The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-03-25
HISTORY BUILDERS.
"A College Prank that Stalled a Train.
Written Expressly tr The Washington Herald.
by DIR. r. }. EDWARDS.

Most of my boyish mischief and
and the tricks which | played as Il
boy occasion now only the plcaSantcSt
IrecollectionS. But there was one piece
of mischief in which | took part
which WAS not only criminal. or al
least misdcmcanor. hut the recoIleC-
ton of it in after years cOnsidcrabl ~
annoyed me"
The late Charles {. Clark. who was
speaking to me. was for many years
the vice president of the New York
Central Railroad and in intimate per-
sonal relations with Commodore VAN
derbilt. for he served under the COM
mOdoTe when he was first ycnturing
into railroad business. The relations
which he maintained with the COmmo-
dore were continued with his son.
William n. Vanderbilt. ard later with
his grandson. the lat" Cornelius Van
dcrbilt and William X. Vanderbilt.
THE miSchievOus prank which an
noycd me aftcrward was played when
was II student at Hobart College. at
Geneva, y. Y. | was about II years
of age then. Dean Richmond and his
associates had built a railroad which
passed through the town of Geneva. 1t
aftcrward became a part of the New
as the old line. because Commodore
Vanderbilt caused the new and
straiGhter line to he constructed from
York Central system. 1t was known
the town of Lyons westerly.
Just at the point where this rail-
road line entered tn" township of &C.
neva there was a heavy grade as well
as n long and very sharp curve The
locomotive engines of that day fire.
qucntly had trOubI" in negotiating
that grade and curve. IN the college
buildings We could hear the engines pun
ing strongly as they proceeded at a
snails pace up that grade and around
that curve.
One evening | suggested to some Of
my college mates that We fill a water
pail with soft soap and also got some
grease, and then smear tn" rails on tn"
curve with the soap and grcas" NJ
sooner said than done. We had thuS~
rails well creased about an hour before
a WeStbOund passenger train WAS due.
We had tim" to get back undiscovered.
by and by there came the greatest
putting and sn0rting that YOU ever heard.
Word passed among the students that a
railroad train was in distress ON the
curve. We all hurried down there to see
what the matter was. We SAW thu. driv-
ing wheels Of the big locomotive whirling
around rapidly. while the fireman was
sprinklinG the tracks with sand. hut the
train could make no Roadway We all
enjoyed tn" dilemma. We stood there
watching the desperate attempts Of
the engineer to overcome the diff
iiculty. Finally W" turned to and
helped HIM cover Tn" rails with sand.
but II was all of thre" hours before the
engineer got that train around the curve.
Nobody ever found out who played
this trick. but Dean Howard caused a
Waterman TO be placed near the curve 50
that II would not be repeated.
In after years. when | became prcsi-
dent of the New York Central system I
sometimes thought that il | could have
foreseen my future career | probably
would not have instiCated the students
To smear the tracks with soap. | never
told Commodore Vanderbilt about this.
but | did tell William * Vanderbilt at
time when We were making a trip over
tho old road. Mr. Vanderbilt laughed and
said: We'll. that was done before our
time. II doesn't matter what you did
when Dean Richmond owned the road. "
tCOpyrisht 1916. by =. J. Edwards Al rights
s,Tvvdl
Tomorrow DR.. Edwards will toll Of The
Physician Who Saw Lincoln Die