Brighouse & Rastrick Gazette. — 1889-12-07 (Brighouse, West Yorkshire, England)

RAILWAY DUEL.  Everyone has heard of the story of the two goats who, meeting on a narrow plank bridge, butted and fought for the right of way. A somewhat similar incident, says a New York correspondent, took place a day or two in Brooklyn between two freight trains at a railway crossing. Traffic over the latter was delayed for an hour by the obstinate rivalry of the two engine drivers who, having met on the same track, would neither of them consent to reverse their locomotives, and thus make way for the other. The two engines were facing one another, and the language of the drivers was of a nature to render the atmosphere in the vicinity redolent of brimstone. Every now and again they would interrupt -their profanity in order to pull their levers, and attempt to force each other's train back. But the locomotives were equally matched both in power and weight, and all efforts to butt one another back into the yard were doomed to failure. At length the driver of the north-bound train saw coming out of the roundhouse an engine which was manned by a couple of his friends. He immediately signalled to them, and they came to his rescue by running their locomotive up to the rear of his train. Then both engineers started their locomotives simultaneously, and by their combined strength the south-bound train was successfully pushed back, and the crossing cleared. Several thousand persons witnessed-this characteristically American contest.  Mr. J. A. Fox, the author of "Why Ireland Wants Home Rule," has written a new work, entitled "A Key to the Irish Question," which ion the eve of publication. An advance copy having been forwarded to Mr. Gladstone, the right hon. gentleman sent Mr, Fox the following acknowledgment : "I have Idolted at various portions of your book, and so far as I can judge it appears to me likely to be very valuable. I hope you will provide it either with a good index, or at the least with a very full table of contents, otherwise the benefit of .your citations will in the main be lost". This suggestion is being carried out and a full index added, which will obviously facilitate reference.  The ketch Dart,of Jersey, bound from Thincbrn to a French port, foundered 1Q miles from the South Stack Lighthouse early on Saturday morning. In one of the suburbs of Vienna there has been much talk about a newly-discovered Raphael. A gentleman who bought some cigars• iiia little tobacconist's shop noticed a Madonna and Child, before which a small lamp was burning. He asked the owner of the shop how she had got possession of the picture, and she told him that it had come from a noble Hungarian family now extinct. He offered her 100 florins for it, but she asked him time to consider. Next day two gentlemen came and tried to get the picture for 200 florMs. Some artists who have seen it declare it to be a most valuable work, though certainly not a Raphael. It is now being exhibited. • -  - Poor Samuel Houghton, who lived at the Lamb Inn, at Salford, was deeply enamoured of a young lady at the Crown and Sceptre. They found him dead in his room yesterday, with two laudanum bottles near his body. On the table was a note which explained the tragedy. "Do (had written the suicide) ask Sarah, at the Crown and Sceptre, to come to my funeral. I would like her to follow me to my grave. She has been a good girl to me. Brother, I hope you will think well of her for my sake. I have only done this because I could not marry her.!'