Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1886-05-07
AHEAD OF EDISON.
An Inventive Train News-Agent Who An
tedated the Wizard.

An Inventive Train News-Agent Who Ar
tedated the Wizard.
edison may think he has this busi
ness of telegraphing from a movin
train down fine," said the cand1
butcher, ''but I can go him one bettelE
I have been sending messages from
moving train for two years, and
stopped only three months ago. Tha
amt all, either; l send my autograph
by wire, and boxes of candy, fruit, nov
els, and n hull lot o. such things. Edi
is way behind the times"
YOU'RE lying"
mo, l hain't. I swear by the grea
horned spoon that I am telling thd
truth, s'clp me. You doubt me? Cd
course. All great inventors have been
greeted in this cold world by sncers and
incredulity. That has been the fortune
of all OF us great men. But We gel
there just the same. You want to hear
how l did it? Well, I'll tell you.
About two years ago l went gone on d
girl who lived down in the country in d
house located about Il half mile from tha
track in a little valley. There was no
station there, and I didn't get to see
her very often, except at q distance-a
ave OF a handkerchief, or some thing
like that-and this wasn't satisfactory,
as you may imagine. NY train never
passed that way unless l had a yearning
that there would be an ae-
cident or something that would cause uS
to lay over two or three days. l used
to think seriously about throwing my
self off the rear car and getting hurt. so
l could be carried to her dads house
and by her fair hands and loving ten
derness nursed slowly back to the
strength and health of a vigorous young
manhood. rs the story books have it.
But | didn't throw myself off the train,
not just then. Might have done it butt
for an idea An idea came to me from
out of the clouds. 1 guess. 1t was .
regular inspiration. II broke all over
me like a bad egg, which a granger
threw at me once down the road in re-
vcnge for cheating him out of a nickel.
1t took possession of me from my brain
to my heart. 1 wasn't long getting to
work on it, either. The very next Sun
day stopped at the nearest station,
hired a livery horse and carriage, and
o out to my girls house. Under
the seat in the carriage I had a big roll
OF telegraph wire which the linemen
had left out in the storm. 1 told the
girl OF my little scheme, and she became
enthusiastic over it. Between the
house and the railroad, u half-m!e
away, was 4 piece of woods coming
clear up to the track. Here we were
walking, and I took along my roll OF
wire and some tools which she
Sncaked out of her dads shop
We worked like beavers all the after,
noon, and by night had a wire stretched
from the track down the hillside to al
arbor in the garden by the house. FROM
that on l sent her a message every time
| passed. Some days I sent her books
oranges, boxes of candy, every thInS
like that. How? just as easy IS 1an,
ing OFT Il log. I had stretched the wiz
from the top of a whistle post close y
the side of the trark, and in my H!
kept a lot of little wire fixin's when :
made myself. They fit the wire nlctM
and to 'em I could tie letters, IEsmm
packages and such things, and then aa
had to do was to watch for the WIl.ls
post, hoop in hand, and, on reaehlaS ~
the post, slip the hoop on the VIA,
while the train was running forty 1l .,sr
an hour. Down the hillside the le' ~,
glided with great rapidity, and al . ts
other end of the line she was Walsn'
on the arbor bench for my mes''SS
Great scheme, isn't it?:" -.oo
Yes; but how did You come to '"f
on ity"
why, bout three months ago ~"
RED the girl. You wouldn't eSp1 ~ 10
man to 90 to all that trouble in oro. ,r 4
keep up communication with ms V"
wife. would you?"-.C Chicago As'a"S