No doubt by this time you Steam Enthusiast have attended a few
shows and are making plans for next year.
Have had several nice letters from you readers and Mr. Green of
Rushylvania, Ohio writes that ‘Old Rosie’, the cow, is
expecting again. She will win, hands, down as I’m out of the
race.
Also a letter came from Mrs. Alice (Crabtree) Ambrose of Emmett,
Michigan regarding the explosion in Big Prairie Township, Newago
Co, Michigan in 1899 (March-April, 1966 & May-June 1967) that
claimed the lives of seven men, one of whom was her father. She was
upset that the writer insinuated that her father was to blame,
because he was the operator. In asking others who know locomotives,
I have learned that by an unwritten law, the operator is
responsible for whatever happens during a run of his machine, but
that by the same token, and in this case, this is of very great
importance, as long as any one man assumes that responsibility, no
other man has any right to open or close value, or do anything
whatsoever to that machine without notifying the operator.
Although it may be true that low water is the major cause of
boiler explosions, there are other causes, and since Mr. Crabtree
was already pulling the fire, it is quite reasonable to assume that
he knew of some other defect somewhere that could cause the
explosion by adding cold water.
I am sure that all of us of Iron Men Album apologize to you Mrs.
Ambrose, and I personally say that your Dad was not to blame for
the explosion that tragic day so long ago but we have to print the
articles as we receive them. On the lighter side, in June we
celebrated our 15th Wedding Anniversary and took a few days
vacation to motor to Ohio for a family reunion. A good time was had
by all. The man above sure turned on the heat these past few days
and the only consolation I have is, it will soon be deadline time
for Nov-Dec. issue of Iron Men and that means Winter isn’t too
far off.
Best wishes to all you dear hearts and gentle people.
