The Cotton Factory Times. — 1891-02-13 (Manchester, Greater Manchester, England)

SUICIDER ON THE TRACE.  Mr. Gilbert says he has run over, first and last, a number of human beings, and he knows that some of them were self-immolated. He tells of a neighbour of his who lived neat door to him, not a dozen feet from his own house, who allowed his train to run over him. Gilbert says he saw him on the track, and saw him look around at the train, and, of course, not dreaming that he contemplated suicide, supposed that he would stop from the track in time. But, to his horror, when the train was within 150 feet or so of him, he turne.l about and coolly faced death. The train was too near. The engineer could not save him, and he turned his head when the merciless iron horse struck his neighbour. The latest case he relates was one of attempted suicide, just below the depot in Wethersfield, which occurred last summer. The engineer saw something quite a distance ahead on the track, but before he could make out just what it was, he was so near that he had only time to atop the train within 10 feet of it. It proved to be a woman, wrapped up in a shawl, intent on committing suicide. Her name was Mrs. Ann Ho an ; and .orne time later she accomplished her object by drowning herself in the Connecticut River.  A ismtvELLocs racket. Nearly everybody, in all walks of life, has had what he would call narrow escapes, but we doubt if the most remarkable can compare with the following actual occurrence, as related by Mr. Gilbert. The train was near Yorkville, heading for Newhaven, and was composed of eight passenger oars filled with passengers. The train was going at the rate of about thirty miles an hour. A fog was prevailing so that the engineer could not see the switching signal, but the fog had lifted from the ground, so that he could see a little distance ahead —Ray 160 or 200 feet. He kept his eye on the rails, and directly his heart gave a thump, for to his great consternation he saw the end of the rails. Then he knew that the switch was misplaced, and believed a smash-up inevitable, though he did not for an instance loose his presence of mind. Hs instantly applied the steam brakes and reversed the engine. For a fireman he had a young man who has since become his son-in-law, but he did not tell him of the impending peril, indeed he had not much time. He kept his eye on the end of the rail as the train, in spite of the brakes and the reversed machinery, was rushing on to destruction. From where he stood he could see the rails up to within 17 feet of the locomotive. He saw that the switch was still misplaced when his vision at 17 feet away was cut off, and he braced himself for the shook. He says his thoughts at this awful moment were not for himself, but for the passengers-500 in number—men, women, and children. He seemed to live an age in the few brief seconds which had elapsed from the time he discovered the misplaced switch. There were rocks on either side of the track, and, as he expressed it, the splinters were bound to fly. But the anticipated crash never came. The dread 17 feet, with five times 17 added, had been left behind before the engineer could believe his senses and feel that the danger was past. With a feeling he could again see the continuous lines of rails, and he knew his train was safe. Just in the nick of time, with not a quarter of a second to spare, the switchman had placed the switch. When we consider that a single revolution of the driving-wheel to the locomotive propels the train more than 15 feet, and the switch was righted inside of one revolution of the wheel when the train was going at the rate of 25 miles an hoar, we think all will agree it was a narrow escape, The Westinghouse brake saved us that time," said the engineer. By the application of the steam brakes the train had slackened just enough to save the precious cargo by a single revolution of the drivingwheels. Who says the life of an engineer is not a life of excitement ?