The Ketchikan miner., 1908-12-26
A WRECK 0N THE ROAD
What a Collision Means to the
 Man at the Throttle.
PLIGHT OF THE ENGINEER.

ne CnaHCeS nc r'dS to EXC anu TliS
 Fate Should He Become Crippled In Smashup-There Are Some Things
 Worse Than Physical Pain.
 "I just dropped in to tell you that the coroner's jury has exonerated you from all blame for the wreck. They are going to hold the block tower man."
 The old engineer turned his pain drawn face toward me. white cap ped nurse gently brushed back the wild hairs from his forehead.
 Thank you, miss," he said, 'and you, too, sir, for the good news. l knew they couldn't blame it on me- because it was white at Mentor. Poor Denny, he'd tell you so, too, if he was alive All white! he shouted when we came round the curve. and l gave him the answer. All whiter and pulled her wide open. Then we struck the emp ties on the siding, and-well, you know the rest" He wiped trembling hand across his eyes as If trying to blot out some horrible vision.
 His eyes began to sparkle, and a bit of color flashed into his pale checks "I suppose you fellows think opened her up and went into those boxes just for fun" A smile fitted over his iips and then he grew serious. Say. did it ever come 10 your mind that an en- gineer might be as anxious about his own life as he Is about the lives of those who are riding behind him? My wife and little one-don't you suppose my life counts for something with them?
 Did you ever stop to think what collision like that at Mentor means to the engineer? Just try to figure your self in his place. He rides in four square feet of cab room. surrounded by mass of levers, rods and the like Ahead of him is about three miles of boiler pipe. carrying 200 pounds of steam pressure and enough hot water to cook the meat off his bones in | jffy. Gathering at his back Is G,000 gallons of water and 26,000 pounds of coal. Under him Is 100000 pounds of engine. and behind there is 100000 pounds of train. Altogether he is running along ahead of SO0.OO0 pounds of steel, hardwood and brass held to an eighty pound rail by three quarters of an inch of wheel fange.
 "Why, when one of those big Rus sian battleships fired broadside at | the Japanese the whole thing amounted only to 24.000 pounds, so the papers say. And that 24,00O pounds travelling eight miles minute would strike Japanese ship eight miles away with an impact only one-tenth of the force we hit the empties at Mentor
 "Of course l was the engineer and they depended on me There is al ways lot of fine talk about engineers having the lives of several hundred i passengers in their hands. That's all very true. but you don't want to over look the fact that the engineers life | is right there along with the others. We all take chances, the train crew as well as the passengers. only our chances are simmer. had one | chance in 800 of being killed, or one in i twenty-five of getting right where l am now. but passenger on the train had one chance in about 3.G00,000 of being killed and one in 130000 of being hurt.
 "I see that a lot of people were killed and whole lot more hurt. don't want to be grumbler. but it appears | to me that you fellows have kinder overlooked the fact that both of my legs are gone. Of course that might not mean much to you, but if you realized as I do, that for the rest of my life it is going to be my job to hobble out into the middle of some country road and wave white flag as every train goes by-if you could real | iZe what that means to an engineer | to hear the mocking toot of the whis- | tie as she comes up to the crossing and to see the sympathetic salute of the | engineer and fireman as they go flying 1 by-I tell you. my boy there are some things worse than physical pain"
 His eyes filled with tears. The nurse gently wiped them away and softly stroked back the hair
 "I wouldn't talk any more now," she said.
 "All right. miss." he replied. putting l out his hand to rle. ''l always obey orders "-B. R. Winslow in New York | Tribune.