THE COLUMBIAN, BLQOMSBUR, PA tX MP Quick and Hard Work Wio a Railroad Smasrmp Co.T,:i. THE ROUGH AND READY CF.EW. They Board tht Wreck Special and Are Speeded to the Sser.e of tho Ac cident The Ruth, tho Peril and tho ;.-ficulty of tha Work They Do. 1 you ever hear of tho mlnntc l . : of the breakdown pn'if-tlii' I'fi I . who are tln rouirh and rradlo of '.hie? lu tho roundhouse or ropnlr i you see them liniiiinorinjr, rlvct l . pi-rhtipii running t bt drill press or I id cutter. Then lu rushes the mil li y. Not stopping to ' "' f Jump ir and overalls, Imt rubbing their taps, off they run to 1:. ? wrecker. A bowlder fell ou the track. The switch handle was turned the wrong way. .V loo.se spike inry have mis placed the rail. Hut It is not for them to stop and learn how It happened. The shapeless mass of torn and twist ed framework, which n few hours be fore people called n train. Hunt bo at tacked with chain ami rope, bar and ax burned, If need he to open the way, for until they have performed Uielr duly the liue Is bbeked, and the wheels of perhaps a thousand cars cease to turn. So away noes the break down Ktitiff "t breakneck speed. Or ders have gone ahead for a clear track, and even the limited and fast tnali must take the siding until the ininute meii have passed on the way to the rescue. You don't hear much about them un less you are a railroader, but the su perintendent, the manager, perhaps Home of the directors, know them. Se lected from the veterans in the i-hops, Uiey are all round mechanics, but brains as well as lintels are needed, and a man has to be quick willed to get Into this gang. In the tifteen or twenty which make up the average crew you can general ly Iiml two or three little men; for there are tight places In a wreck where they can do considerable work In prop ping up or loosening a part, crawling Into holes which no one else could reach. The boss wrecker tries to get two or three left banders also, as their services are valuable in hammering away In comers where a right handed man would be useless. Some of Ihe best wrecking t'rews lu the country include a number of sailors. The half hitches nnd other knots that only the -'men can make nre of great service er-urely fastening lines to portions in wreck and to the crane or lo oive used In pulling it away. The M salts are familiar with the asslst :: ? that a combination of pulleys will ..', for they have been taught It on ;. Inboard, while usually tbey are very strong and wiry. Consequently a man of this kind who is out of a job at any time can frequently go with the wrecking crew, Thoir limited Is not much for looks. Like tho men, It Is also rough and ready. Down by tho division round house or repair shop It stands on a siding where it can take the line at a minute's notice. There Is nothing un usual In its appearance except the crane car, which carries the heavy ar tillery of this little army of rescue. Two or three flat cars, a box car or so and at the end a passenger coach or caboose make up the train, but every article It carries, from the extra truck 'wheels to the coupling pins, has been loaded with such care that every man knows where to put his bands on what be wants. Usually the running gear gets the worst of It In a wreck, so one of tho flat cars contains extra trucks and wheels to be substituted for the broken ones. Next to this car Is placed the big steel crane, which yanks masses of wood and metal about as though they weighed pounds Instead of tons, and Is capable of lifting a fifty ton en gine. Enter the box car and you see a miniature lumber yard square pieces of timber all the way from an Inch to a foot through. They are wanted for propping up the wreckage, which may be holding down the living as well as the dead. These props may aid In sav ing life, but they also are handy to hold up coaches when the crew are putting wheels or other parts In place. In one corner are colls of rope an Inch or more thick. Boxes of bolts and nuts and screws lie side by side on the floor. On the walls hang hooks, pul leys, saws and axes. Heavy stoel crowbars are piled In another corner. In short, this Is a repair Bhop and storehouse on wheels. Any old coach will do for tho crew, provided Its wheels and axles are sound. Taking out some of tho seats gives room for a table where tho men can eat and play cards If they don't want to get a nap on the way, but If they have time for a little sleep half a dozen wooden bunks round tho sides Ulve them a chance. Sometimes an end Is partitioned off Into a galley whero they can make a pot of coffee or fry a steak while en route. Such Is the usual makeup of the "wreck special," as the railroader terms It. When called Into service, a big driver englno backs down to It and