| Show M pimas ie aimas laa aming the lo 10 jr iron n nor 6 did yon yoa ever ridd rida on a locomotive asked 0 G haskins 1 I tried it one and have no desire to repeat the experiment it was out jut in colorado where you sometimes run so close to bottomless chasms that you could dr drop 0 p y your 0 r hat into them and make turns so 0 short h t and sudden that it nearly disjoints dis joints your spinal verte vertebra broo tha master mechanic was an old friend of mine and gave me permission sion to ride over the road on the engine of the lightning express the engineer did not appear to fancy my presence much but treated me civilly we were behind time the night was black as erebus and a terrific thunderstorm was raging the engineer was determined to go in on time and the way ho he rushed around those curves and across canyons was e enough to make a mans hair turn gray the peculiar thin tiling about these mountain al engines is that they do not take a curve lika any other vehicle they go plunging straight ahead until you feel sure that they are clear of the hack and ai in midair and then shoot around und and leave you to wonder by what miracle you have been saved T the he trucks take tahe the curve in the orthodox maymer but the superstructure is so arranged r that it consumes more time in making the turn with the lightning playing about the mountain peaks ana and half din disclosing losing the frightful gorges and swollen torrents the great iron leviathan swaying and plunging along that slippery serpentine ie track I 1 first realized the perils of railway travel and the responsibility of the sullen man who kept his hand on oil the throttle and his eye on oa the track I 1 stood with my heart in my throat admiring ills his nerve but not envy hw big him his job iob at the first stop I 1 clambered back into the coach and staid lye there re st SL louis globe democrat |
