Daily Arizona silver belt., 1908-11-01
4 WRECK 0N THE ROAD.
What a Collision Means to thet
 Man at the Throttle.
PLIGHT OF THE ENGINEER.

'"s S"a"Ses HS fIas 10 axe aho ffts
 Fate Should He Become Crippled h
 . smashuP-Thers Are Some Things
 Worse Than Physical Pain.
 "l just dropped in to tell you that
 the coroner's jury has exonerated yoo
 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. A white cap
 ped nurse gently brushed back the
 wild hairs from his forehead.
 "rhank you. miss" he sail, land you.
 too, sir. for the good news. 1 knew
 they couldn't blame 1t on ine. because 1t was white at Mentor. Poor Denny. he'd tell you so, iOo. If he was alive All white! he shouted when we came round the curve. and l gave him the answer, All whiser and pulled her wide open. Then we struck the emp ties on the siding. and-weIl. you know the rest" He wiped a trembling hand across bis eyes as If trying to blot out some horrible vision.
 His eyes began to sparkle. and bit of color flashed into his pale cheeks. 'I suppose you fellows think l opened her up and went into those boxes Just for fun" A smile fitted over his lips, and then he grew serious. Say. did 1t ever come 10 your mind that au en- gineer might be as anxicns about bis own life as he is about the lives of those who are riding behind him2 My wife and little one-don't you suppose my life counts for something with them?
 Did you ever stop to think what 4 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 POO pounds of steam pressure and enough hot water to cook the meat of his bones In . jlffy. Gathering at bis back Is GOOD gallons of water and 26.000 pounds of coal. Under him is 100000 pounds of engine. and behind there Is 6o0,0O0 pounds of train. Altogether he is running along ahead Of. S00.000 pounds of steeL hardwood and brass held to an eighty pound rail by three quarters of an iach of wheel fiange.
 Why. when one of those big Rus sian battleships fired a broadside at the Japanese the whole thing amounted only to 2iOO0 pounds. 30 the papers say. And that 24.000 pounds travelling eight miles a minute would strike a Japanese ship eight miles away with an impact only one-.enth of the force we hit the empties at Mentor
 ''Of course ! was the engineer end they depended on ne. There is si. ways lot of fine talk about engineers having the lives of several hundred passengers in their hands That's at 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 CUP chances are simmer. had one chance in 500 of being killed. or one in twenty-five of getting right where | am now, but d passenger on the train had one chance in about 100000 of being Killed and one in l30.OOO of being hurt.
 "l see that lot Of people were killed and whole To; more hurt. I don't want to be grumbler. but 1t appears to me that you fellows have kinder overlooked tbe fact that both of my legs are gone. Of course that might not mean much to you. but if yos as l do. that for the rest of my life it is going to be my job ta hobble out into the middle of some country road and wave a white flag as every train goes by--if you could real ze what that means to ap engineer 0 hear the mocking toot of the whis- le as she comes up to the crossing and Q see the sympathetic salute of the sngineer and fireman as they go flying ,y-I tell you, my boy. there are some hings worse than physical pain."
 His eyes filled with tears. The nurse ,ently wiped them away and softly troked back the hair.
 'I wouldn't talk any more now." she aid.
 "All right, miss," he replied. putting ut his hand to me. ''I always obey r1ers. ."-B. R. Winslow in New York Tribune.