couples on. There Is no need of any speed orders. Those are understood In advance. On the straight track tho man In the cab opens his throttle to the last notch, and the telegraph poles at the side of the Hue flit by so fast that they seem only a dozen feet apart. Only ou the shorter curves and on the down grades and bridges Is the throt tle again moved and the air put on until the heap of ruins, from which too often arkte flames and smoke, como Into view. The tlrst thing to find out Is If any HEURE thing human Is underneath. Whether dead or alive It must come out, and the gang need uo urging at the task, even If they hear no moan or cry to hasten their rescue. Then the next Job ,, ,.l.i. 41... ,....!., in mis tor even live or six Hours means a big loss to the company, and they don't stop to save anything that takes too long. Ik-ains, wheels and roils, perhaps entire cars, are thrown down embankments If necessary to open the right f way. When a car has merely lieen derailed It Is of rnurr-r an easy matter to replace It: (lien It Is run to the nearest siding, but it Is tho unex pected that happens in railroad acci dents. .V locomotive tuny turn bottom up on the track, with the driving wheels In the air. Then It must be turned over and pulled to one side of the railroad until there is time between tho pass ing of trains to right it -if It can bo righted. Cars may be swung directly across the track, lying on their sides or ends, possibly ground Into a mere mass of splintered timbers, or literally reduced to kindling wood, their con tents scattered a hundred yards about. The wrecker who has been In the business for any length of time can tell lu a moment the most difficult task before him and, if possible, goes at that first. If a loaded freight car prevents him from reaching the part ly demolished engine, he sets It afire. One of the greatest delays, however. Is caused by the track being torn up, for new ties have to be put in position and perhaps a dozen rails weighing a ton apiece cut and straightened In order to form a foundation on which to move. Kverythlng goes with a rush from the tlrst news of the accident. Once tho wreckers get busy there is no stop ping for rest or refreshment, although a man may have to work nil night or nil day. With the broken nnd twisted mass of steel and wood piled on one side of the roadbed, however, there conies a breathing spell, and the su perintendent or other otliclals hok over the debris to see what Is worth saving, (ioiug from pile to pile, they soon de cide what to pull out and block up. unci then the wreckers get to work on this. If there Is an engine, It Is gen erally secured first, Perhaps it was Imbedded lu two or three feet of mud or ten or twelve feet down uu embank ment. Here the little men come in handy. Worming themselves under the boiler, they scrape holes beneath, so that the steel tendons of the crane can be passed round It. Now the crane goes Into action. If the embankment is sloping the usual plau Is to drag the locomotive along, allowing tho earth and ballast to as sist in supporting it until the top Is reached, lint there are places where it has to be lifted clear of the ground, then swung over on the track. Machinery has done much to aid the breakdown gang In recent years. Hut away back In the early days of the way of steel they were called to many a disaster, for then, as now, trains soirietinies butted Into each other ou the same track. To clear tho road the locomotive of the wreck train could sometimes be pressed into sen-Ice, but many a derailed car or engine was pulled back on the rails merely by hu man muscle. Here again tho sailor mau came lu very handy, as he knew so well how to arrange the ropes and pulleys and to make Hues fast around the car or eugino that had to be moved. One of the curious methods of em ploying tho locomotive of the wreck train was to make It move a car for ward by starting tho locomotive back ward. Fastening a tackle securely round the car, It would be passed through a pulley fastened to a tree or post In front of It, and the rope then led back to the locomotive. Reversing his lever, the engineer of course pulled the rope around the pulley ou the tree, thus forcing the enr ahead. By this novel plan, which Is etlll used occa sionally, much of the debris In front of the wreck train could be cleared away. There are times, though, when even the most careful riggers make a mis take. They have not realized the strain which tho tackle must stand when things begin to move. Then, like the crack of a rifle, snap goes the line. More than once a loose end has caught some poor fellow round the legs, break ing the bones like plpestems. Many a man ou the railroad's payroll who is fit only to wave the