Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1882-05-21
CHARLOTTE CUSHMAN'S
PRAIRIE RIDE.

aims last summer, we made short stay
in Boston. Among the various objects
of interest visited was Mount Auburn,
the famous burial place of that city and
the oldest garden cemetery in the United
States.
As we were slowly riding through one
of the beautiful avenues of this grand
metropolis we came upon the grave Of
Charlotte Cushman, who in her day was
one Of the greatest of living actresses.
She was a pure, noble woman, distin-
guished alike for her intellectual great
ness and goodness Of heart.
At the time of our visit to Mount Au-
burn no monument had been placed in
the Cushman lot. The last resting
place of this queen Of tragedy was sim
ply covered with long, dark, shining
sprays Of myrtle. But there is soon to
be erected over her grave an obelisk of
Hallowen granite, an exact representa-
ton Of Cleopatra's Needle, as it stood at
Heliopolis.
One of our party was the Superintend-
emit of Western railroad, who, before
his promotion to that responsible Office,
had been a locomotive engineer. He
was greatly interested in visiting Char
lotte Cushman's grave; and, after we
had returned to our hotel in the city,
he gave us the following personal rem
iniscence Of this remarkable woman:
"When I was running locomotive
on the Chicago and Great Eastern rail-
road, received an order one day to
have my engine, the Hercules ready
to take a special tram of two cars, con-
tanning Charlotte Cushman, her luggage
and attendants, from Logansport to
Chicago.
"The great tragedienne had lost q
connection, and was very anxious to go
in the shortest possible time by special
train. 1t was cold, rough afternoon, a
bad day for raiiroading on the prair1es
in any event, but particularly SO for a
special that had to make time,' with
the fierce winds beating and bowling
over them, as [ believe they never do
anywhere else where railroad tracks are
laid, except off Lake Michigan. But I
had my imperative orders to put the
train through with this our fastest en-
CINE, SO that Miss Cushman might be in
season to fill her engagement that night
in Chicago.
"The train had arrived at Logansport
ten minutes behind time, and we started
ont with the leas: delay possible. had
carefully inspected my engine, and for
my fireman / selected the very best man
to make steam that could be found in
the railroad corps at that city. But, in
spite of these precautions, about o'clock
In the gray November afternoon we came
to dead halt out on the open prairie. I
jumped down from my cab, with oil-can
in hand, but the mighty gusts OF wind
that swept against me made me glad to
crawl back into the shelter of my cab.
presently one of the brakemen, with
his cap tied ON his head with a stout
scarf, came forward to tell me that Miss
Gushm&n desired to see the engineer in
the passenger COR. sent back word
that l could not leave my engine-that
I would do the best / could with our
train, and that nothing could be said or
suggested, even by the distinguished
passenger, which would make the least
gain in our Roadway.
"The brakeman took himself off, and
was not at all pleased, I must confess,
when Jake, my fireman, who was at the
moment looking out of the cab window,
down the track in our rear, shouted,
above the gale:
"'There is the lady herself coming
now to the engine. With her skirts and
things, she'll be surely blown across the
prairie!'
"Sure enough, there she was, look
ing as if she were the spirit of the wind
At first she walked resolutely and ma
Jestically forward, the wind-storm seem
ing to make no impression On her stout,
erect figure. Soon, however, the queen
~ form suecumbed to the sweeping
wind, and she began to cling to the
sides of the cars.
"After we had dragged her up into
the cab and she was sheltered from the
gusts, she stormed about the delay
enough, it appeared to me, to subdue
any or all of the elements. She tried
high tragedy ON me and my good en-
gine, Hercules, until she saw it hadn't
the least effect.
"'Rest assured, madam I said to
her, entirely unmoved by her excited
and rather-vehement manner, sthat I
shall do everything that can be done to
get this especial" into Chicago at the
required time. After "HerculesD has
had time to breathe little, I think he