Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 4, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 January 1914 — Page 3

TRAIN DESTROYED BY BURNING BRIDGE

While running at a speed of 53 miles an hour, and immediately after rounding a curve that prevented the engineer from seeing tne danger, a limited train, bound from the Pacific coast to Chicago, ran into a burning bridge a few miles south of Winona, Minn. Owing to the fact that the bridge was only partly burned, the locomotive and baggage car passed over safely, but the first car behind the baggage car was derailed. The train immediately caught fire from the

STOPPED WILD ENGINE

BRAVE ACT OF STATION AGENT TOLD IN MAGAZINE. • His Own Life Not Thought of, D. A. Allen Boarded Runaway-Locomo-tive and Averted Disastrous and Costly Wreck.

Cheek, in the Wide World, while Agent and Operator D. A. Allen, station agent for the I. M. & S. railway at Amity, Ark., was waiting for a north-bound through freight train to pass his station just before closing up .the place for the night, the train dispatcher at Feriday, La., began frantically calling his station. When Mr. Allen answered he was told, for heaven’s sake, to stop in some way a “wild” (runaway) engine coming south. It had just a few minutes be? fore got away from those in charge of it, and was now coming south “wide open” at a terrific rate of speed, with no one on it. On receiving this alarming information, Operator Allen immediately dropped his signal board and at once ran to the north switch to his sidetrack and threw it so as to direct the runaway into this track, where Btood a' string of loaded coal cars, if by chance the “wild” engine arrived first or he was unable to stop it in any other way. He then induced two men he happened to find —Messrs. A. J. Johnson and Alf. Widner —to assist him in quickly throwing a hand car on the track. While they were doing this they hoard the freight train about a mile and a half off, coming to what seemed certain destruction, as the “wild” engine could also be heard in the distance, with the reports of the exhausts so close together that they made almost one continuous Bound — conclusive proof that it was still working steam and coming at a high rate of speed. With only the thought of saving lives In their minds, and with a full sense of their duty before them, these three men clambered on the car and began a veritable race agalnßt death to meet the “wild” engine and, if possible, stop it in Borne way before it crashed Into the oncoming freight, the creW of which .were entirely ignorant of the terrible menace so rapidly approaching them. The handcar was run north at the utmost speed the three men could produce until the Runaway engine came in sight through the darkness. There were no lights of any kind on it, and in the hurry of getting away none of the men on r the hand car had secured ewen a lantern, so that everything had to be done in the dark. Directly they sighted the engine looming vaguely through the gloom, the hand car was quickly thrown from the rails, and had hardly reached the ground when the runaway was upon them. Dashing alongside, Mr. Allen made a snatch at what he took, in the darkness, to be the grab iron on the back of the tender. It was then discovered, how’ever, that the engine was backing up—running tender first. What Allen took for a handhold proved to be a loose hose lying on the woodwork surrounding the tank platform, and thiß hose gave way, throwing Mr. Allen Just outside the rails, the massive wheels barely missing him a* the tender thundered *n. Realizing that the lives of those

burning bridge with the result that five of the coaches were destroyed. The locomotive and baggage car were safely out of the fire, and the three rear coaches were saved only with the greatest difficulty. It is said that the financial loss to the railroad company, will exceed a quarter of a million dollars. The remarkable feature about this unusual accident was tnat no one was' killed, although several of the passengers were severely injured.— Popular Mechanics.

on the freight train, now drawing near, were at stake, and regardless of the risk to himself, Allen recovered his balance and caught the pilot as it passed him. Running like k monkey along the footboard of the swaying engine he reached the throttle, shut off steam, reversed the engine and started it back north ahead of the freight train, the engineer of which had in the meantime noticed the board and had begun to «low down. But for the timely stopping of the “wild” engine, however, nothing could have, prevented. a disaatrous ,collision, which would, no doubt, have cost the engineer and fireman of the freight train their lives, if not those of the whole train crew, in addition ta several thousand dollars’ worth of property.

LOCOMOTIVE 24 FEET HIGH

Western Railroad Now Has the est Passenger Engine in the World. The largest passenger locomotive in the world pulled into the La Salle street station at Chicago the other day. It is the first jof thirty monsters building for the road. The locomotive, with tender, is one hundred feet hong, the engine eighty-five feet and the tender fifteen. It Is twenty-four feet high and weighs 333,000 pounds, or 160.000 pounds without the tender. It can pull twenty passenger or Pullman cars with ease. There are (our 69-inch driving wheels on each side, the largest wheels on any locomotive in the world. The weight on the driving wheels is 224,000 pounds. The engine has a traction power of fifty thousand pounds and runs with a steam pressure.of 185 pounds. New steel equipment necessitates these powerful machines.

Rail Men Make Few Mistakes.

