Year: 1867

The Heroes OF the Locomotive.


1t may be an admission of weakness,
and yet | confess to high admiration of
a class of men to whom a vast burden of
responsibility in the matter of human life
is constantly entrusted; refer to our
railroad engineers. The locomotive in it.
self is a marvel of ingenuity and power
Compact, perfect in form and adaptation,
Indispensable to the wants of civi ization.
it is one of the finest instruments. The
man who controls these thirty tons of or
ganized iron which we call locomotive
must secure both self-respect and selfcon-
fidence. l have sometimes stood b. side
the track when train has come flying
along, and have observed with boundlrss
admiration the man on whose vigilance,
skill and pluck the safety of that train so
largely depended. His left hand on the
lever, his right on the reversing iever-it
that be its name-his body bent forward
eagerly, and his eye keenly scrutinizing
the track ahead, lest the tremendous mo-
mentum of his train, meeting with some
obstacle, should dash itself in an instant
into horrible wreck. How, now, can
man be weighed down with such response
bility and not be a stronger and more
self-reliant man.


Some years ago, with party, it was
my fortune to be on the Erie Railway
when the engineers engaged in general
strike. l sided with the engineers, be-
lieving them TO be wronged. At the Sus-
quehanna station we found large body
of engineers, more than / had ever seen
together at one time. They We're not
noisy, nor braggart, nor tipsy but then
said, what | now believe, that they were
the finest oody of operatives ! ever saw
Intelligent, bold, strong. each the manager
of such wonderful machine, they found
at least one ardent admirer that day.


Some of the most remarkable exhibi-
tions of courage have been made by men
of this class. A few years ago my friend
Orsbone, who has driven the locomotive
for the mail train on the Morris e. Essex
Railroad for twenty years at least, with
faultless faithfulness, was once delayed by
snow on the track for several hours, but
received explicit orders from the superin-
tendent-not that splendid officer who has
lately resigned his office on tha, road" to
20 ahead" for the road was clear, no other
train was on the track. After satisfying
himself that he had not misunderstood
the order, he left the summit on a steep
down grade, and, in rounding a sharp
curve, came on train that was ascending
the same grade under full head Of st-am.
In an instant he whistled down the brakes
and reversed his engine. The noble thing,
under such a tremendous strain, as if fully
aware of the danger, obeyed, and threw
itself back to avert the catastrophe. Mean.
while the other engineer had done the
same thing with his locomotive but it
was possible only TO modify the shock.
Together rushed those two painting and
reluctant giants, their joint weight not less
than sixty tons, with the gathered mo-
mentum of their following trains. They
rose like two furious animals in fight,
standing on end, and in trice the two
splendid machines were a wreck. The
cars behind them were also badly crushed.
Orsbone did not leap from his engine but
never moving his hands from the levers
which controlled it, he stood as resolute as
a rock at his post until the shock came,
and then, quick as thought, adjusted his
valves to allow the steam TO escape with
out an explosion. Our war can furnish
no clearer proof of the finest courage than
that.


At the crossing of the Morris & Essex
Railway and the Orange turnpike may be
seen flagman with one leg. The other
he lost in the wreck have just described.


Had he had Orsbone's nerve to face dan
ger. he would have escaped also unhurt.
Poor fellow the man who issued the
presumptuous blunder that day tried to
buy him off from prosecuting the company
for the sum of one hundred dollars-an
offer which poor 6. Bob's wife met with
with this query; 4" Mr.--, would
you sell one of your legs for hundred
dollars!"


During the war an incident occurred on
the Pennsylvania Central which was re-
lated to me by an eyewitness. My in
formant was with regiment of soldiers
going from Pittsburgh to Harrisburgh in
a special train. Between Johnstown and
the summit they were delaye ed by freight
train off the track. or part of its cars
off. This they learned at one Of the STA