A NARROW ESCAPE.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3859, 29 November 1883, Page 4

A NARROW ESCAPE.

A remarkable escapo from a violent and shocking death is reported by tho Philadelphia Record:—"Tho engineer of tho train which reaches the city from Norristown at eleven o'clock at night has had a thrilling experience. His train left Norristown with every prospect of reaching Ninth ftild Green street station in time, and with-

out incident ivorth mention. The train was rushing on at the rate of about thirty miles an hour, and was ivithin half a mile of Conshohocken, Avhen the watchful engineer Avas horrified at seeing a man lying within a hundred yards ahead of his engine, and with his head apparently on the rail. The air-brakes were put down, the engine reversed, and every effort made to stop the train beforo tho ivheols reached the man's head. It ivas too late. On the engine rushed on a hundred yards beforo the train could be stopped. AVhen it came to a standstill the conductor, engineer, and a number of passengers ivent back to pick up tho mangled remains of tho unfortunate victim. Imagine their surprise upon discovering that the man was neither dead nor mangled, but sleeping quietly alongside the track, not at all disturbed by the racket ivhich had been recently mado by the passing train. His head was on a tie not more than two inches from the rail, and the Ai'heels of the train must have passed over it Avithin less than that distance. His body was stretched along tho sleepers just outside the rail. The conductor woko him up roughly, aud asked him what ho meant by thus courting such a terrible death. ' I don't want nothing but a little nap,' said he, ' and I don't sco why a feller can't go to sleep out in the air in the country without getting hauled about like ho ivas a thief.' AVhen the danger of his position was pointed out to him he only said : ' AVcll, I guess I had better get out a little further.' Ho was finally driven off, and warned not a attempt such a nap again. He went off grumbling, and not at all grateful. Engineer Obcr says he never saw such a man. 'I believe,' said he, 'that that fellow could havo slept on top of one of the volcanoes of JaA'a during an earthquake.' "