New Nick Carter Weekly, No. 23

TIM IN THE CRESCENT CITY; OR, THE BREAK IN THE LEVEE Street & Smith, 1897. This issue introduces "Tim Carter" (identified as the protagonist of a serial by the author of "Nick Carter"), a young detective returning from Mexico after dismantling a criminal society called the Nanigos. While aboard a northbound Mexican Central Railroad express train, Tim witnesses a deliberate rail sabotage near the great Texuca tunnel. A rail is pulled from the tracks, causing the train to derail and plunge into a chasm. Tim rescues a woman and child trapped in the Pullman car, extinguishing fire and freeing the woman from wreckage before catastrophe strikes. Though passengers escape serious injury, Tim realizes the wreckers likely intend to rob the stranded train. The narrative pauses as the express agent examines the cargo cars, with danger still pending.