Jasper County Democrat, Volume 4, Number 28, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 October 1901 — ASTOR AT THE THROTTLE [ARTICLE]

ASTOR AT THE THROTTLE

John Jacob, of N«w W.rk. Misses a Train but Get* 1 here. Chicago, Oct. 17.—John Jacob Astor, of New York, dropped the role of millionaire and took up that of a locomotive engineer for a short time yesterday, With blue Jeans overalls and buckskin gloves the colonel sat on the right side of a locomotive cab and piloted the fast mail on the Lake Shore road. It was not a record-breaking performance, but It came very near the mark. Colonel Astor was scheduled to come to Chicago In company with President Stuyvesant Fish, of the Illinois Central road, to attend the annual meeting, but missed his train. He then took the fast mall, and at Elkhart, Ind., concluded to finish the trip on the locomotive. The engineer invited his guest to “take the reins,” and the invitation was coupled with another to “pmffi her nionrr.” The colonel accepted both invitations. From South Bend, Ind., to Lapcrte. Ind., a distance of twenty miles, the new engineer made the distance in a trifle under twenty minutes.