Racing a Whirlwind.

Manawatu Herald, 24 November 1898, Page 2

Racing a Whirlwind.

Oar American friends are given to boasting of the great comfort a&3 convenience of their trains as compared with those of the Old ConlJ^p (saysi a writer in Chums.) Bat that these advantages are counterbalanced (to some extent at least) by strange and unexpected dangers, the following narrative will show : — A passenger train in Nebraska was proceeding across a wide stretch of prairie hnd, wh§n suddenly the enginr-lriver, who had been Wf~ som? time gazing intently on the horz'n, turned hastily to his stoker and bnl.-; him feed the furnace for his 2 if>. A moment later the passr ng T4, wh) hid until then been in (nMt-f itn'Mn.4ciousneßs of the peril ob-n- v 1 that the train was gradually beg : n Ing to increase its speed. Fa*\«r und faster it flew along the track, >m>l, gazing out of the windows 1 to ascertain the cause of this unusual occurrence, the keener sighted of the travellers in the train were aware of a black, funnel snapped mass of cloud on the horizon whirling at at frightful speed after them. As it approached nearer it became visible to all the passengers, and gradually the significance of tbe spectacle took -jhape in every mind in the words, " We arc being chased by a oyolone I" A. shruk from the locomotive, and a suco's-un of tremendous osoillationa showed that the engine-driver, whose keen vision had first detected the danger, was putting the train to its top speed. Meantime the passengers maintaining their footing as well as they could, stood and gazed with white faces at the cloudy terror which menaced them. It wa3 slowly but surely gaining upon the train. If it struck them it meant inevitable destruction to all. With a strained anxious face the engine-driver marked its coming with his hand on In lever, while the stoker, stripped to the waist, fed the furnace in frantic fashion. Fifteen minutes of breathless anxiety, the whirlwind fmtr gained fully three miles upon rb m, and a panic fear began to manifest itself. Then a faint hope sprang up, for whether owing to a chang of direction or a decrease in its velocity, the cyclone fell behind perceptibly. For an hour it continued, now hi i.-v. now gaining i ground, and still th t-aio flew along. The engiiv driver kn w that he bad come to th- limit of hid f>p "«d, and it no longer d p 1 ndf d on him whether his train ese.qjed or w.n dashed from he metals. Stuidcn-y tbe whirling mass of cloud changed its course, and, headiu<? ti tho south, slowly disappeared; tha train slackenedspeed, tin I eventually steamed inflP» its des'iMiiioQ amidst a chorus of th'tnk : gwing and congratulation-*, of which th^ plucky driver wa3 the pi'in?ip»l object.