Grand Rapids morning telegram., 1885-08-17
A THING OF THE PAST.
Sl-eere Ra.rsts or . Baggage
SmasnSr
fhs Wonderful Toaxhass sha ssrssity of
the Hair Iraas la H04rs "a Dagger
saa na CFtEi<si sita4sisas-A
DascsAanssd a1ls.

tnaA1-Ae Aisy kl14Es
An olt baggAgsmaster, hose brow 10
frosJy an1 sh0 has srsstlsd ~ita truaks
On ths various main hles q railroad Ter
ths iAss E~sasy-nys years, amused him
srlf - talkln. % arsgsFtsr concerning the
dscadsncs u the hair tuak.
1t m.kss nls fesl sal ~hsn think that
ihs hair trunk Is % more They ars things
Of tbs past. They are al extinct species"
-.nd there a melancholy light IN ais
sys ~hsa he remarked that 1t viii aot 10
long before they hass passed cat of the
memory u tagsasensa a-d they vii be
known only Ia their tradition.
''fhsre vas sofuethins that one could not
help bat Ike about the A.lr trunk. It had
baekDone AID get-up aad sand, as II were.
IL seldom gave baggas~asn any trouble"
said he, as hs ysnkod a trunk down OF The
truck with a crash, and lt ~as never re-
quirsd ~ 5andz1s up hair trunk with
eiothes-iIns. as 80 are fregr.saly obliged
~ do WIKI trunks nowadays
Il remsmbsr an - ssrrel trunk, with
perhaps few silver threads among the
gold, for IL had been - thu road long
time aud was owned by a Methodist
preacher that ~ a. IA the Mingo district on
80 4 a. TAAAhAsS AN-~1ths n1at
U. Well, yoo know, things were consid-
erably chswed uP in that wreck, and tho
hillside below the road was strewn with
splintsss Of trunks, and all kinds OF cloth
ing Was hanging around on the bushes as
IL put out % dry. Amid al this chaos
trunks were the last thing, Of course, TO be
thought Of, and, Ia fact there were no
trunks In sight. Some, as l said, were iy-
Ing Ia small fragments OF trunk board,
with bits OF paper hanging 70 them, and
others had been reduced 70 an impalpable
powder and blown away. Well, after the
dead and wounded had all been removed
they began TO clear the tracks. The cars
we're piled up 10 one side, and they put jacks
under the ergi mes They thought that they
had removed all the dead, but one OF the
workmen reached under the pilot OF the
engine and drew back, saying that 'anoth-
er poor girl was under shere with a seal
skin sacqus on When they got
the engine raised up a little more
they saw that it was the Methodist
preachers hair trunk. The engine must
have been partly resting on the trunk, but,
sir, no injury to it could be discovered but
a slight sprain in the small Of the back.
Just then the preacher came around hold
ing hts hip with one hand and a cabbage
leaf on eye with the other. Well, can
tell you that meeting was affecting, and
strong men wept. The preacher stroked it
down fOndly until il looked as neat as If IL
hal a fresh haircut and = shampoo. /
tell you that WAS trunk TO talk about
after you are dead. A cyclops might have
hammered it with n thunderbolt and never
sprung = hinge or broke a rib.
Trucks were stronger in those days.
They had 10 be. You see hair trunks were
generally well loaded, and when one was
tired at a truck, as we did fire them," he
said, smilingly, why, the truck had TO get
on its four legs and hold its ground. l re-
call little hair-trunk, as glossy and tough
as a cinnamon bear, that used to come into
my hands on the Pennsylvania Railroad.
IL was a sort Of dade, too, and wore its
har parted in the middle. Now, that
trunk was run down by a freight train,
and how it ever got under Modoc engine
has never been explain Ell, but it did and
laid down quiet Sntil eighteen cars had
passed over 1t, when for some cause it
reared ny, as il were, and nearly h'Isted
the cabOo~e of the rails.
NOW saw llStaQCB OF the re-
sisting power OF the hair trunk" con-
tinued the baggage as he took
chew Of tobacco and hurled a fragile look
ing piece OF baggage against one OF Wells,
Fargo q Co.'S iron boxes when / was
out ia Colorado a little mule had kicked
loose from hack down by the railroad
station, and continued u kick straight out
behind simply at space, as IL 70 satisfy an
uncontrollable desire TO kick. This irri-
tated the driver So be tied up the beast
securely aud showed large dr. goods
box up toward il with a pole. There was
sharp report, shower Of splintsrs aud
cloud Of dust, and when it cleared Off
there was the mule still kicking frutlessly
In thin air. l wandered ovsr and called
the driver 10 one side. He was mad at the
mule aud had been beating him with an
inch board l asked him IL be would like
% have the mule parsly zed. Says he,
taking my hand: 'Paralyzs him. | took
brintis hair trunk from the platform,
placed it against a bank 50 that it would
keep m ths Sams place. and backed the
mule in and asl him. You SEQ be smsIled
the hid. a.d thought it -as a mountain
lion or something. and instead OF kicking
FOR tsa De struck out a. II his life depend
81 On It. Every lick, however, appeared
"a stun tbs mule. and ne began 70 dsiiver
them a. longer intervals, and finally with
0as les AZ a time, and then he wa sed right
straight shsad far "a hs could. and
looked away or in careless sort OF
manner. a. II hs didn's know anything
about it. Well. sir. that mule fairly
blush sd snd fsnasd himself With his ears.
I on nsvsr saw Al animal 40 Inundated.
He vas psTsIyssd, for . fact. Yes" he
aided. thou xhtfallY, "fsv baggsgemen
q to-day Know much about tn. hair
trunk snd it@ aObls old-to, throw-me-