Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1890-08-22
A NIGHT WITH A CORPSE
An EXPRESS MESSENGERS ADVENT
uRE IN THE WILD WEST.

| vi Ntd1S, lcTIfSS duu StilHlllS on NOltu
river chop house burrows beneath the
confusion of that quarter In the little
basement room are cobwebs, tallow can
dies, pewter tobies, 'alf-and-'alf and steaks
of hung" and "high" meat in the APP
proved English fashion.
There, late one night, sat half dozen
workmen from big express building near
by and the interloper who sets down this
record
The talk had sunk to the matter OF
corpses, which often travel by express,
though never by invitation of the express
messenger
During the winter of 1886, (" said burly
man with a shock of black hair, 81 was in
the Wells-Fargo service between Kansas
City and San Francisco. The run was
made upon the Atchison, Topeka and
Sante Fe and Southern Pacific railways,
that join Mt Deming. On Christmas eve,
bearing eastward, with the journey so far
done from Frisco, the train drew out Of
Yuma, facing the Arizona desert in the
midst of an astonishing storm of sleet and
rain. Yuma marks the California line,
and there, as we took on the stage com
pany's strong box, | counted upon the last
disturbance of the night. Until daybreak
the journey lay through alkali stretches,
where mt every 100 miles the train rushes
shrieking through n poor unoommercial
cluster of huts and halts long enough for
the locomotive to take on water.
"Unscheduled stops, however, were not
infrcquent at that time, and there hung
within the car a rack of repeating ear
bines, charged and prmed,
TRAVELLING WITH 100000.
"In taking account OF the Yuma strong
box, weighing nearly two hundred pounds
and 'vouchered' TO contain $50 600 in gold,
! glanced at the carbines. looked again
when remembered that the safe contained
as much more
"Joachim Murilla burned me out Of the
car for less than half that, and gave me
the bullet that lanes my back" said the
burly man with Il smile. II had hardly
dollar III the car the night stood OFF the
rustlers at Dodge City. reflected what
will the company expect now with 100000
on my shoulders?
81 assorted oSpressage, listed bills and
overhauled the carbines as the train few
and the storm beat. | knew the route so
well that | could call the towns and tanks
as the engine whistlcd or stopped
"'Toltec,' thought, as at midnight the
hoarse whistle began to sound We pass
her with II 'howdy,' No, by Georgel we're
going to stop
II opened tho door enough TO sec 4 Ian
tern swnyiag at n small station and little
group on the platform surrounding a box
and evidently preparing TO put it on board.
Tumble it In quick, said.
"A little slow, paryner,' replied a man
on the platform. It's a coffin
"A moment later / was alone with the
corpse in prison MS secure as a tomb,
while the wheels roared beneath and the
storm raved outside.
Somehow ! was nervous and couldn't
keep my eyes of that coffin. fancied that
it moved and was slowly rising up on end.
or that it was preparing m onslaught.
then that il was about TO disclose the dead
THE last of these notions--that the oc-
cupant Of the coffin might li5erate herself
got hold of me and couldn't shake il
of. The box WIS of unusual size and cx.
ceptionally i'll made. The wood was rough,
warped and filed with knots and knot
holes. All this might easily have been due
to the limited facilities Of a desert town
don't know why, but | couldn't resist
turning it over face down 1t seemed to
me to roll horribly.
"Thon imagined heard a noiee at the
car door and at the same moment a move
ment in the colin. knew it was foolish,
but rolled the stage company's strong
Lox, with its 200 pounds of gold TO tho
coffin and set IL upon the lid toward tho
larger end.
SHOOTING Al a BOX.
"Then lighted my pipe. noticed after.
ward, though didn't think Of it at the
time, that most Of the knothoics toward
the hend of the coffin were covered and
sealed by the fiat iron bottom Of the strong
box.
Several minutes passed, and the engine
had blown It's 'ycw hall0nP at n wHysde
cattle town, when suddenly sounds began
to Issue from the box. There was no doubt
about it this time There was II seuilling,
a agroaning, a kicking against the sides,
"To say that was Mortified doesn't ex-
press it. The struggle in the box continued.
staggered to the gun rack, tore down "A
carbine, cooked, aimed and fired il through
the box ten feet away.
"Muiflcd shrcks now mingled with the
humping and threshing in the box. fired
again. The shreks were redoubled. be-
came frantic and shrieked like lunatc
myself, while fired again and again at the
boN until the magazine was exhausted, and
then rushed to get another.
But the pine boS was split and torn;
the iron box was slowly crushing it down;
through gaps in the wood blood was
streaming and no sounds whatever issued
from the coffin.
Finally long, deep groan escaped from
the box, Plainly it was n mans voice,
managed TO tear away the shattered lid.
body of n man torn with dozen terrible
wounds.
'1Ic wore the garb Of the frontier with
knife and pistol at his belt, and ionded
Winchester lay az his side. He was con
scious and gasped, Raise me up
Don't water at tank o. said the man
with difficulty. and his jaw fell.
"The engine stopped at water tank No.
q, "A half hour behind schedule time Shots
were fired through the cab Of the locomo-
tive ana the express car rs the train dashed
by tank %.
'Tho dead bandit was buried without
at Dcming, and SOME one
scruwled upon the head board: 'Quien
Salcs'"
4 long breath followed the s'o-y, and
then a small man over in the corner rose
to go. The movement stirred the others,
nnd they, too, got upon their feet and
went ont.
"Did you know that steat man with fhe
bnshy black hairf" asked the winter who
lB.0 4ht nc a check.
., sir"
" . no is hes"
"icastways. sir, don't know biz name,
bnt everybody calls him Truthful jim,
llT lie do yarn H. sir. most rc~e-iuln-