If the total number of accidents are reduced to the basis of days we have 21.84 each day due to error. This would seem to be as accurate a figure as possible to arrive at, of the number of accidents due to employes’ mistakes, and the percentage Is only a little in excess of the 63 per cent, given by the interstate commerce commission as due to error in 81 accidents investigated. Thus we have 1,600,000 employes making a dally average of a little over 21 mistakes. Let us consider the chances for error that occur each day to this army of railroad men. We are confident that the results will show that the training for efficiency has not been In vain. There is no accurate data by which to compile the number of train movements per day, some basis can be reached, however, by regarding the number of trains arriving and leaving a certain station. From Providence, R. 1., a city of 225,000 population, over 300 trains arrive and leave during 24 hours. To this must be added the movement of switch engines about the yards. A conservative estimate t>f the train movements upon which mistakes might result in accident* would be about 400 a day for every 200,00(1 of population, or 18.680 a dqy based upon the population of tbe United States. 7 Each train movement carries with it upon an average 50 chances of errors, train orders or signals playing the most liriportant part. Thlß Would make 934,000 chances the railroad man has of mistake, and he make* hot 22. 4 i '

TttE EVENING REPUBLICAN, RENSSELAER, IND

TO HOLD THE PHOTOS

DAINTY LITTLE CASE OF COMPARATIVELY EASY CONSTRUCTION. Witt Do Away With the Necessity of “Weeding Out” Collection That Has Become Too Large for Convenient Handling. In these days of amateur photography, photographs have the knack of collecting in such large numbers that it is rather difficult to know what to do all of them, but one way out of the difficulty is to make a dainty little case for -holding some of them, This little novelty is made in creamcolored satin and lined with white Japanese silk and edged with a pale pink silk cord carried into three little loops at each corner. It is intended for holding cabinet portraits, and when closed measures 8 inches by 5% Inches. .

The case should be stiffened with a piece of cardboard sewn in between the satin and lining at the back. The edge of the pocket is bound with narrow ribbon of a color . exactly matching the silk cord, and the word "Photographs” is embroidered across the case in silk of a similar color. The remaining space is filled up with a simple design of-two white daisies and leaves worked in various shades of green. Pale pink ribbon strings are provided to secure the case when Icfateed. This case looks very decorative ond pretty upon a table, and the portraits are easily accessible to anyone who desires to inspect them, and at the same time, when placed in the case, they are well protected from dust and dirt, and they will keep in good condition.

WITH THE LINGERIE FROCK

Handkerchief Linen Scarf Completes Daintiness of ** the Costume. Of particular daintiness are the handkerchief linen scarfs to be worn with lingerie frocks. To make one of the pretty trifles, procure a strip of linen about two yards in length and a half or three-quarters of a yard wide. Scallop the edges with the aid of a spool or thimble and pencil, p;id them sparingly and buttonhole in fine white mercerized twist. Embroider the inside of the scarf with any flower or donventional design desired. Forget-me-nots thickly scattered at the scarf ends and trailing in thinner lines along the sides are most effective. If one hasn’t a stamping outfit, any professional stamper will gladly follow instructions, Eyelet work can he used, giving the scarf a less solid and heavy appearance. The work should be finished with more than the usual neatness on the wrong side, as it will, of course, be frequently exposed to view. About the scalloped edge whip Valenciennes lace an inch or an inch and a half wide. The flowers may tbe worked in white or natural colors.

For the Artistic Woman.

To the woman with blonde tresses, or better still, hair in which there is a glint of auburn, nothing would be more acceptable than a hope chest kimono of aqua marine green. When enveloped in Its flowing folds she will look like a water nymph lately come from her quiet pool. Make the kimono of silk crepe or crepe de chine. Have It rather long, slightly trailing all around, and smock it back and front to give it a graceful fulness. To further emphasize the nymth effect, embroider upon it water lines in white floss silk. The centers should be yellow, and may be in French knots, and the foliage should be a darker green. Trail the lilies down the two fronts and about the bottom of the kimono. >

IN CREPE DE CHINE.

The design shows a simple crossover model in crepe de chine. Tbe swathed sash is in white and Egyptian blue satin, while a platlnig of the blue edges the decolletage.

Glass Spoon.