signal flag at the street crossing was among the wreck ers until the duy the rope broke. Day Allen Wllley In Denver Times. Pleasures of Canoeing. The canoeist Is the most Independent of men. lie can push his craft through a stream three feet wide and five Inches deep, and he can safely nego tiate any bit of water that a catboat or moderato sized launch would care to attempt. Canoeing Is popular be cause It brings Its devotees out Into the open freedom and lets them live their summer lifo as they will. Th cauoo does for humanity what the bi cycle failed to do. Tho bicyclist was tied to roads, was dependent upon ho tels and restaurants for food and lodg ing. When the hill was steep he must alight and walk. When the road was bad or the foot of the hill dubious he must do likewise. The canoeist suffers none of these restrictions. He carries with ill m his place of abode bis bed, his food and the means of preparing it. He Is not conflnod to well worn high ways. He is able to penetrate and ex plore out of the way streams and pitch his tont In spots Inaccessible to the average wanderer. Yachting. Wouldn't Rlak It. Tired Tatters Say, Weary, wot'i da matter wld us walkla' down da rail road track T Weary Walker Not for me. I ain't goln' to disgrace inoaelf by bavin' peo ple fink I'm a actor, Chicago News. THE -UNCONQUERED ONE. Tribute of a Philosopher to a Well E tablished Mind. Demetrius, who was xurnnnvd Poll orcetcs, took Megara, and the phil.isj phor Stilbo, when asked by hii.i wh -Tier he hail lost anything, answered, "X.i: I carry all my property about me." Yet his Inheritance had boon given up to pillage, lils daughters h.,d been otii raged by the enemy, his country hail fallen under a foreign dominion, and it was the king, tiuthroneil on high, sur rounded by the ppears of his victorious troops, who put this question to him. Yet he struck the victory out of the king's hands and proved that, though the city was taken, he himself was not only uncoiKpiere.l, but unbanned, for ho bore Willi him those true goods which no one can lay hands upon. Amid tho flash of swords on nil sides and tho riot of the plundering soldiery, amid the flames and blood and ruin of the fallen city, amid the crash of tem ples falling upon their gods, one man was at pence. "Behold," says he, "I nm here to prove to you that, although, un der the direction of that destroyer of so many cities, walls mny be shaken by the stroke of the ram, lofty towers may bo suddenly brought low by gal leries nnd hidden mines and mound.) arise so high as to rival the highest cit adel, yet no siege engines can be discovered which can shake a well es tablished mind. I have Just crept from amid the ruins of my house, and, with conflagrations blazing all around me, I have escaped from the flames through blood. What fate has befallen my daughters, whether a worse one than that of their country, I know not. Alone and elderly and seeing every thing around me In the hands of the enemy, still I declare thnt my property is whole and untouched. I have, I hold whatever of mine I have ever had. There Is no reason for you to suppose me conquered and yourself my con queror." Seneca. Seneoa on Savage Fortitude. When Seneca wrote his Inspiring phi losophy our ancestors who dwelt north of tho Alps were savages. We may take some pride In the fact that lu poids tj these savages as exemplars hi fortitude for the liomans: You may see what endurance might effect In us if you observe what labor does among tribes that are naked and rendered stronger by waut. Look at all the na tions that dwell beyond the Koiiian em pire I mean the Germans and ail the nomad tribes that war against us along the Danube. They suffer from eternal winter and a dismal climate. The bar ren soil grudges them sustenance. They keep off the rain with leaves or thatch; they bound across frozen marshes and hunt wild beasts for food. Do you think tliem unhappy? There Is no un happiness In what use has made part of one's nature. By degrees men find pleasure In doing what they were first driven to do by necessity. They have no homes and no resting plnces pave those which weariness appoints them for the day; their food, though coarso, yet must bo sought with their own hands; the harshness of the climate Is terrible, and their bodies are unclothed. This, which you think a hardship, Is tho mode of life of all these races. How, then, can you wonder at good men being shaken In order that they may be strengthened? No tree which the wind does not often blow against Is firm nnd strong, for it is stiffened by the very act of being shaken nnd plants its roots more securely. Those which grow in a sheltered valley are brittle. And so it is to the advantage of good men and causes them to be un dismayed that they should live much amid alarms and learn to bear with patience what is not evil save to hlni who endures It 111. What Was on the Tablet. An Ohio author, now In Chicago, re cently had a Visit, from a friend whn still lives In the town where the two were boys together. He gives this ac count of one memory of that call: "'Nesbit,' said he, with the pleasant est kind of a look on his face, 'you re member that little old house nn Mnln street where you were born? When ue saiu mat it brought up a vision of that house as clear as the reality. I saw the queer little windows, the nice, friendly door, the yard, the lilacs ev erything. 