Men Who Require Presence Of Mind

Many railroad accidents are prevented by a presence of niind on the part of engineers. A passenger train on the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy road was rounding a sharp csrve just under a piece of tall timber. The watchful engineer saw a tree lying across the track 60 feet anead of the locomotive. The train was running at a rate of thirty-flve miles an hour, and to clieck its momentum bef ore reaching the obstruction, was out of the question. The engineer took in the situation at a glance. He threw the throttle wide open, and the engine shot ahead with the velocity of an arrow, and with so tremendous force that the tree was picked up by the cow-catcher and ilung trom the track as if it had been only a willow withe. Aman with not so cool a head would have made the best possible use of those sixty ieet in the way of cheeking the speed of the train. That would have caused a disaster. Bradford, an engineer, was bringing an express train over the Kankakee line f rom Indianapolis. As the engineshot out f rom the deep cut and struck a short p.ece of straigtít track leading to a bridge, a herd of colts were discovered running down the road. The distance to the river was only one hundred Ieet Bradford knew he could not stop the train, and also knew that ir the colts beat the locomotive to the bridge they would f all between the timbers, and the oDstruction would throw the train ofï and probably result in a frightful loss of life. It took him onïy half a second to think of all this. ïlie other half second was utalized in giving his engine such a quantity of steam that it covered that one hundred feet of track in about the same time that a bolt of lightning would travel from the tip of a lightning rod to the ground. The colts were struck and hurled down the embankment just as they were entertering the bridge. She was a city girl. Sbe was visiting her country eousins. White walkiug out several butterflies passed her. "Oh, dear me, what charming little birds. ïhey are perfectly exquisite." "They are nt birds, my dear," replied her country cousir, "they are butterliies." "Oh, you don't say so! ïhen these are the deah little creatures that tty irom flower to ilower and gather the sweet yellow butter that we use. They are too lovely for anything."