Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1889-10-04
A QUIET LITTLE OLD MAN.
HOW HE EARNED A PASS TO UTICA
AND RODE IN A PARUOR CAR.

His Coat Pocket-One Conductor Who
Knew 'Spotter'' When He Saw Him.
Got His Travelling Expenses and a Tenner
A small, slender man, with iron gray hair
and closely trimmed mustache, was a pas
senger on the limited Chicago express that
left the Grand Central dspot at $50 o'clock
one morning some weeks since over the tracks
of the New York Central railroad. He was
very slight man, and could not have weighed
over 100 pounds He was modestly dressed
in blue serge, and wore a turn down collar, a
black grenadine silk tie and soft hat. There
was an air of confidence about him that be-
tokened the experienced traveller, and al
though his features were naturally severe,
they frequently relaxed into pleasant smiles
as bis reveries turned to pleasing subjects.
The $50 train is made up entirely of Wag-
ner drawing room cars, and is about as COM
plete a train as even the most luxurious
could desire AS there is an extra charge for
tickets on this train only the weather. tray
elers indulge in them. Among these aristo-
Gratis the little man looked quite at home,
and none among them appeared more dis
tinguished and accustomed to the luxurious
surroundings than he. AS the train pulled
out of the depot he drew from the depths OF
a satchel by his side small black silk skull
cap. With great deliberation he removed
his hat and put it on q bracket. Then he
pulled the cap down on his forehead, took q
newspaper from an inside pocket of his coat
and settled down in the depths of his chair to
read.
The gray haired man leaned back in his
chair with closed eyes, and remained in that
attitude for some time after the train had
emerged from the tunnel into the sunshine.
The first stop was made at Albany. During
the interim lie had alternately dozed, read
the paper and chatted with the banker.
When the conductor came around and
punched the tickets he was doing SO heavily,
apparently, that the conductor had to shake
him quite heavily to arouse him. The old
ladies were quite indignant at the conductor,
and vowed that he was really unnecessarily
rough with the nice old gentleman, and
thought that he ought to be reported for his
| rudeness.
| It certainly did seem as though the con-
ductor rather overdid his duty in this regard.
| 1t was also odd to observe the way the con-
ductor started when he first laid eyes on the
old man. He seemed to recognize him, and
| yet, after the first glance of startled recog-
| milton, there was no indication that he had
ever seen him before except cold look of
| disdain and an evident satisfaction in the
| way he jostled him. As for the old man, he
seemed to pay no attention to the conduct
| or's action, except that he was unusually
earnest in the way he studied his newspaper
after the conductor had left him.
| To the close observer there were three mat
tiers worthy of notice. In the first place, the
old man was travelling on pass issued from
the main office of the company. The conduct
or studied it closely each time that he came
around to examine the tickets, and appeared
to take a malevolent pleasure in making the
old man watt but the latter did not seem to
be at all disturbed by that. Secondly, the
| old man always looked at his watch in a
guarded way after the conductor had passed
out of the car; and, thirdly, his left hand
seemed to be busily moving in the lower left
| hand pocket of his sack coat for some min
utes after he had thus observed the time.
| Whenever the conductor was in the car the
old man was entirely occupied, to all appear
ances, in reading, doing or deep converse
ton with the banker The latter, who was
entirely oblivious, as were the other passen-
gers, of the byplay between the conductor
and the old man. was frequently startled by
the abrupt manner in which the latter
launched out into some discourse on Wall
street. When the conductor was not in the
car the old man seemed to be dreamily en-
gagged in studying its interior. He Travelled
as far as Utica, and during this time the con-
ductor must have entered the car a dozen
times Several times the old man, as though
weary of sitting still, left his chair and wan
dered through the train with an air of great
abstraction. After each of these little eXer-
cises he resumed his seat and his paper, but
his eyes were not on the latter, and his left
hand was busy in the mysterious pocket.
| When he got out of the train the conductor
watched him enter the waiting room Of the
Utica depot and nodded derisively to one of
the brakemen.
Two weeks thereafter the old man returned
to New York on an afternoon train. There
was different conductor this time, one who
certainly did not recognize the passenger,
but the latter conducted himself in the same
peculiar manner as before. When he left the
train he carried his gripsack in his left hand,
and from other indications it was apparent
that he was left handed man. After he had
walked out into Forty-second street he di-
rected his steps to Vanderbilt avenue, and
| not long thereafter entered one of the offices
of the company. He was shown into an in
ner room, where one of the officials was busy
writing
''Ah, see you have returned, Dobson, "
said the official, pleasantly.
eyes, sir, and here is my report"
As he spoke he took from the mysterious
pocket small pad of paper and number of
leaves, which had evidently been torn from
it. The leaves were covered with writing
and so was part of the top leaf of the pad.
The writing consisted Of paragraphs like
these:
21a P. M.-Chcago limited going to New York
from Utica. Train in good condition. Conductor
businesske and attentive. No fares were col
ected, all the passengers being provided with
tickets.
~ P. M.-Two passengers got on at Albany
and insisted that q pass made out for man and
wife should cover both their fares Conductor
refused to accept this and collected fare Cor one
Gave slip and punched it properly.
91a A NJ, July -.-Chicago limited to Utica
from New York No remarks, except that con-
ductor recognized writer and took occasion to
show it. No money collected.
$50 - spotted you. did he's" asked the
official, smiling
Eyes, and made things rather unpleasant,
too" observed Dobson, with grimace
'How do you manage to write out your
report so clearly in your pocket?" asked the
official, studying the tiny leaves before him.
''Ten years of experience as detective
have made me expert" said Dobson 81 have
a stub pencil with soft lead, and l can feel
my way easily. l know | can write just so
many lines to page, and can feel when
get near the edge"
The official glanced over the report care
fully and put it aside
"Come in again when you want to make
another trip" he said. You can have pass
at any time"
Dobson nodded and withdrew An hour
later he entered the Office of the Pinkerton
agency in Temple court.
"Have pleasant tilneg' he was asked by
one of the men there
eyes, and cheap one, too My travelling
expenses cost nothing, and got tenner into
the bargain for reporting the condition of
the trains. That's the way to take a vaca-
tinn>-New York SIM
A Sturdy Centenarian.
The guardians of the Eiffel tower in Paris
were lately surprised to receive visit from
man 1902 years old, who wished to ascend
the great tower.