Visions of America: Public Representations of the United States Circulating in India from 1870-1900Main MenuVisions of AmericaRepresentations of America in India from 1880-1910IntroductionProject VisionIndian Newspaper ArticlesTimelineTags and TrendsTour content by major themesRadial VisualizationGrid VisualizationAdam Heidebrink-Brunodda1366ced630ae12c01119b6003cad348b8379cMareesa Miles07f5b1d62871cea403a104a2f291b405512e6016
Down the Mountain to Death
12017-04-21T13:53:30-04:00Adam Heidebrink-Brunodda1366ced630ae12c01119b6003cad348b8379c822plain2017-04-28T12:09:11-04:00Mareesa Miles07f5b1d62871cea403a104a2f291b405512e6016At four o'clock on the morning of November 8th, 1875, an express train on the Lehigh Valley Railway, in America, was on the top of a mountain, eighteen miles above the city of Wilkesbarre. Among the passengers were the President of the United States and several members of his 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, the driver noticed that something had suddenly gone wrong with the brakes. The train kept pushing the engine. He reversed, but without checking the speed. Seeing this, the 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 the foot of the mountain of his approach. When the runaway passed Nescopeek 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 whistle. At the 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 coal cars in all directions. The passengers were badly shaken, and some were 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?" he gasped. "Yes, and everybody else," was the answer. "Thank God for that," he said, and never spoke again.