STRANGE REASONS FOR STOPPING TRAINS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 193, 18 September 1909, Page 4

STRANGE REASONS FOR STOPPING TRAINS.

BROUGHT TO A STANDSTILL BY A MONKEY. The communication-cords of railway trains are often pulled for strange reasons, said an official who has seen many years' service on the iron roads of Great Britain. The communication-cord in general use runs in length from fifty to one hundred vards, and is laid on from the guard's van to the cab of the engine, where it is attached to a gong or an automatic whistle. It is so ingeniously fixed that if it is pulled in any one of the carriages the gong or whistle of the cab of the locomotive must respond, and thus apprise the driver. Communication-cords arc very vibiablc agents of protection, no doubt, but when they are pulled by irresponsible persons and j oung fellows who consider it funny to "pull up" a train for no reason whatever, railway officials regret that Parliament passed a Bill in 18' iS ordering communication-cords to be installed on certain trains. NOVEL EXCUSES.

Only the other u ight a train speeding northwards from London was brought to a standstill because the communie.i-tion-cord had been violently pulled.! When the guard ran along the carriages to learn the cause a young fellow pushed his head through a window and coolly told him that he had pulled the cort because his friend hail bet him a sovereign he wouldn't do so. Some little time ago a lady travelling to Scotland pulled the cord of the carriage she was in, and when the train was brought up with a jerk and the guard put in an appearance, she stated that a man sitting opposite her had produced a revolver. The male passenger indignantly turned out his pockets, bringing to light a black leather pip;case, which the lady had mistaken for a pistol barrel. Recent mysteries on the line surrounding the deaths of men and girls have had an extraordinary effect on a London merchant whose business takes him all over Britain. In dread of being robbed and murdered on the railway he bought a revolver, and carried it with him whenever he travelled by train. A LITTLE MISTAKE. One night he travelled down to the provinces, and when the train was well . out of London the communication-cord ! was pulled. The guard jumped out of his van and hurried along the train ;o iind out what was the matter. He soon discovered a broken window-pane, and a man standing with his back to it. The I compartment was almost a wreck, and the London merchant was lying on the floor of the carriage unconscious. The man who was standing over him toid the guard that, his fellow-passenger had suddenly produced a revolver, and he had closed with him, taking him to bo a lunatic.

When the merchant recovered his senses he stated that he had taken the weapon from his pocket in mistake for his pipe, which little slip was the cause of all the mischief.

The other day a train was stopped in the country by a violent pull of the communication-cord. On getting out of his van to ascertain the cause the guard caught sight of an old lady leaning out of the "window of a third-class carriage and frantically waving an umbrella. When he went up to her she calmly ordered him to find her return-ticket, which she had accidentally dropped from the window on to the line, A COOL YOUNG MAN.

Just after the Paris express had left Milan once an American brought it to a standstill by pulling the commnnicalioncord. When asked the reason of his action he coolly answered that he had left his walking-stick at Milan station nnd wished to go back for it. A suburban train "was once pulled up by a monkey. An Italian boy and a monkey were in a third-class compartment, and when the former fell asleep the latter amused itself by swinging on the coimminication-eord.

A parrot succeeded in making the driver of an express believe that he had run over a woman. Sudden feminine cries, followed by a low moaning, rang out from below the wheels of the locomotive, and the driver immediately shut off steam ami brought the train to a standstill.

The permanent way was searched, but no body was found. No clue to the situation could be discovered until a large green parrot was seen slinging to the handrail of the engine. The bird, it transpired, was the property of a lady travelling in the first carriage, and had escaped from its cage while she was asleep. The plaintive cries heard by the driver were undoubtedly made by the playful parrot.—Tit-Bits.