Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1909-10-09
A RAILROAD STORY.
T'ss Superstition of an Engineer and
the Result.

tho Result.
Railroad engineers have an alb
horrence for an engine that ever
has been in a wreck. This no doubt
is due to their belief in the infalli-
bility of wrecks and other accidents
coming in cycles or in occurrences
of threes. When an accident hap
pens on the road they wag, their
heads and wonder when the next
one will take place, and when the
third has happened they breathe
easier until another occurs to give
them the chance to look for two
more again. An engine that has
been in only one wreck is looked to
finish its cycle, and until it does so
and gets clean bill of health it is
regarded as hoodoo.
Friday has the same hold on the
superstitious fear of railroad men
that it has in other quarters. Men
will refuse to take "A layoff on Fri
day, and if it is forced upon them
they will not return to work until
the following Monday. Many rail-
road superintendent and trainmas-
ters coddle their men as far as they
can in this superstition, but a gen.
eral regard for it would be impossi-
BILE, else the railroad traffic of the
country might come to a compara-
tive standstill some Friday.
There are thousands of stories
rife in railroad circles that prove
to railroad men that there is good
reason for their fear of this or that
hoodoo. Here is true story of the
number 13:
Several years ago one of the Sc
verest snowstorms in the history
of railroading swept the west. Be-
tween Chicago and Aurora drifts
ten feet high obstructed traffic,
and a snowplow and engines were
sent out to clear the road. At a
point on the road was yardmas-
ter, who is now a railroad superin-
tendent in st. Louis, and it is he
who tells the tale.
"The snow bucking train was COM
posed of thirteen engines behind the
plow," says he. 'Gn the front en-
gine was my older brother, who was
the engineer of it. The superin-
tendent of the division was there
supervising the work.
"When the train was made up
and ready to start, the superintend-
ent told me to go with the head en-
gine. l climbed aboard, and my
brother asked me what l was doing
there. | replied that I was to go
along with him. DO you know
that there are thirteen engines in
this tramp he asked solemnly. I
told him l knew all about it. We'll,
there's going to be an accident he
said. 4 don't want you on the en-
CINE. When the accident comes
one of us will be killed, perhaps
both. Who is to look after our old
father and mother then?'
'1 was young, and l wasn't very
strong on the thirteen superstition
anyway, and l told him he was talk
ing like a sentimental kid. The
superintendent approached us and
must have heard the last part of
the conversation, for he told me to
stay in the yard and see that the
road was kept clear.
"The snow buckers pulled out
without me. They had not been
out an hour when the journal burn
ed off on the front engine and drop
ped the axle. 1t caused a rail to
curl up and the end of it shot up
through the floor of the cab and
knocked the hat off the fireman.
Had l gone on the engine my body
would have been pierced by the rail,
which went through the seat where
l would have been sitting."-St
ouic Post Dicpatoh