The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1909-09-25


Divide, and just for allowing two old
| flats to spit switch and plow up
some of the gravel the old m&n reck-
oned Id better lope back co the
Springs and accept a position as en-
gineer on laundry wagon or some
thin like that.
We'll. I'd kind of decided I'd take
run down to the Springs, anyway
The extra engine crew was going
| down that night with a pusher and a
crippled engine and I thought I'd 90
with EN-. We had to wait till the
west-bound mail went by, along about
eight O'Clock, and then we started. |
got up in the cab OF the cripple and, it
| being warm summer and me with an
overcoat on, l proceeded to fix up to
sleep some. First | took smoke and
then dozed off. We'd pretty near got
to fiute pass by that time.
We'll, sir, it seemed like I'd hardly
got to sleep when | woke up with a
start. 1t seemed to me like we was
going awful fast. 1t must have been
the footing up in front that woke me,
because Ed. Morris, who was the eagle
eye up there, was letting her shrek
loud enough to wake the dead down in
Ell Paso. We were jolting around
pretty lively, and ] pushed the window
open TO take look. My new Stetson
went whizzing off so quick l nearly
went with it. 1t was dark as pitch,
but the electric headlight on the
pusher was lighting up the canyon,
and when we went by the falls so fast
that Id thought it was day before
yesterday I'd seen EN-, | began to get
scared. l thought of jumping and then
l saw it was no use. | was wonderin'
what had happened up in front l
knew something else was going to
happen pretty soon, because when we
hit that safety at Diablo we were go
ing to skee clear over the peak
Il couldn't see thing up in front,
but it seemed like we were putting
on steam all the time, and we didn't
need any at all going down that
'shoot-the- shoots ! knew there was
something wrong, but | couldn't for
the life of me figure it out. While
was doing some tall wondering, the
tirebox door swung open and hit me
on the leg. That saved my life.
Il knew the firebox had been cleaned
out, and I'd begun to figure out that
unless | got some armor plate around
me I'd be cleaned out, too. | knew we
must be getting might close to Diablo
and the safety switch. That firebox
door was a tip. No matter what hap
pened, ] figured, nothing much was
going to happen to an inch steel fire
box, and as quick as could squeezed
myself into that door. not being as
stout then as am now.
well, sir, | hadn't more than got
in there when things happened
didn't know for about four hours that
anything happened, because they didn't
dig me out till the wreckers got up
there and found me with broken arm
and black. as niger down in that
firebox. And there wasn't much left
of either one of them old coffee pots
but the fireboxes. Ed. Morris was
dead as a door nail, in pieces. The
pusher had struck the boulder at the
top end of the safety and my old Grip
pie had rammed through her tender
and smashed him.
up near the west end of the pass
they found Jack Hyde, the fireman.
lying beside the track unconscious,
with whack over the head. When he
got right at the hospital he said Nor
ris had gone nutty about his girl
throwing him over and hit him with
the wrench
The yard foreman got up and walked
into the shanty. When he came back
he handed the brakeman round
piece of leather with a ribbon tied
to it.
Its yours, Jack he said I've
knowed you since you was kid and
you amt never been west of the soap
plant in your life"
nne 0ai