The Birmingham age-herald., 1914-04-05

lNE9SI fro m the highest mountains over the steepest railroad of the world to the level of the sea.
 Dashing out of the clouds to find clouds below you,
 Now in the blizzard. where the hail and snow are so thick you cannot see a stone's throw in front. and now under the blue sky with the air clear all about youi
 Hanging to precipices, flying on spider web bridges of steel over frightful ohasms, whirling about curves in the mid night darkness of winding tunnels md coming out into the light of day with shudder as you look at the depths far be- low you.
 This, in a nutshell is the story of my trip from the glacial snows, three miles straight above where l am writing. It gives only a faint idea of the journey. The dangers were awfully real. and as l look back 1t seems miracle that I am here today to describe them. It is a. mir acle The ordinary ride of this kind, taken with dry track and the sunlight is so dangerous that travellers who risk it are made to sign paper, swearing that their heirs will claim no damages if they are killed on the way. I signed such document before l got on the car; and an hour later 1t seemed to me that the railroad authorities were sensi- ble to require such protection.
 We started at Ticlio. at the very top of the pass, where the Andean waters di- vide, some running down the western slope into the Pacific, and others making their way across the continent through the Amazon, into the Atlantic. We were almost at the level of 16,00O feet. We were fully three miles above the sur face of the ocean, and we were to slide down over the rails. through a winding distance of 100 miles clear to the sea The Central railway goes to the top of the Andes, without one inch of down grade. The most of the way the ascent is about four feet in 100, and you can start a car at the glaciers, and it will fly straight to the waters of the tropical ocean.
 Our toboggan was the private gravity car of Mir. Feehan, the general manager of the Central railroad It was q low platform on wheels about two feet in diameter. It had no motive power, and
  on each side of the front. Upon the platform were seats wide enough for three persons, and as we took our places l sat in the middle, with my stenogra- pher at the left and Mr Russell of the operating department of the railway at my right We had also a Peruvian cholo who understood the business to act as brakeman. We had to run upon sched- ule time, for the track is a single one and we had to pass trains going up and down on the way. We were to get our orders from the telegraph operators at the principal stations.
 We started amid the glaciers. The sky was clear, and we could see the great masses of ice as they were imperceptibly moving down the mountain. Just above us was Mt Meiggs, over 17.00o feet high, and all arOSu und were mighty peaks kissing the clouds. ,CAe sun shone brightly. The rails were drt " and Mir. Russell said we 1vonld have no trouble controlling the gar as thelo(snly danger came from the rain or the sno, W, which make it difficult for the wheels to hold to the track. This was the case at the start. We shot out of Tic lio, and flew at the rate of % miles an h' our down the road. We had hardly sta aarted however, before the sky changed, land the winds began to roll up the gorge s. The air grew cold, and within five T minutes we were in the midst of a snowsi -orm A moment later the snow turneti to hail. The stones were as h,g as marr owfat peas and they bounced like rubber as they fell on the track. f.. fIa S1,aa of lightning. The air was so rare that our ears Gairdly cracked with the sound. and the lightning made more visible the dangers about us.
 As we went on the rails became white and the rocks were hidden in snow. Our car was half full of hail, and the wheels were flying over slippery tracks. Then the wind increased to blizzard, and I'loeckher who was sitting beside me, taking his notes on wet paper, notwith- standing the storm, all at once cried out that his hat had blown off. Very fool ishly we stopped the toboggan, and started our cholo conductor back up the track At this time we had only 10 minutes leeway of a yrain that was coming behind We waited five min utes and the cholo did not appear. Then Ifloeckher went back and found the hat on the edge of the cliff 400 feet high and about 200 yards from the toboggan. The cholo had disappeared We waited fer him two minutes longer, and then. hearing the whistle of the downcoming train, we knew we should have to man age the toboggan ourselves MT. Rus sell took hold of one brake and F'loeck- her grabbed tight on the other. and we began to coast down through the storm. The cold was piercing. The winds went through our bones and the great hailstones cut our faces. At times when the clouds were the blackest we could see only few feet at the front, but could look down the sides of the cliff to which the track hung and see the snow-clad walls far below us. Now we would go flying into tunnel. and here were the safest of places, for the rails were dry and the brakes made the wheels grip the track. Indeed we almost prayer for the tunnels and were glad when dashed over bridge through the blindng sleet into the dark ness.
 We had made eight or nine miles when wet met two trains standing at one of the switchbanks on a siding. They were waiting for us, and the engineers said