'Yes. Bill.' I said, with emn. tlon. I remember very well.' 'Well, ne sam, 'tno roiks have gone and put a tablet on that old house.' At first I couldn't speak. I had all I could do to keep the tears from coming. The folks hadn't lost sight of me, then! They knew what I had been doing. A tablet was, I admitted to myself, some what beyond my deserts, but but there it was. When I could speak I said, 'And what does the tablet say, Bill, old man?' Bill looked away out of the window. 'Main street,' said he softly." Argonaut. Mirth In the Mine. A party of ladies and gentlemen ex ploring tho depths of a celebrated mine arranged that a lunch should be par- laaeu or on uie 1,500 foot level. Four largo baskets full of dainties, both liquid and substantial, were therefore lowered to the depths. These descend ed first among a group of honest Corn ish miners, delving 6a the 1,200 foot level, who, in the absence of any In struction, decided, after much discus sion, that it must be a national holi day or something of the kind above ground and that this was a kindly lit tle compliment from the owners. They therefore foil to on the eatables with much energy. When tho exhausted ex cursionists Inqulnft for their refresh ments they discovered only the empty hampers and about twenty brawny miners full of chicken salad, cham pngne, mashed lco and other things dancing a Cornish breakdown. London Express. How I Won Consent. 8 pirlRlml Alice would not marry me without her father's consent, and that consent I he would not give, lie had (ho blood f n British ducal family In his veins, while I was an American commoner. In vain I argued villi him thnt my bnnk account (In America nt leiist) was lo be preferred to blue blood and pov erty; In vain I pleaded with Alice to' pay no attention to the old dotard and marry mo despite his cnuituands to the contrary. No. Such disobedience would break her father's heart. There were but the two of them, and a rup ture was out of the question. It seem ed to me that one might as well talk of breaking the heart of a bullock as this obstinate Englishman. Since Alice would neither give me up nor marry me I led a very uncomfort able life. Indeed, the time came when I was almost ready to carry her off In spite of herself and her father. But I formed a better plan one equally haz ardous, but niore likely of success. It had one disadvantage over the abduc tion plan. In that plan I would carry with mo the world's sympathy; In the plan I adopted If detected I would rertalnly lose my love and be eternally disgraced. Mr. Cordery, Alice's father, was an inveterate gambler. The only thing In America that he approved of was the national game of poker. American so ciety was to him a boiling pot. Ameri can art, literature, professional and business methods, were execrable. But poker was a line game. I would not Join the occasional poker parties he had lu his house, first, because I dis like the excitement of gambling; sec ond, when the old gentleman was busy at the game I was free with Alice. However, my plan Involved my play ing poker, and one evening I surprised him by taking a hand. I lost small sums at several sittings and lost intentionally. I would never bet high with any opponent except Mr. Cordery and In this way avoided win ning or losin;; any considerable sum from any one but him. In bis case, however, I kept losing and winning, always winning more than I had lost, till my opponent owed more than he could pay without mortgaging the lit tle property he possessed. This I final ly forced him to do, and when he had done It I won the loan he had made. All this was done within a few weeks. Once, and once only, I was frightened from the terrible risk I was running. One of the players while toying with a card fell to rubbing his thumb on Its back. Keeling a little speck, he tried to rub It off. With a throbbing heart I gathered up the cards, taking the card he wns thumb ing from him and tossing them to the dealer. That card had been marked, and I had marked It. Before entering upon these games I had gone to a professional gambler and paid him