A maid’s distaste for polishing the silver is largely responsible for the new fasblhn which introduces as much glass as possible on the dinner table. Not. only are cruet-stands, salt-cellars, fruit stands, bonbon dishes and similar table accessories made of glass, but so are spoons, and even knives and forks in one household. Tbe glass spoon is thd pride of one housekeeper. Real cutlery, of course, cannot ( be absolutely- dispensed with, -,*nd steel table knives and silver forks continue

NEEDS TWO HANDKERCHIEFS

Oainty Apron Only That Ma* terial and Would Take But a Ehort Time to Make. =4~ - ' The sweetest little apron- can be made in a very short time with two handkerchiefs; nothing else is needed. The handkerchiefs should- be gefitlemen’s size, and have a pretty border. To make, lay one handkerchief ont diagonally with the points at the top and bottom; lay the second handkerchief over it quite square, so that the top point of the under one comes exactly in the center of the top of the second handkerchief, as in the small

diagram. TTurn iipithe t|ro corners of top handkerchief, and for the present pin in place. Mark out with a pencil or by tacking that portion of the first handkerchief, that hangs below the turned-up corners. Cut that portion ofT, and secure it to the top handkerchief, fulling it a little as you sew it on. The turnedup portions must be secured so as to form two little pockets. The remainder of the handkerchief that has been cut is utilized in making the band and strings. The uses of an apron like this are many and varied, they are so dainty that they may be put on a best gown when tea is being served, and thus prevent any accident from spoiling it. The apron has two pockets; thus* It is most useful for work, and could be kept for this purpose alone, leaving the worlc in the pockets and simply putting the apron on when it is wanted. When helping at a bazaar or tennis teas, it 1b very becoming, especially if all the helpers wear the same kind, wish the same coloring in the border; it is easily washed, and will loofc like new again if carefully ironed.

Tango Rose a New Color.

Tango rose is the new shirtwaist color. This shade is an indescribably brilliant one, between cerise and coral, which is seen sometimes in wonderful old embroidered crepe shawls. One woman who owns such a shawl is having it draped into a stunning evening gown this season. No cutting is necessary, for the clinging crepe may be manipulated into the most graceful lines, one corner of the shawl being caught against one shoulder, and the main portion of the shawl almost covering a foundation skirt of white satin. A specially beautiful shawl of this sort over one hundred years old, according to'its possessor’s statement, has been made into an evening wrap, a deep burnoose hood at the back taking up the material so that the fringed front edges fall gracefully over shoulders and arms. Tango rose may be had in crepe meteor, crepe de chine, chiffon crepe, silk, and wool lansdowne, and other fabrics of similar quality, suitable for handsome blouses and frocks.

Embroidered Blouse.

A charming new bloupe of white chiffon is embroidered with dragon flies. There are two on each side of the front closing. They are worked with beads of silver, pale bine, mauve and iridescent green. The dragon flies are in graceful poses, and form h decorative touch to the blouse.

to hold their own, but tablespoons are made either entirely of glass, or, at any rate, with glass handles. On the whole, the tendency is to have beautiful and artistic objects on the table, while at thg same time the labor-saving question is taken into consideration.

Farewell Gifts for Traveler.

Among tbe cheery little send-offs for the traveler are various dainty toilet conveniences. One of these is a tiny box filled with Delightfully scented panafleu powder and holding in its lid an infinitesimal powder puff, while on the upper side is a mirror which will at least reflect the tip of the nose and show whether it is aristocratically pale or unbecomingly besmudged with copl dust. Another convenience is a small flat nail brush In. white, green or amber composition, fitting into a leather case which also holds a tiny book of nail powder sheets; a third is a straw-covered, very small and very fiat flask filled with perfumery, and a fourth is a bath sachet which may be dropped into the dressing room or hotel room basin and used like a wash cloth. With the bath sachet no soap Is needed.

Long Gloves With Cuffs.

Long white gloves are made, with wide, turnback cuffs at the elbow or slightly above it. These cuffs, which flare out and away from the arm, are made of black velvet, mounted on kid, and embroidered with, gold or silver beads,, applied In straight lines. Tbs stitciiihg on the backs of these gloves is also marked with, beads, to motet those used on the cuffs. s •<.

