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A HAUNTED LOCOMOTIVE.A Ghost on an Ergin* on the Delaware Road.rCiirtlfia (MJ.)Cor. Cn»t«r V'rpubllcuu. JThe New York Centre! Railroad ha* Ufl phantom train of mr* which on the recur rerce of lbs anrlversarv of tho transportation of the assassinated President Lincoln over Hut road, appears with all the concomitant aupernatural clrcnm stances, such as exhbltlon dems.ods, rattle* over the line In the denih of mid night, to tbecoreteruationof tln‘dwi*llere along tbit, great viaduct of tho Empire State. We denizens of th« Eastern Shore have no train of ear*, with it* ghostly occupants, marked with the symbols of a nation’* sorrow, to ferrifv our primitive people ; no ongiue with its fln-hlr.e met'-nric forehead, rumbling over the rn’la ; no black atreauieta fluttering In the night hreese ; no long dotted window II.ift of llcbt deeorntlng the sombre * hire of the cars ; do dense, black oppressive atmo’pbere which moves wlih the. loving train, as It does on tho Central, hut we do hnv*» a haunted engine on the Eastern Shore Railroad.Lust summer, a year ago, a colored ran Darned Frederick Jones, who by hi* •mention to business and aptitude In acquiring the necessary knowledge to run a a engine had beta promoted to the charge of the New Castle, tho o'deat mo, chine ou the route, aud w.i* Alllne the position with credit to himself and to th« satisfaction to his employers. One evening he brought the freight down and drilled the car* od the siding sat'.sfsc torlly, but every one noticed tT t his eyes were unnaually hrllliiirt. Ms lt;invest* tlon wandering nud at times wild, strongly in contrast with his generally uuexeitablo demeanor. Tbns be went home. The next morning hr was In i niitf fever, totally del I reus end •icohrront in hi* apceeii, throughout which conatunt refur-euce was made to the New Calt;tle.»• He loved bU engine well.For weeks be lay growing weaker and weaker every hour, and tb* hallucination of bis mind remained as tlrmly centered upon the locomotive as at the firat mo aeutof hie illness, lie woe behind time.he thought, and It was Impossible for i to make up tbat which w.him to make up tbat which wus lost. Often he would call the attention of the watchers at hi* bed-side to cattle—creatures of bis Imagination, who were on the track iu (he way of the coming train.His ever busy fancy led him to ramble : now be was whittling “down brakes j** now caiiMDg his emdue to emit sharp, vhrill, car piercing shrieks to drive the wanderlug cattle off the road ; now nib bing the brass work of the locomotive until it shone again ; now rumbling through the thick piney woods, and now ruanlog a race with the moon which seemed to spring from tree to tree a-* he g sea ou *t It. and wonid not be left behind, let the laboring eugine do Its btsU Often be would burst forth lo fits of un-controlable langh’cr, and call the attention of the anxious friends to a par-llcu'ar calf which gubop d down the tra'k before ihu New Castle, und notwithstanding theuuearthly wbli-tie of the engine, kept steadily on till the locorno-1 tlvo »ii« ulmost upon It, when It would j t spring oatelowly to one side and g*ze at j r the moving mass with u strange wonder- . * lug look. Thu* the sick sunn struggled J c with bis dimase until death intervened ' «' Now many people believe the disemdodied f spirit of tbe lt;1eaa eng ueer lingers arouud , t the locomotive be bad loved so well in life. Oo Saturday eveaiogt bis ghost has been repeatedly sucu upon tbe N« w • astlo as of yore, and I have known colored men, wbeu ulone late at nigh?, refuse to paa* the rottud bouse where the ' 1 onglues are sheltered, lest tbeyshou.d see 0 I im ghost.
Newspaper Details
Wilmington Delaware State Journal
Wilmington, Delaware, US
Sat, Oct 25, 1873
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 03 Jul 2024
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