;
to get that man out, the forward end
of he car must be raised. Beyond
that his mind was a blank. II was
not the hope Of saving a human life
that spu, red him on The one UNDER
generate instinct of his life was AZ
lsertng itself. A mechanical genuine
inherent from what ancestor, Heaven
alone knows-of all his instincts and
passions. was the only one to pass un.
sulEed through decaying generations.
He had risen, and walked slowly
down the track. The door of a box
car was open. Within he could see
reels Of wire rope He cllmbc
through the door and inspected the
reels closely He found them wound
with the rope He he'd his chin in
deep thought. Surely the grade was
steep enough?
He was man Of action now. His
eyes fell On the red lights Of the ca
boose; in an instant he was speeding
toward them He found a sledge-
hammer. a crowbar and an AK.
He ran back to the gondola. and
called TO the brakeman There was
no response. so he set to work Iie
found several pieces of timber beside
the gondola. II had been used to
block the pipe on the ar and would
answer mis- purpose admirably. With
the crowbar ard his hands he dug a
hole some two feet deep beneath the
! forward end OF the car. In this he
set piece of timber some eight feet
long and bracing It firmly against
the platform OF the car, which was
three feet from the ground as the car
lay. he drove in a second piece Of
timber trigging the first piece hard
against the bottom Of the gondola.
Then with the crowbar he pried
coil Of steel rope from the boxcar.
It was heavy and unwieldy. but he
managed TO get II unwound. He cut
a groove in his first brace and heat
one end of the rope around It, The
other end he dragged down the track,
pulled it taut and carrying = com
pleteIv around the caboose, made 1t
fast tn the coupling-pin-
There we're ten cars on the track
II the grade was as be thought, they
were enough 10 do the work He re
turned to the gondola and mentally
estimated the distance the cars must
move pefore the prop became uprighF
Then he paced of that distance be-
hind the caboose, and placed piece
Of timber across the track. He wedg
ed one END of this with the crow-bar.
and the o.her as best he could with
the sledge hammer.
He climbed on the cars and set the
brakes With the head of the ak ne
managed to knock out the coupling
pin between the first two cars stan j.
ing on the track. After that he again
mounted the cars and threw off the
brakes beginning at the formost Of
the uncoupled cars.
As he stood at the caboose brake.
His heart beat to suffocaton. Sup
pose the grade was not enough to
move the cars? A vague fear was
shaking his knees. He had forgotten
the imprisoned brakeman. His only
fear was that his plan might fail. His
hands shook like leaves as he gripped
the wheel and threw off the last
brake
There was sharp squeal, a grind
| inC crunch The eaboose moved ami