REALISM of SNOW

THERE are those among us who see nothing idealistic about the snow. The varied and exquisite forms assumed by tbe frost particles on crystallization, revealed in their fullest beauty beneath the lens, are IOBt to their unappreciative vision. To them “the fleecy snow" ana “the beautiful snow" are absurdities. The only form of snow-inspired poetical effort that appeals to them is the parody, “The snow, the snow, the beautiful snow, Tbe more you don’t want it the more it won’t go.” is not meaningless to them, for they are the men who must battle with It. Such, for Instance, Is the railroad man in any part of Uncle Sam’s wide domain in which the ice king disputes his sovereignty. The Dakotas, Minnesota and northern lowa are favorite haunts of the wayward monarch, and in those regions it is that he holds some of his most fantastic revels. The wind swept prairies of Kansas and Nebraska, level for great distances, are often difficult to manage in "mfiF winter, but they do not possess the essentials of a great snow country. The general contour of Minnesota and Dakota is rolling, so that on most of the railroad lines there are many cuts, ten to the mile in some places. This is the ideal spot for the snow blockade, and for six or seven months of the year an almost ceaßeleßs battle is going on. Every railroad traversing these regions is equipped with a large force of snow fighters. Nowadays rotary snow plows in the hands of men who know how to operate them can cut their way through drifts that in the early days of railroading would have established a complete blockade. Tbe rotary plow is one of the marvels of the age. It is a liberal education in The business of snow fighting to watch one of them eating its way through an apparently insurmountable drift that threatens to cut off all communication between the Atlantic and Pacific northern terminals. Menace to Railroading. There are several passes in the great divide region of the Rocky mountains which for about half of the year offer a constant menace, to railroading in their vicinity. The snow begins to fall late in August or early in September, and it continues until well into May and sometimes June. There are also intermittent snowfalls during'the summer, but not enough to make serious trouble. The great falls are during January and February. j The roads that cross the great divide must expend enortnous sums In their annual conflict with the snow. Special crews are provided for this work, and special engines are held in reserve to be put behind the snow plows as needed. Before the rotary was invented the man with tbe shovel was the sole dependence. In the early days of the transcontinental railroad, thousands of laborers were kept on the pay rolls simply as snow shovelers. The Bnow sheds erected by these lines have cost a mint of money! The wind swept stretches of Wyoming and other states are guarded by wind breaks consisting of high fences built across the most exposed points. These fences seem to be fragile barriers against such a mighty foe as the snow king, but they serve their purpose admirably, frequently preventing a blockade. In spite of tbe greatly improved methods of snow fighting, blockades are still of frequent occurrence- on these mountain roads. It is not at all unusual in Colorado and Wyoming for a train to be stalled between stations for hours and perhaps for days. Those wbo have had experiences of this kind do not wax enthusiastic over them.’ Sometimes provisions are lacking, and the luckless passengers are In actual danger of starving. In these lonely b(retches there is not a ranch for miles. As a rale tbe roads take extraordinary precautions against blockades of this description, for in several

cases large damages have been coP lected by the victims. Great Mass of Whiteness. .The huge B&owdriftß that some-* times rise in a single night are fre-i quently ten, 20 or even 30 feet inj height. To one who sees such an a<w cumulation of snow for the flrtt time; it seems impossible that any plow, even the most improved rotary, can, penetrate it. With a rush, and ai plunge the great plow is burled into the mans of frigid whiteness. Blackclouds of smoke pour from the engines, and the huge blades of the rotary begin to eat Into the drift. The snow shoots out of tbe orifice at the side of the plow. As it is distributed' it forms an immense white, semi-cir-cle which is constantly moving onward, showing the progress of the plow. Slowly the rotary excavates its way forward, and finally the plow and its engines are burled in a trench of white. Only the smokestacks can be seen, and they continue to belch forth inky clouds that settle in a coat of; smudge upon fits -snowfleld. The great white semi-circle moves steadily onward, and In the course'of time it becomes apparent that the drift is being conquered. It Is eventually overcome, and tbe passengers on the regular express train which passes that way a few hours later knows nothing of the snow battle that has made their further progress possible. They may discovej- that they are moving rapidly through a narrow canyon whose walla are snow, but they do not realize the mighty force that has enabled them to cross the ridge of the continent It is tbe element of the unexpected that sometimes adds largely to the seriousness of these occasions. At tb* passes over the great divide adequate provision against trouble has been made, and long blockades are few. Now and then, however, word,come* that a train has not been able to force its passage through a snow accumulation 100 miles or more from the nearest rotary pkrw. Then there is consternation indeed. To get a plow to the blockaded train will take time, but it must be done. In the meantime tbe drift may be growing on the unused road, and each hour is bringing fresh menaces tb railroad men and passengers alike. When a rotary plow itself is caught In a snow blockade the situation becomes even more complicated. Such instances al) rare, but it has happened. Such a thing can only be possible through the carelessness of some workman, for a rotary plow with sufficient power behind It can eat Its way through a drift of almost any dimensions.

Paid for Gambling.

The only instance known wherein an employe was paid by his employer for gambling occurred in New Orleans. Walter Latnana, a child of wealthy Italians, was kidnaped, and the interest was intense throughout the gulf coast country. The staffs of the two leading morning dailies were engaged in “draw.” after hours, when the city editor of one of mem was called ouL He summoned a reporter. “Get back in there and play at the! paper’s expense,” he hissed. “Make it lively." The reporter raised ’em and hoisted ’em and lifted ’em for an hour. <■ Then the game was broken up by l cries of “Extra! Extra!" and the staff of the other paper read with emotion that the body of the child ha£ been found. There was a, 310 check trom the editor in the reporter’s envelope next pay day.

Without a Doubt

Boot Agent—Here's a book you can’t afford to be without —“Ere*y Man His Own Lawyer." Farmer Jones (who once had a lawsuit)—Humph! I think an hoherter name for that book would be "Ev*ry Man His Own Worst Enemy."—Puck,