DOWN THE MOUNTAIN TO DEATH.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXI, Issue 14, 4 August 1893, Page 20

DOWN THE MOUNTAIN TO DEATH.

At four o'clock on the morning of November Bth, 1875, an express train on the Lehigh Valley Railway, in America, was on the top of a mountain, eighteen milea above the city of Wilkesbarre. Among the passengers were the President of the United States and several members of hie Cabinet, ia a special coach. From this point the grniie wrs very steep, and the road full of currca. It waß tha custom to keep the brakes set all tbe way down. If they failed, disaster was sura to follow. Within a minute af er the train started, the driver noticed that something had suddenly gone wrong with the brakes. Trie tain kept pushing the engine. He reversed, bat without checking the speed. Seeing this, the euard and one or two other train men jumped, and escaped with only slight injurieß. Tha train now ran faster and faster, and a horrible death seemed waiting for all on board. The driver blew tbe whistle continuously to warn trains at the foot of the mountain of his approach When the runaway passed Neec pe?,k station it was going at the rate of nearly seventy miles an hour, and the faithful driver stood at his post, bareheaded, holding on, and still blowing the wl istle. At the foot of the mountain all the trains had got out of tbe 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 tnilei around, knocking the coal cars in all directions. Tbe paseengers were badly shaken, and some were biuised. but none wen kill-d. Bat where was the brave driver? From under the wreck of thu overturned engine he was taken an hour af lerwards. crushed and dying, but still able to speak. •' Is the President safe?" he gasped. "Yes, and everybody else," was the answer. " Thank God for that," he siid, and never spoke again. A splendid deed, truly, yet »here ia not a driver in a hundred who would not have stood to his duty with the same fidelity. Eapjsed to all sorts of weather, to constant danger, and laden with responsibility, the engine drivers have a commendable record, and deserve higher appraciation both by the companies and by the public. " I am an engine driver," says Edward Roberts, " and hay« be«a for eleven years. My health wan always good until July, 1885. Then something came over me that I couldn't account for. I felt tired, Bleepy, and languid. My stomach felt aour and cold, my mouth tasted awfully bad, and my tongue was thickly coated. A disagreeable fluid CHme up into my mouth, and my appetite failed, No food, however light, agrped wiih me, and I had great pain after eating anything at all. In ten minutes my stomach would be all in a ferment, and swell like a balloon does when the gas is running into it. I had also a miserable tightness around my chest and sides. Later on I had awful pain in my kidneys. I could not rest at night ; I had dreadfu l dreams, aud wju d turn and turn in bed but found no ease. " Aa time went oa I got weaker and weaker 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 bfcd. As it was, my suffjrin< was so great that I went to bed as Boon as I returned from my work, For over four years I went on in this fanbion, about half alive and half dead, ob ainingr no relief from the medicines the uoc'ors gave me. I took sis bottles of pepsine, but it did no good, neither did the seven bottlus of a medicine we seat over acd got from Dublin. "In May, 1890, a lady who called at my house, told me of a medicine called Mother Seigel's Syrup, and recommended me to try it; so I got a bottle from Mr Wilson, at Drug Hall, Holyhead, and began taking it. In a week I felt better, my stomach was easier, and my food digested, and I grudually gained strength. By the time I had taken six bottles I was strong as ever. 1 could eat anything and have kept well ever since. I have told of my recovery every* wbere, and many of my friends have used the Syrup with benefit. I wiah my experience to be published, and will reply to inqairieß about my case, (Bigned) " Edward Robebts, " No 9, Tyn Pwll Road, Holyhead." What originally brought on this wretched attack of indestion and dyspepsia — which through lack of the proper remedy became chronic — Mr Roberts does not say, even if ha knows. Probably the cause was exposure, and a hasty and irr. gular habit of eating. At all events he was fortunate in learning of Mother Seigel's Byrup before it was too la!e. We congratulate him on this point, and are confident his frank statement will be of use to others of hia honourable and responsible calling. For one, the writer of ihese lines never lies comfortably back on tha cushions of a first-class carriage oa the excellent North-Western Railway without hoping (aelfiah enough, to be sure) that all is wtll in mind and body with the man who drives the iron horse.

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