Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1891-12-03
EXERT WOMEN 1&.N JUMPERS.
They Rob Coal Trains in Transit Along
the SchuyIl<iII Valley.

They Rob Coal Trains in Transit Along
the SchuyIkHI Valley.
Mrs. Marie SantOw is one of the most
expert train jumpers in the United States
With the ease and deNterity of veteran
railruader Mrs. Santow takes Il flying leap
on a swift moving coal train and safely
lands on the bumper or on the axle end
above the wheel. With the same ease and
success she jumps safely from train and
goes on her way rejoicing
Mrs. Santow is Il buXom, good looking
black haired and black eyed woman, and is
thirty five years old. She is a coal picker,
and at the close of the night her face and
hands are begrimed and black She is
what is known as a professional coal picker;
that il, she picks coal along the railroad
for the use of her family. In the lower
section of Reading are some thirteen wom-
en- coal pickers who nightly jump on and
off moving coal trains and think nothing
of it. Mrs. Santow is 1.-The queen of the
gang, and is regarded as the most ven
tureso me.
1t is common custom for the women
to go down the road on loaded trains and
come back on empty trains. The trains
go at the rate of ten to fifteen miles an
hour beyond the lower outskirts of the
city. Three or four women Jump on a
loaded coal train at night and scatter
along The middle cars away from the sight
of the brakemen and conductor In the
space of three miles they succeed in push
ing of lot of coal from the tops of the
well loaded cars. Those loaded with egg.
furnace or steamboat coal are not molest-
ed. The nut coal is the most sought
after. After the women have gone down
far enough, and if not detected, they Jump
off the train no matter how fast it is NOV
ing; but they generally take their time in
selecting the best place to make a safe
landing
The coal that they push off the cars on
the down trip is gathered up at dawn by
girl coal picslers who have not yet become
proficient in train jumping After the
women leave the loaded coal trains going
down they wait for an up coal train made
up of empty cars. These trains run rapid
ly, but the women. no matter how dark
the mig Mt, run swiftly along with the train
and jump on them gracefully and sue
cessfully as any practical railroader. They
gather up their skirts in their left hand
and use their right in securing grip.
Once OH an empty car, the women get
down II to 1t and scrape the coal together
At times considerable coal is left in the
piers at tidewater, and this coal is a bonan-
"a to the women, who scoop it up into bags,
completely filling them by the time the
train reacheS the outskirts of the city.
These filed bags are then swung over
the sides of the car and dropped to the
ground, followed by the women them
selves. In this way they toll all night,
and succeed in getting together a lot of
coal, which is deposited in the back yards
of the shanties they occupy. Their hus-
bands ork in the neghboring mills, and
are never known to buy more than n ton
of coal for winter use They buy this coal
i'll order to have receipted bill to show in
case they are arrested. The girls gather
up the coal in pans and old scuttles along
the railroad. They are frequently chased
by the railroad police, but are rarely ar
rested, because the girls are seen doing
nothing wrong, and the women train
jumpers work only at night and are smart
enough I OF TO be caught at it.
Occasionally one is killed through her
own carlessness, but such an accident has
not happened recently. Some of the more
successful coal pickers have enough coal to
spare TO sell to their neighbors.-Cor
New York Sun.