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Show FORTY-NINTH CONGRESS. The Senate. Washington, March 4. The ' Chair laid before the Senate a message from the President transmitting the annual report for 1885 of the Board of Indian Commissioners. Commis-sioners. Referred to the Committee on Indians In-dians Affairs. Also a letter from' the Secretary of the Treasury, transmitting in complanoe with a recent Senate resolution information as to the amount of bonds called for payment on April 1st. During the recent struggle of the Union Pacific with the snow blockade, a newly appointed official in the mechanical department de-partment of the road, found occasion to make of himself a first-class butt for ridi-cule. ridi-cule. Hitherto it been- customary to send out heavy trains, which had tp break the snow, with four or five engines coupled together in the ordinary fashion.' The official in question, after stud)'ing the problem, decided that it would be a fine 6cheme to have the engines coupled together by means of long timbers placed on either side, and riveted strongly to each locomotive. In this way all the engines en-gines would move at once against the drift and scatter it to the four- winds of heaven. The scheme was tried.' Everything Every-thing went swimmingly until a sharp curve -was met. The engines being coupled together in a manner which left no play of action, it was impossible to round the curye. Before the danger was noticed, however, it was too late,- and every one of the five engines was ditched. |