MORE WEIRD THAN FICIION.

Grey River Argus, 16 May 1912, Page 2

MORE WEIRD THAN FICIION.

♦ — ASTONISHING FEATS OF THE DEAD.' A recent American newspaper tclis of an express ira'in, carrying- scores of passeng-ers , running- for miles w-ii'h the cold han dof the dead engineer gripping the throttle. Like many other true incidents, the story is more weird than any fiction. The e&gmeei 1 was at his post on his side of the cab, his head out of the window, his hand on the throttle. The fireman was attending" to his duties, tcssing- coal into >rhe furnace, and now and then giving- a blast on the whistle. Once or twice he spoke to the engineer, and got no answer, but he supposed his mate was not in a talkafive mood. As the train approached a station where it was wont to stop, the fireman gave a long- blast on the whistle, die signa Mia!-; a halt was to be made. But the .train sped oa with unslackened speed. Not until -it had igone past the station did the fireman's suspicions become arpused. . . Ci \Yha.: J s the matter, Bill?" h© asked. ''We ought to have stopped there." There was no response, and the now frightened fireman placed his hand o-n the engineer's shoulder. He withdrew it with a yell when he found- the man's body stiff in dehivlv. With a presence of mi-nd born of a life of danger; the fireman quickly ' reversed the lever, and brought the train to a stop. • How Jong the engineer had been dead -is not known, but it was probably half an hour or more. A weak heart, a slight convulsive movement, unno-ticed-by the busy fireman, and the engineer wa s dead at his post, while death's hand held the throttle. Several years ago a Russian cemetery was the scene of a weird wedding. A young woman who had been betrothed died suddenly on the eve of her marriage. : G-reat preparations had been made for the wedding, and the bridegroom find bis friends determined that the intervening hand of death should not interfere with 'the ceremony. The funeral cortege then became a bridal party. The bridegroom walked beside the coffin containing the body of his fiancee as it was borne to the cemetery. At the igravethe marriage ceremony was performed, after which tlie body of the bulde, clad in her wedding garments, was lowered into the grave. ■ The story of the Phantom Ship or the Flying Dutchman, who for blasphemy was condemned to 'try in vain Co beat round Cape Horn until the Day of Judgment, has : its 'modern example in the fate of the ship General 'Siglni,'. about < ten years . ago: The (jencral Sig-Jiin sailed from San Francisco for Alaska, but never reached her destination. -. Months later, ..the sealing schooner A-rietris was cruising about 200 miles oft' the coast of British Columbia when ,. she .siight'ed a ship. The Arietis signalled the schooner, but got. no answer; ' Running closer to- th© vessel the "cre\y of the Arietis made ; out th* 1 figure "of . a man at the helm, igTasping the wheel, his gaze apparently- fixe,d intently ahead. The man at '{ the -wheel was hailed, but returned ;:.no answer. The 'Story of the ship's fate can only be coujectureVl, as none of her crew were ever seki alive. It is supposed that the vessel was cau;gh,t in a storm, and began to leak badly, and the crew dese-rted her,, the captain Tef using- to leave his vessel. \ : Not many years ag-o a valuable cup was won "in ' a bicycle race/ in Australia by a rnian who was. dead when he passed the winning post. The. race took place before a crowd estam" ated : at • lO^ODO '\ persons. The bettingwas '.lively and •the contest close, and the spectators were\ worked up to. a tigh'pitch of 'excitement.;' In the last lap James Somerviilei one of the riders, forg-ed ahead and .got such a lead bhab victory v was assm'ed: ' When wijthirit'wentyrfive. yards of the finish those nearest to him : saw him relax his h'ol.don the Ihandle-bars - and lose his footing on ' pedals. . Amid the frantic cheers of it fie • spectators he sped past- the goal, winning the race b ya few yards, and pitched f orwa id from 1 his machine. When he was packed up he was/.^dead, and the doctors "declare the. -3park : of life left his body when he wa|'^ seen to 3o : se hjisigrap on the handle-bars. It was a lifeless body that crossed 'i'hc, line a winner: