The Hazlehurst signal. (Hazlehurst, Miss.) 1883-1885, 1885-10-22

/ see YOU ON an important matter. You will
| take receipt for all money and ynluablcs IN
your safe.
"GEoRGE DISGHAN,
| superintendent
"Templeton was the place where
trains met for meals. After McCalla
had finished his work and written the
letter he set out on foot for Cowans-
hammock, the nearest station. In those
DAYS il was desolatc sort OF n place,
but when the blast furnaces were going
there n good many passengers used to
get on and of trains. The station house
and platform sat close up against the
bluff side. and the track and the ground
/ around there were mass of black
cinders taken for ballast from the
furnaces. IL was a novelty for pass
enger TO get on train there in those
times, SO we were not little surprised
to find that the station.kccpcr nor his
wife had not seen any one about there
March Is. We got to talking To their
little girl. and she told Us she had seen
. man that afternoon sitting On n loo
near the station, and noticed that he
had torn up piece of paper and threw
il away. Joe Cupplcs and | went over
to the log. Sure enough, there scat.
tered over the black cinders were a lot
of small pieces of white paper. There
had been fall of rain. just enough
TO moistcn the surface sufficient To
prevent the pieces from blowing away.
We picked up every particle wo could
find, tied them up in handkerchief
and then went to Pittsburgh. In the
meantime we had gotten pretty good
description of the man who had cut the
wire. Well. we spent most of the night
! in Pittsburgh, joining those papers to-
gcther. Finally. toward morning, we
succeeded in producing a blank check on
the Bank of Carlisle. Pa. From this il
was apparent that the man who tore the
paper into bits evidently desired To
sever all his connection with Carlisle.
and wo Immediately made up our mind
that was the place to pursue the hunt.
We went, and about the first place we
attempted to get any information was
at the Carlisle telegraph Office. As it
happened. there was u young lad in
charge, and after occupying him in an
attempt TO send a message to an Office
we knew did not cNis; in Iowa, Wa
made the boy happy by telling him it
did not make much difference, any
way,
IL then told him that was very well
acquainted with 4 young man in Car
Isle whose friendship l had made in
Pittsburgh. and he had given me a
pressing invitation To call and see him
il ever came TO Carlisle. and | would
be very much pleased To do so, but
having bad memory, unfortunately,
had forgotten his name. then gave
an accurate description, rs had re-
ccivcd il. Of the man VINO had sent the
bogus dispatches.
"'Oh,' said the operator, you mean
McCalla.'
That's the NAME l replied, with
unconcealcd delight Where does he
live?' asked.
"'Gcorgc lives over here answered
the young fellow. lie is living with
his brother; he has been sick. lie
comes TO the Office TO see me pretty
nearly every day when he is well
enough. His brother WHIP
"'Ycs. his brother WILL said /. con-
ceaiing rs best could my enthusiasm,
for knew then We werc on the true
scent of the game.
"'Will, said the young operator. in
answer to my question, has gone 10
Palmer, Tex, where he is doing right
well. He is operator station agent,
express agent and don't know what
else. He is making lots Of money
81 forgot TO tell you that when Me-
Gala got done manipulating the wires
with his pocket instrument he left it
with the Waterman, who handed il over
to me and Cupplcs. An idea struck
me. resumed the conversation with
the remark that didn't know Will was
telegraph operator. lie was n very
nice fellow though, and | intended to
make him present. How would n
man in his business like to have pock-
ct instrument? l asked.
"rd like to have one very much.
said the young fellow. and know that
is just what VIII wants He was here
few days since on Il visit among his
folks, and came to see me, and was
talking about getting a pocket instru-
ment. llc asked mo where he could
buy one. and gave him the address of
Philadelphia firm.
Just give me the name of that firm
and will make viii present of q
pocket instrument. said i. for he Is u
good fellow.
The operator gave me the name of
the firm. and il corrcsponded precisely
with the name engraved upon the in
strument that had done such effective
work in robbing the company.
"This was evidence enough. We
went to Palmer. Tex, where McCalla
had been acting rs agent for the Hous.
ton Il Texas Road. and there ascer-
tanned that he had not only dcfaultcd
in his accounts with the company to the
extent Of 81, 500, hut had made arrange
ments with n married woman for her TO
forsake her husband and follow him to
Atlanta, Ga. We were close on him