Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1884-06-12
BRAVE POLLY MARTIN.
A Female Jehu With Grit and Muscle Who
Fooled Highway RObber.

Boston Globe.
The query came from the lips of tall
muscular woman, who stood upon the
platform of the railway station in this
village The solution was an ordinary
one at such a place, but it sounded
strangely coming from the lips of a WO-
man. But to the residents of this village
Polly Martin has for years been falnil-
| lar figure about the streets and at the
railway station. The residents of other
portions of the town, too, have long been
familiar with her face and form.
"For how many years, Mrs. Martin,
| have you followed your vocation ?" was
asked by the reporter.
"WelI, I have been driving a carriage
now about six or eight years I carried
the mail to South and West Attleboro,
you know before that. commenced to
drive the mail wagon, well, don't know
just when, but it was before the war-I
think in about 1860. I drove it sixteen
years and five months"
"You have had some strange expert
ences in that timer"
"WeIl had some adventures, that's
fact. It seems like long time to look
back on, and I wouldn't want to 60
through it again. 1 was about in all
weathers, hot and cold, wet and dry. 1t
was pretty tough sometimes, in the win
| ter, l can tell you"
did you ever meet with any trouble
by the wayw
"Never but once, to amount to any
thing. There was one time, about ten
years ago, that a gang of men tried to
stop me. wasn't on my usual route that
night. You see, it was Thanksgiving
night. Mr.. Anderson, the minister at
the Methodist church, was over to his
sisters, in the Reid aud Ide neighbor-
hood, spending Thanksgiving, and he
wanted me to come around that way with
my mail and carry him home. It was a
pretty cold night, and dark as a pocket
but 1 was going along all right when l
overlook gang of about five or six men
standing by the side of the road. One
of them called out and asked which of
the roads led to Hebronville. 1 pointed
out the road to him and went right
on. had this same little horse with me
that 1 am driving now; he is twenty
seven or twenty eight years old. One
of the men stepped into the middle of
the road and called on me to stop.
81 had whip in my hand made of
three branches Of apple-tree braided.
It was stout and tough. l struck the
horse on the flank, and Just then the man
gave a spring and grabbed the back-strap
and the reins. I struck the horse again,
and he sprang forward, dragging the man
along. He chung to the harness and the
reins, and tried to pull them out of my
hand, all the time trying to get into the
wagon. He got one foot on the step and
went hopping along on the other.
pounded him in the face with the stick
until the blood ran down, and every time
the stick struck him it struck the horse,
too, so he kept along at brisk trot, and
I kept pounding the fellows face. By
and by his foot caught in the wheel and
he fell on his back, and the wheels ran
over his legs"
"He didn't get into the wagon, them"
"Well, I guess not. He had tackled
the wrong customer that time"
"That was quite an adventure. Is that
the only time you were trOubled?"
CHATS the only time anybody at
tempted to stop me. 1 have broken
down a good many times, but that was
nothing; | could mend up easy enough.
1 have been through some pretty big
snOw-drifts, though. Many a time have
carried a shovel and got out and dug the
horse out of the drifts. l remember once
that I got into big drift which filled the
/ road. Besides the mail 1 had number
) of heavy express packages on"
"You ran an express, too, then?"
20 yes. 1 have carried everything
} from a collar to an engine. But, as l was
saying, when I struck that drift saw
the horse couldn't drag that load and
me. too So l got out and took to the
top of the wall. The horse kept therOad
all right, and 1 walked on top of the
wall for quarter Of mile or more, I'M
til we got out Of the drift"
what was your route?"
81 took the mail at the postOffice here,
and drove up through Farmers, and
right through by the mill, passing the
graveyard, to South Attleboro. There l
left the bag and my express packages.
Then drove up over Red Rock hill, to
Oldtown, where I left another mail at
l Newell's tavern. I carried that mail in
. a box. Then 1 drove round through
Farmers again, and so home. 1t was
about eight miles in all"
did you carry telegraph messages as
: we'll as the mail and express 2"
eyes, l have carried telegraph mes
sages ever since the telegraph Office was
opened here, and carry them now in
connection with my hack business.
have carried a great deal of express mat
ter-some pretty heavy packages. Once
! l carried a corpse. It came by train In
5 care of the sexton, and was to go to
, South Attleboro. The sexton went with
me. The box was pretty long, and pro-
jected over the rear of the wagon some
distance. 1t was a kind of a dark, stor-
my night. When we got to the grave
yard we drove through it over to the
back side, and unloaded the box"
"Did you see any ghosts ?"
'No ghosts. We drove right off after
; leaving the body"
"You have carried money and valu-
able packages often, suppose?"
30 yes many time. One night a
man gave me 5000 in gold tied up in a
silk bag to carry, and threw it into the
bottom of the wagon. He thought I was
mighty careless, but there couldn't any
body get the bag, for it was right close to
my feet. I should like to see anyone
! try to get it away from me. He would
have good job"