The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-06-08
SAVED BY A DEAD MAN.
A Weird Adventure Rslated by q
Western Messenger.


From the Pittsburo Commercial Gdxe.te.
was sitting in saloon near big ex-
press building. During the winter of
1885," said burly man with a shock of
black hair, II was in the Wells Fargo serv-
ice between Kansas City and San Fran
cisco. The run was made upon the Atchi-
son, Topeka and Santa Fe and Southern
Pacific railways that join at Deming. On
Christmas eve, bearing eastward, with the
journye 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 Califor-
MIA line, and there, as we took on the stage
company's strong box. / counted upon the
last disturbance of the night. Until day
break the journey lay through alkali
stretches, where at every 00miles the train
rushes shrieking through poor, uncommer-
cial cluster Of huts and halts long enough
for the locomotive TO take on water.
"Unscheduled stops, however, were not
infreQuent at the time, and there hung
within the car a rack Of repeating carbines
charged and primed.
"In taking account of the Yuma strong
box, weighing nearly 200 pounds and
'vouchered' to contain $4,000 in gold, /
glanced at the carbines. | looked again
when remembered that the safe contained
as much more.
81 assorted expressage, listed bills and
overhauled the carbines as the train few
and the storm beat. l knew the route so
well that l could call the towns and tanks
as the engine whistled or stopped.
'Toltec,' l thought, as at midnight the
hoarse whistle began to sound. We pass
her with al howdy. No, by Georgel we're
going TO STOP
A COFFIN ON BOARD.
81 opened the door enough to see a Ian
tern swaying at a small station and little
group on the platform surrounding a box,
and evidently preparing to put it on board.
Tumble it in, quick l said.
VA little slow, partner, replied a man
on the platform. It's coffin
IA moment later | was alone with the
corpse in a prison as secure as O tomb,
while the wheels roared beneath and the
storm ragged outside.
Somehow | was nervous and couldn't
keep my eyes off that coffin. l fancied that
it moved and was slowly rising up on end
or that it was preparing an onslaught; then
that it was about to disclose the dead.
"The last of these notions-that the occu-
pant of the coffin might liberate itself
got hold of me and l couldn't shake it off.
The box was of usual size and exceptionally
ill-made. The wood was rough, warped
and filled 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 l couldn't resist turning il
over, face down. 1t seemed to me to roll
horribly.
Then imagined heard a noise at the
car door and at the same moment move-
ment in the coffin. knew it was foolish
but rolled the stage company's strong box,
with its 200 pounds of gold to the coffin and
SET it upon the lid toward the larger end.
"Then lighted my pipe. l noticed after
ward, though l didn't think of it at the
time, that most of the knot holes toward the
head Of the coffin were covered and sealed
by the fiat iron bottom OF the safe.
TIMELY WARNING.
Several minutes passed, and the engine
had blown its 'view-holloap at a wayside
cattle town, when suddenly sounds began
to issue from the box. There was a scutfiing
groaning, kicking against the sides.
ITO say that l was Mortified doesn't ex-
press it. The struggle in the box continued.
/ staggered to the gun rack, tore down a
carbine, corked, aimed and fired 1t through
| the box ten feet away.
"Muffied shrieks now mingled with the
humping and rhreshing in the box. fired
again, The shrieks were redoubled. be-
| came frantic, and shrieked like a lunatic
myself, while l fired again and again at
| the box until the magazine was exhausted
and then l rushed to get another.
But the pine box was split and torn; the
iron box was slowly crushing 1t down.
Through gaps in the wood blood was
streaming, and no sound whatever iss ued
from the coffin.
FINALLY long, deep groan escaped from
the box. Plainly it was a mans voice.
managed to tear away the shattered lid.
There was no coffin inside, but only the
body of a man torn with a dozen terrible
wounds.
HE wore the garb of the frontier, with
knife and pistol at his belt, and a loaded
Winchester lay at his side. He was con
scious, and gasped: Raise me up
Don't water at Tank %, said the man
with difficulty, and his jaw fell.
THE engine stopped at water tank No.
81 half hour behind schedule time. Shots
were fired through the cab Of tho locomotive
and the express car as the train dashed by
tank No. %.
1.-THE dead bandit was buried without
Identification at Deming, and some one
scrawled upon the headboard, 'Quien
Sabep"