DOWN THE MOUNTAIN TO DEATH

South Canterbury Times, Issue 7267, 20 July 1893, Page 4

DOWN THE MOUNTAIN TO DEATH

At four o’clock on the morning of Novem- ( ber Btb, 1876, an express train on the Lehigh ! Valley Bail way, in America, was on the top i of a mountain eighteen miles above the city | of Wilkesba.’re. Among the passengers were the President of tbe United States and several members of bis Cabinet, in a special coach. From this point the grade was very steep and the road full of curves. It was the . custom to keep the brakes set all the way down. If they failed disaster was sure to follow. Within a minute after the train started tbe driver noticed 'that something had gone wrong with the brakes. The train kept pushing the engine. He re* versed, but without cheeking tbe speed. Seeing this, tbe guard and one or two other train men jumped, and escaped with only slight injuries. The train now ran faster and faster, and a horrible death seemed waiting for all on board. The driver blew the whistle continuously to warn trains at tbe foot of tbe mountain of his approach. When the runaway passed Nesoopeok station it was going at the rate of nearly twenty mile bo hour, and the faithful driver stood at his post, bareheaded, bolding on, and still blowing the whistle. At tbe foot of the mountain all the trains had got out of the way except the rear end of a coal train which was just shunting. Into this the passenger train dashed with a crash that was heard for miles around, knocking the oars in all directions. Tbe passengers were badly shaken, and some bruised, but none were killed. But where was the brave driver ? From under the wreck of the overturned engine he was taken an hour afterwards, crushed and dying, but still able to speak. “Is the President safe P” he gasped. “ Yes, and everybody else,” was the answer. " Thank God for that,” he said, and never spoke again. A splendid deed, truly, yet there is not a driver in a hundred who would not have stood to his .duty with the same fidelity. Exposed to ail sorts of weather, to constant danger, and laden with responsibility, the engine drivers have a commendable record, and deserve higher appreciation both by the companies and the public. ** I am an engine driver,” soys Edward Roberts, “and have been for eleven years. My health was always good until July, 1885. Then something came over me that I couldn’t account for. 1 felt tired, sleepy, and languid. My stomach felt sour and cold, my mouth tasted awfully bad, and my tongue was thickly coated. A disagreeable fluid oame up into my mouth, and my appetite failed. No food, however light, agreed with me, and I had great pain after eating anything at ali. In ten minutes my stomach would be all in a ferment, and swell like as a balloon does when the gas is running into it. I bad also a miserable tightness around my chest and sides Later on I bad awful pain in tbe kidneys. I could not rest at nightj I had dreadful dreams, and would turn and turn in bed, but found no ease. “ As time went on I got weaker and weaker r until I could scarcely crawl to my work, but , having a large family to support I struggled [ on as best I could, when many another would , have been confined to bed. As it was, my . suffering was so great that I went to bed as , soon as 1 returned from my work, For over , four years I went on in this fashion, about [ half alive and half dead, obtaining no relief , from the medicines the doctors gave me. I , took six bottles of pepsine, but it did no ) good, neither did the seven bottles of a modi- ( cine was sent over and got from Dublin. | ”In May, 1890, a lady who called at the . bouse, told me of a medicine called Mother i Seigel’s Syrvp, and recommended me to try . it; so I got a bottle from Mr Wilson, at the I Drug Hall, Holyhead, and began taking it • In a week I felt better, my stomach was , easier, and my food digested, and I gradually ■ gained strength. By the time I had taken , six bottles I was strong as ever. I could eat - anything and have kept well ever since; I i have told of my recovery everywhere, and • many of my friends have used the Syrup L with benefit, I wish my experience to be i published, and will reply to inquiries about | my case. . (Signed) “ Edwaed Hobeets, “ No. £, Tyn Pwll Boad, Holyhead.” > What originally brought on this wretched I attack of indigestion and dyspepsia—which • through lack of tbe proper remedy became ■ chronic —Mr Bobarto docs not say, even if he i knows. Probably tbe cause was exposure, and 1 a hasty and irregular habit of eating. At all • events be was fortunate in learning of Mother > Seigel’s Syrup before it was too late. We i congratulate him on this point, and are ' confident his frank statement will be of use i to others of bis honourable and responsible i calling. i For one, the writer of these lines never lies ’ comfortably back on the cushions in a first i class carriage on tbe excellent North--1 Western Railway without hoping (selfishly enough, to bo sure) that all is well in mind r j and ody with the man who drives the iron 1 h i ■^^ a -