The Winslow mail., 1914-12-05
DREAD HOG ON TRACK
WRECK USUALLY FOLLOWS RUN
MING DOWN OF PoRKER.
Engineers Prefer to Stop Train and
Chase Animal If Possible-Hu-
morous Combination in Air
When Wagon Was Struck.

"Of all animals that wander along
a railroad track" declared a veteran
engineer, according to the Pluto Ledg-
er, "goats are the most irritating.
1t is next to impossible to kill them,
and that liz not the least tantaliZing
thing about them from an engineers
standpoint. No matter how fast
train may be running or how quietly
you steal down upon them, a goat will
see you out of the corner of his eye
and manage to get away in time to
miss the coWcatcher.
Cows and horses are generally dis
posed of with ease, though sometimes
they get under the wheels and cause
a bad wreck. But they are so large
that the pilot gets under them and
throws them off to one side. The
goat, on the other hand, nearly always
succeeds in getting us worked up to
a high degree of nervousness and
then contrives to get off without a
scratch.
Speaking of striking animals on the
we most dread to meet on the tracks
is a hog. Nine chances out of ten the
hog will throw you. He is tough and
greasy, and if an engineer has any
show at all it is best for him to stop
the train and drive the animal off the
track. When the pilot of an engine
hits hog it usually knocks him down
and rolls him for a few yards before
the trucks strike him, and when they
do there is great danger of their leav
ing the rails, so you see what havoc
one pig can make on a railroad. An
other disagreeable thing about a pig
is that he never stops squealing from
the time he is hit until he is stone
dead
"Sheep are the most pitifu1 Of all
animals to run down. They seem to
realize danger and huddle together be-
tween the rails awaiting death. Their
innocent eyes stare at you so mourn
fully and sadly that they haunt you
for days to come. A locomotive seems
to take a savage delight in destroying
tion and will kill a whole flock in an
instant.
II struck a flock of geese once.
Well, never had thought there were
so many feathers in the world. I
couldn't see anything but feathers for
ten minutes, and when we reached the
station my engine looked as if it had
received a coat of tar and feathers"
The twinkle in the engineers eyes
and the twitching of his lips indicated
an amusing reminiscence. Presently
it came out.
Mentioning feathers he said af-
ter pause, brings to mind curious
experience I had a few years ago in
running a fast passenger train on
seaboard line. We had gone through
a fairly large town without slackening
speed and had whirled safely around
the base of a steep ridge to the east,
when we struck a little stretch of
straight track between high dirt banks
known as Sugden Cut. | cast my eyes
ahead as we scudded along to wagon
the cut.
"Just as we approached it two
horse team was driven down from the
main road t the right side, apparent
ly with the intention of crossing. But
instead of crossing, the team stood
still. Two men were in the wagon
and they seemed to be having an al
tercation as to whether they should
cross or go back. AS consequence
they just stood there on the track. l
reversed the engine and whistled
down brakes, but it was too late.
We struck the wagon square in the
middle and then, OH MY
The men in the wagon were evi-
IDENTIFY farmers returning from town in
boisterous humor after days mar