Las Vegas optic., 1914-11-16


tratlic was heavy and that Babcock,
the engineer, had all the cars he could
handle on the slippery rails. But he
rode well forward that night. knowing
that the frozen ground, thawing in
the rain, made the road-bed soft, and
that if it were possible for a land slip
to occur the conditions were just right
for it,
1 Something did happen. 1t was lust
as the train was starting, after having
stopped for water at a tank 30 miles
from their starting point "Snippy"
stood on the third car back Of the en-
gine. A sudden jolt and lurch threw
him to the ground between the tracks.
He knew that something was wrong
as he fell, and he heard the cutting
| hiss of escaping steam. Babcock was
too careful man to stop his train so,
without first giving warning with his
whistle. "Snippy" was dazed and half
stunned by his fall but he jumped to
his feet Instantly
His first impulse was to find the
cause of the trouble. The coupling
| ahead of the car on which he stood
was broken, and the two cars between
| 1t and the engine we're of the track.
The engine moved forward slowly,
dragging the two cars over the ties.
| He knew now that rock had fallen
in the cut as the engine passed, Bah
cock and his fireman were evidently
injured, or the engine would have
stopped. Fifty yards ahead was
bridge-an old fashioned wooden af-
fair, over small stream. The east
bound express was due on the other
track.
"Snippy" knew all of this and more
The same knowledge or intuition that
had told him what had happened told
him also what would happen should
the engine pulling the derailed cars
reach the bridge. The car bodies, be-
ing so far from the center line of the
track, would strike the upper works
of the bridge and perhaps cause the
collapse of the whole structure. AT
any rate. 1t would block both tracks.
And the east-bound express? No,
"Snippy' had not forgotten that,
either. He caught the CLINT Of her
headlight rounding the curve at Hick-
ory Grove, only two miles away.
Railroad men think quickly in an
emergency. "Snippy' did. He knew
that the others were coming UP from
the caboose, 1900 feet away, as fast
as they could The express would
reach the bridge in half the time it
would take them to reach him. The
deraiieda cars would reach 1t before
any Of them, unless the engine was
stopped.
"snippy" paused to consider and
weigh these things long tiNe under
the circumstances, possibly d fraction
over two seconds--long enough for the
express to travel 200 feet nearer to
the bridge.
1t may have taken "Snippy' half
minute to reach the engine, while the
express covered half mile. He knew
the state of things in the cab of the
engine without stopping to investigate.
Babcock and his fireman were help
less on the floor-injured, but not
fatally.
The cab was full Of live steam es-
Gaping from broken injector. not
merely vapor such as comes from the
spout of boiling teakettle, but super
heated steam from a boiler under
pressure of 100 pounds to the square
inch.
The higher the pressure the greater
the heat, and this was steam that
would scar the flesh like molten lead,
more fatal to breathe than direct
flame.
"Snippy" may not have known the
theory Of superheated steam or water
boiling under pressure. but he did
know the facts and did not hesitate.
He had already calculated the chances
during the two seconds that he
stopped to think He climbed to the
cab, dived into the kissing cloud, and
showed in the throttle as he sprang.
The engine stopped two car lengths
from the bridge.
! A score of seconds later the east
bound express with hundreds of pas
sengers passed safely. When the rest
of the crew came up from behind and
dragged "Snippy" out of the cab he
was dead.
/ The next day, in the city, these
same passengers may have seen
"Snippys" obituary. four-line dis
patch from an unknown telegraph
Office stating that there had been a
freight wreck, caused by loose stones
falling on the track, in which a brake
man had been killed; the fireman Sc
riously, and the engineer slightly in
jured. They may have seen the dis
patch, but they certainly did not know
that the brakeman had coolly, delib-
erately, and knowingly sacrificed his
life to save theirs.
/ Natures Wisdom.
i When the world was voung its T.,