The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1916-07-18
SMITH WRITES STORY
OF LOCOMOTIVE ENGINEER
Says II Contains Good Moral for
the Georgia Legislature.
L Smith in Atlanta Journal.

ser trains in Georgia. ne tod me lAe
following scor:::
Tie work Of tie engineer is not
xaat ii used to be. IN addition TO
v.atchiag the track ahead. and feelin4
the responsibility OF the passengers
@. the women and children asleep il
the coaches far behind, there nov
| has come the new danger which more
than taxes every faculty.
Not long ago / left certain large
city. sitting in the cab OF Mogul en-
oine. l had run OF 175 miles. We
RULED out OF the station on time. Be
hind me were two day coaches, four
pullman cars and the usual baggage
and express cars. Altogether I sup
ucse there were 125 souls under M
direct care. l eased the throttle open
and We pulled out across the laby-
rinth Of tracks and woods until We
got into the open country. 1t was 4
moonless night and yet there seemed
to be a fair amount Of light. opened
her up because my schedule called for
about go miles an hour. I felt the
tremor of the giant power beneath
NV hand as we spun through the
lights and shadows, over crossings
and through small villages.
at was not long before I was con-
scious of a bright light occasionally
in the highway road which ran paral-
lei with the railroad tracks. l took a
hasty glance to the right from my
cab window and saw four men in an
automobile racing with my train
racing with death-racing for moth
ing-racing for mangled bodies pos
sibly. The driver of the automobile |
could see was determined to reach it
possible a small town at the same
time / did, or ahead of me. In the
centre of this town there was a rail-
road crossing in which the country
road crossed the railroad tracks. Hav-
ing these passengers behind me, soma
asleep, some awake, mothers with ba-
bies. men of business with important
engagements to keep, all of this fash
ed through my mind, and I wondered
where my duty lay, to halt and hesi-
tate with this train because some idle,
reckless men sought death in front OF
nv engine. or to go on and keep to
my schedule. l decided on the latter,
and did my duty.
There is nothing more horrifying,
there is nothing that strains the
nerves of a human being, there is
nothing that makes the heart stand
still quicker, there is nothing more
sorrowful, more pitiful or more agon-
izing than to realize that you have un-
Intentionally mangled a human be-
ing, snuffed out life. Life to me
is serious. With tons of steel Quiv-
ering beneath me, going at rapid
speed, a poor, frail human body
stands little chance. l kept to my
schedule, l approached this town, l
saw the car racing on the road.
could not think that any man would
be so foolhardy as to attempt to cross
in front of a fast passenger train
when he knew, could see and hear
and feel the train beside him, and yet
just as my train came in sight of the
crossing, came closer to it, in a mo-
ment there was flash, and my head
light showed the tenders of this au-
tomobile were caught, that human
bodies flew into the air. had my
hand on the air throttle ready to jam
the brakes to the utmost. l did this,
but it was too late. One of the men
was instantly killed. The others were
mangled, some fatally, some less Sc
riously. The automobile was wreck
and I was almost wreck, and yet
had to go on
This is the story of the locomotive
engineer.
Before he left he said: 81 will tell
you one thing more. Each day that ]
take out my train foolhardy men and
sometimes women race with my train
They cross in front of it, making mar
row escapes. Often I see in these cars
women and children, and I want to
tell you right now if ever my engine
runs into a car where there is baby
and after stopping my engine find
that helpless soul has been carried