Democratic Sentinel, Volume 18, Number 22, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 15 June 1894 — The Moose Made Quick Time. [ARTICLE]

The Moose Made Quick Time.

“Any one who thinks a moosi can’t travel at a very lively gait is very much mistaken,” remaked Geo. T. Horton, of St. Paul, at the Laclede. “I used to be a locomotive engineer up in the northern part of my State, and one day I had an opportunity to test the speed of this animal. I was running a light freight train, and in coming around a curve saw a big moose standing directly on the track. As soon as the animal saw the engine he took to his heels right down the path between the rails. For about four miles we had a perfectly straight track, and as I had heard of the great speed of this animal I determined to test its ability. The gait of the moose was a sort of trot,such only as a moose can exhibit, his paces being about two rods in length. At first It was only a little jog, but as the engine began to gain speed the moose let himself out. Faster and faster sped the engine,but still the frightened moose trotted in the van, and all the mysterious power of steam could not prevail upon this monarch of the forest. At last, after we had covered the four miles, turning a curve, we came upon a gang of section hands who were fixing the track. The sight of.these men frightened the moose from the track, and he was soon lost to view in the forest.”—[St. Louis Globe-Democrat.