to teach mo how to win. He Initiated mo Into a system of marking the cards on the back with little specks. The four suits by this system are des ignated by the position of the specks on the back of the cards. Thus one speck in a certain position would mean the ace of hearts, two specks the queen, and so on. But In poker It wns not necessary that the specks should be in any given position. The specks were made by a puncture of a pin point in the card and filling the punc ture with wax. My instructor told me that to be able to feel them I must file the skin of my thumb down to tho quick and wear a kid cap on the thumb. This I did, and the slightest touch would give me the denomination of the card. As to the pack used, I found packs similar to those Mr. Cor dery kept on hand and surreptitiously suDsututea my marked cards for his. Well, I won all Mr. Cordery's belong ingsthey were not large and made him a pauper. I am aware that In cases of this kind, especially In plays, the next step would be for the loser to put up his daughter for a stake. But since this was a real case no such thing occurred. Mr. Cordery borrowed a small sum from one of the party, which I promptly won. Then ho bor rowed of me, and I won what I had lent him. He borrowed more, and I won that. Finally ho gave up tho struggle and shut himself up for threo days. I was frightened out of any wits for fear he would do something desper ate. He was thinking about his daugh ter's future. 8he would marry no one but me, and if she didn't marry she must go to work. Of two evils the least must bo chosen. The old man gave In and told her she'd better accept me. As soon ns I had received his con cent, learning from Alice of sundry debts that had long been owing hcj father, I sent him $100, purporting to come from one of his debtors from the other sldo of tho world. As I expected, he resumed his poker parties. The ra pidity with which he won my money was astonishing. In three sittings he had won all I had taken from him be fore he commenced to borrow of mo and lu two moro sittings had regained tho loans. 1 announced that I would play no moro as a married man and the evening before my weddlug lost to him $1,000, a salvo for my conscience at tho strain I had put upon him. I have never dared tell my wife of the manner by which I cut the Gordlan knqt and won her father's consent yes, literally won It, and that with marked cards. And I never seo any one of the men who made up the poker parties without a shudder, thinking, though I had lout something to all of them, what a terrible fate would have befallen me had I been detected In the fraud. EUGENE HOLMES BURT. Tho Kind You llavo Always lu uso for over 30 years, and Bonn! supervision slneo Us Infancy. ZCCXAZ Allow nnnno to deceive you In thin. All Counterfeits, Imitations and " Just-as-pood" nro hut Experiment that trlilo with and endanger tho health of Infants and Children Experience against Experiment. What is CASTORIA Castorla is a harmless substitute for Castor Oil, Pare goric, Drops nnd Soothing Syrups. It is l'leasant. It contains neither Opium, Morphine nor other Narcotlo substance. Its age is its guarantee. It destroys Worm and allays Feverishness. It cures Diarrlnvu and Wind Colic. It relieves Teething Troubles, cures Constipation and Flatulency. It assimilates tho Food, regulates tho Stomach and Uowels, giving healthy nnd natural sleep. Tho Children's Panacea The Mother's Friend. GENUINE CASTORIA ALWAYS Bears the The Kind You Have Always Bought In Use For Over 30 Years. A TMe ecNTAun eoMMNV, n nnu mrn'tr. new vo.it errv. Two Seasons' Hauls. A slow smile spread over the face of Amos ltudd as lie prepared, with his usual deliberation, to answer the ques tion of the newcomer from Massachu setts. "Yes, I do eoMsid'alde teaming, Ilrst and last," he said cheerfully. "Maul logs In winter an' city folks in summer, an' I don't know which is the hardest work." "Why, you have to do heavy liftln.r with logs, of course," said the young person from Massachusetts, with some Indignation. "That must be a great deal harder than Just carrying people to and from the hotel nnd taking them to drive, as your wife told me you did." "She don't go," remarked Mr. Uudd In a casual tone. "And not being an eyewitness ef any of the pufform auces she's no proper Judge. The logs nro hefty, It's true, but once get 'em on nu' there they nro. I've never known 'em to squirm around, lean all to one side till they most uimct tho gearing or ketch mo by the sleeve for the sake of a mess o' roadside bloom. "I've welgbal my two occupations In my mind off an' ou a good many times, an' I'm not yet prepared to say which of 'em takes the most wear out o' mo no, ma'am:--Youth's Companion. Brief, but to the Point. A