ASTONISHING FEATS OF THE DEAD.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 1040, 7 May 1912, Page 4

ASTONISHING FEATS OF THE DEAD.

A recent American newspaper tells of an express train, carrying scores of passengers, running for miles with the cold hand of the dead engineer gripping the throttle.

L,ike many other true incidents, the story is more weird than any fiction. The engineer was at his post on his side ot the cab, his head out of the window, his hand on the throttle. The fireman was attending to his duties, tossing coal into the furnace, and now and then giving a blast on the whistle. Once or twice he spoke to the engineer, and got no answer, but he supposed bis mate was not in a talkative mood.

As the train approached a station where it was wont to stop,the fireman gave a long blast on the whistle, the signal that a halt was to be made. But the train sped on with unslackened speed. Not until it had gone past the station did the fireman’s suspicions become aroused. ‘What’s the matter, Bill?” he asked. ”We ought to have stopped there.” There was no response, and the now frightened fireman placed his band on the engineer’s shoulder. He withdrew it with a yell when he found the man’s body stiff in death. With a presence of mind born of a life of danger, the fireman quickly reversed the lever, and brought the train to a stop. How long the engineer had been dead is not known, but it was probably half an hour or more. A weak heart, a slight convulsive movement, unnoticed by the busy fireman, and the engineer was dead at his post, while death’s hand held the throttle.

Several years ago a Russian cemetery was the scene of a weird wedding. A young woman who had been betrothed died suddenly on the eve of her marriage. Great preparations had been made for the wedding, and the bridegroom and his friends determined that he intervening hand of death should not interfere with the ceremony. The funeral cortege then became a bridal party. The bridegroom walked beside the coffin containing the body of his fiancee as it was borne to the cemetery. At the grave the marriage ceremony was performed, after which the body of the bride, clad in her wedding garments, was lowered into the grave. The story of the Phantom Ship or the Flying Dutchman, who for blasphemy wa= condemned to try in vain to beat round Cape Horn until the Day of Judgment, has its modern example in the fate of the ship General Sigliu, about ten years ago. The General Sigliu sailed from San Francisco lor Alaska, but never reached her destination. Months later, the sealing schooner Arielis was cruising about 200 miles off the coast of British Columbia when she sighted a ship. The Arietis signalled the schooner, but got no answer. Running closer to the vessel, the crew of the Arietis made out the figure of a man at the helm, grasping the wheel, his gaze apparently fixed intently ahead. The man at the wheel was hailed, but returned no answer.

The story of the ship’s fate can only be conjectured, as none oi her crew were ever seen alive. It is supposed that the vessel was caught in a storm, and began to leak badly and the crew deserted her, the captain refusing to leave his vessel.

Not many years ago a valuable cup was won in a bicycle race in Australia by a man who was dead when he passed the winning post. The race took place before a crowd estimated at 10,000 persons. The betting was lively and the contest close, and the spectators were worked up to a high pitch ot excitement. In the last lap James Somerville, one of the riders, lorged ahead and got such a lead that victory was assured. When within twenty-live yards 01 rue finish those nearest to him saw him relax his hold on the handlebars and lose his footing on the pedals. Amid the frantic cheers of the spectators he passed the goal winning the race by a few yards, and pitched forward from his machine. When he was picked up he was dead, and the doctors declare the spark of life left his body when he was seen to lose his grip on the handle-bars. It was a lifeless body that crossed the line a winner.