Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1877-03-15
Catching q Train.
Mobile { Ala. Register.

The following amusing incident,
which happened few days ago, will
show wherein "vaulting ambition
overleaped itself and fell on the other
side': An influential voter. Mr.. r.,
from a precinct OF this county, was in
the city a few days ago on business,
when he fell into the hands of a Sixth
Warder, who for some time past has
been looking with longing eyes upon
several fat municipal and county of.
fees. The political aspirant after
treating Mr.. r. several times, propos.
ed game of ten-pins, which was &C.
copied, but the political aspirant man.
aged to let his country friend beat him
in the games, and otherwise made the
evening so pleasant that his friend
missed the four O'Clock accommodation
train, and so time passed until near
time for the IL o'clock mail train to
leave, and then the trouble began.
Mr.. r. had bundle of stove.pipe and
jar of oysters to take home, and,
feeling tired after the severe exercise
of five hours at ten-pins, he srrang
into a cab and told the driver to drive
rapidly to the Mobile 4 Ohio train off
they sped, but when half way to the
depot they suddenly remembered that
the train left from the New Orleans
depot at the foot of Government street;
so they turned down St. Louis street,
and just as they got to Commerce
street they saw the train coming SLOW
ly by. Mr.. r. sprang out, and, with
the jar Of oysters and bundle of stove.
pipe under his arm, he grasped the
hand.rail of car and scrambled on
the moving train, all bYoathless and
bruised. He was about comfortably
seated in car when he discovered
that he had gotten on board the wrong
train and was on his way to
Montgomery. At this moment
the train was at the out
skirts of the city and rapidly increas.
ing its speed. There was nothing left
for Mr.. r. to do but gather up his oys-
tiers and stove pipe, rush out on the
platform, and jump off. He did so,
and as he landed in the marsh, he went
knee.deep into the mud and water
oysters, stOve.pipe and all. By extra
ordinary effort he succeeded in extri.
eating himself from the e1tangling in
auence of marshweed, and the soft
embrace of the mud that forms tbs
happy abode of swamp moccasins, ALI.
gators, and bullfrogs, just in time to
see the Mobile & Ohio train coming to.
ward him arouud the curve; he gath.
ed himself for another desperate effort
and succeeded once more in getting
aboard the train this time the right
one. Pretty soon the conductor came
along and informed him that his was
a way station, and it was impossible
for that express mail.train to stop
there. Here was another dilemma,
but, being determined to get home,
when the train got to Whistler he went
forward to in uce the engineer to stop
at his station. All his powers of ar.
gument and persuasion were in vain,
so r. said: ''You are forbidden to run
faster than six miles an hour over
frogs and switches, and when you come
down to that speed in passing my
house ! will jump off in the sand.
bank So he got out on the platform
of the car and made a leap, but the
momentum of the train threw his
heels up, and he went into the sand.
bank head foremost. When he picked
himself up he had one leg through a
joint of stove pipe, an oyster in his
left ear, his eyes full of sand, and his
hair a matted mass Of oysters and sand
and, worst of all, the train had come
to a full stop 200 yards beyond to cool
down hot box. R. SAYS he has oys.
tiers planted for fifty feet along that
sand.bank, and his entire body is like
the union jack, a blue ground with a
few white patches for stars, and he
has sworn "by Joe Peter" if he ever
votes for that Sixth-W arder for any
Office he hopes he may never eat an.
other OYSTER.