young fellow at college wrote to his uncle, on whom he entirely depend ed: Mr Dear Pneln Rnnrlv for h nuiir,,! Your affectionate nephew. The uncle replied: Mv Dear Henhaw Th nofil l . ready. Tour affectionate uncle. It Is pleasant that affection should survive pecuniary embarrassments, as It did In the case of Samuel Foote's mother and himself: Mv Doer Sam I n m In nH.nn fnv oome and avelst your, loving mother. E. FOOTE. Dear Mothar Bo I am; which provente his duty belnir tiiikl to hi. inHnu r,,.Mhu by her afroctlonato eon, SAM FOOTS. A nobleman was deeply In lovo with a "ludy fair." He met her one evening at a crowded ball, and ns he could not get an opportunity of talking to her he contrived to slip Into her hand a piece of paper with the two words, "Will you?" written upon It. The reply was equally brief: "Won't I!" In winter the suburbanite lones for his lawn mower; in the summer he thinks how much nicer it would be to be pushing his snow shovel. MAGAZINE READERS StmSTCT MAGAZINE beiuuiulljr illuUi.tcd, good itoriet aad artiewt .bout CaCioroia and aU Ike Fat Wot. $1.50 year $1.00 a yeat CAMERA CRAFT daroled each aoota lo tho u- tulie npioductioD oi the beet work oi mteui aad proieuiooal photogr.phr. ROAD OF A TB0U8AVD WONDERS a book of 7i page, containing 120 colored photograph, ol Jq tjg pictureKjue ipoU ia California '5 aad Oiagoo. Total .. . $3.35 All for . . . . $1.50 Addieai aS order. 8U1I SET MAGAZINE Flood Building Saa FraacUeo I Bought, and which lias locn. lias borno tho fdjrimturo of has becu mauo under IiIh pcr- Signature of Bewliur's Defense to Bo Published. K10111 Leslie's Wce'ily. The death of Theodore Tilton is the death of the last of the rinci 1'als concerned in the Beccher trial of 1S75. The principals were lit'echer and Mrs. JJcccher, Tilton and Mrs. Tilton, and Mr. Frank Moulton. It has always been un-tUn-tood in Plymouth Church and among Mr. Beecher's intimate friends that not all the facts were stated in court which might be stated in his defense, and the rea son given was that there was a re lation of Mrs. Beecher to the case which he was unwilling should be stated until after the death of all the principals. That situation has arisen. Lyman Abbott's biography ot him, therefore, did not contain all the facts. After the trial was over it was said that Mr. Beecher wrote out a full statement of his defense, deposited it in a safe under the care of some of his friends, with the request to publish it after all the principals had passed away. There is a story, therefore, yet to be told a story which, it has been said, would clear his reputation in the minds of that small minority that refused to believe him inno cent. Theodore Tilton was an ex ile for the remainder of his life. That fact alone has some signifi cance. We state these facts on what seenis the best authority. Visiting cards and Wedding invi a.ions at the Columbian office, tf Don't forget that Dr. Pierce's Favor ite Prescription, for woman's weakness es and delicate ailments, is not a patent or secret medicine, beiuur the "Favorite Prescription" of a regular educated and graduated physician, engaged In the praotice of his chosen specialty that of d meanes of women that its In gredients are printed in plain English on every bottle wrapper; that it is the only medicine especially designed for the cure of women's diseases that con tains no alcohol, and the only one that lias a professional eudorHcmeiit worth more than all the so-called "testimon ials" ever published for other medicin es. 8end for the endorsements, they are tree for the asking. A little book of some of these endorse ments will be sent to any address, post paid, unil absolutely free If you request same by postal card or letter, of Dr. It. V. Pierce, Butlulo, N. Y. If you suiter from iieilodictd head ache, backache, dizziness, pain or drag ging down sensation low down in the abdomen, wuuk back, have disagree able and weakening, catarrhal, pelvic drain, or in distress from being long on your feet, then you may be sure of benellt from taking Dn Pierce's Favor ite Prescription. Dr. Pierce's Pleasant Pellets-the best laxatrve and regulator of the how els. They Invigorate stomach, liver and bowels. One a laxative; two or three a cathartic. Nasal CATARRH I Id all It. sbigoa. ! Ely's Cream Balm I cleanses, Mothu and ueala : tho dineuii'd tnumbrane. Itcurc.culurrh and drlvee away a cold lu the huad ' uulckly. Creuui lluliu I. placed Into tho noatrU, iread over tlie membrane aud I. ubtorbod. Helief l.lm ' mediate and a cure follow.. It I. not drying doro I not produce .nueitln. Larue Size, 60 ceoU at Pruff. i glU or by tuall ; Trial 81ae, 10 cent. hm.Cimit, H Waiiw Sue, New Toa 7Hk
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