The herald., 1915-01-07
DREAD HOG ON TRACK
WRECK USUALLY FOLLOWS RUN
NIHo DOWN or PoRkER.
Enplnsscs Prefer to Stop Train and
chsss Animal N PossIble-Hu-
rnorous Combination In Air
When Wagon Was Struck.

of ell animals that wander along
. railroad track" declared q veteran
engineer. according to the Pluto Ledg-
OF, goats are the most irritating.
it Is peIt 20 impossible TO kill Item,
and that is not the least tantallzing
thing about them from an engineers
standpoint No matter bow fast q
tfkin may be running or how quietly
you steal down upon them, q goat will
zee you out OF the corner OF his eye
and manage 10 get away In time TO
mise 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 OF TO one side The
goat, on the other hand, nearly always
succeeds In getting us worked up to
q high degree OF nervousness and
then contrives to get OF without
scratch.
Speaking Of striking animals on the
rail-, continued the engineer, the one
We most dread to meet on the tracks
is hog Nine chances out Of ten the
hog will throw you. He is tough and
greasy, and II an engineer has any
show at all II Is best for him TO stop
the train and drive the animal of the
track When the pilot OF an engine
hits hog II 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 pitiful Of all |
animals to run down. They seem to |
realize danger and huddls together be-
tween the rails awaiting death. Their
innocent eyes stare at you so mourn
fully and sadly that they haunt you
Tor days to come. A locomotive seems
TO take a savage delight in destroying
sheep. II throws them in every direc-
ton and will kill a whole flock In an
instant.
Il 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 IL 1t had
received a coat Of tar and feathers"
The twinkle in the engineers eyes
and the twitching OF his lips indicated
al amusing Renaissance Presently
II came out.
Mentioning feathers" he said, az
ter pause, brings to mind a curious
experience had a few years ago In
running fast passenger train on a
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 q little stretch of
straight track between high dirt banks
known as Sugden Cut. I cast my eyes
ahead as we scudded along to q wagon
road crossing near the lower end OF
the cut.
Just as We approached It q two
horse team was driven down from the
main road It the right side. apparent.
ly with the intention OF crossing. But
instead OF crossing the team stood {
still. Two men we're in the wagon
and they seemed to be having an al
tercation as to whether they should {
cross or go back. AS a consequence {
they Just stood there on the track. I
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 evil
IDENTIFY farmers returning from town In
a soisterous humor after days mar.
keting. Curiously enough, they were
not hurt In the least, neither were the
horses. The wagon. until we cut II
olean In two, contained a feather bed,
\ key Of nails and barrel OF whisky.
I'VE struck them all at the same In
slant. The nails few away up In the
ky, as II seemed, and came down with
peppering rattle on the roofs of all
he coaches in the train. The feath-
srs scattered far and wide through the
AIR like driving snowstorm and
seemed to come from a thousand split
leather beds instead of one. The
fhisky got mixed with the feathers
Ind spurted up In every direction, fall
ng in fine spray. principally over
he first couple OF coaches. The whis-
~ and feathers chung to the tops and p
'ides Of the cars for the rest of the L
rip.
1T was altogether the funniest mesa 81
was ever In. and the strangest COM u
ination. Think OF Il! Nails, whisky u
nd feathers. the feathers flying
trough the air and following VI for
,iles."