The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1894-09-21

ne ~ leave with YOU III give you
the combination. and after the rob
bsrs have 20, tired and gone home you
can open the safe and let me ont"
All right" SAYS Gates. III let you
ont fast enough provided can re-
member the combination. but you
know my memory ism. what YOU might
! call first-cla~S. and might forget the
| combination. and never be able 10
open the safe. or course. you wouldn't
mind a little thing like that. for you'd
be snug and comfortable. though per
haps little bit hungry after awhile.
"Well. the conductor kept on chatting
Jim about his new invention. but the
two We're good friends. though il was
afterwaad thought by people who
didn't know all the facts that Gates
was partly 10 blame for what hap
pened. Jim gave Gates the combina-
tion Of the safe. and the very next day
after the thing was put up in the bag
gage ear the train was held up just this
side Of Athensvill..
The robbers climbed into the bag
gage car and when they couldn't find
Jim they brought out the conductor
and told him 70 open the safe. The
conductor swore that nobod, knew the
combination except Jim. and he wasn't
aboard the train that night. but had
laid over AT Jones Misery. owing to
not feeling very well. The robbers,
seeing a. Jim was not To be found.
believed what the conductor said.
and they went To work 10 pick the
lock Of the safe. OF course they
couldn't do it, Then they tried their
center bits. but they couldn't make any
impression on the safe. The bits
would just slide around and scratch
the surface here and there. but they
had hardly made a dent in the steel.
ty mad. and they slid the safe out
into the open and tried what they
could do with dynamite. They must
have put lot Of stuff under the sase.
for when il went off the safe sailed
more than thirty feet in the air and
came down so solid that she made a
big hole in the ground. But when
they came 10 examine her she wasn't
hurt bit. Not joint nor bolt was
started. and except for little black
ening Of the outside She was as good
a. new.
This hyar is low down outrage
says the robber captain. The man
that made that safe deserves hanging.
II ever man did. for the thing is
going To put an end To train robbing.
and will throw hundreds of men out
Of employment | hate a man what
hasn't any feeling for his fellow men.
We'll the rest Of the robbers they
stood around the safe and cussed till
they were tired. but they admitted
that they couldn't open it. and after
awhile they told the conductor that
he might take his safe back again. and
start his train down the road Accord
ingly. we got the safe in the baggage
car again. and after the train was a
mile or two down the road the con-
ductor ne opens her. and there was
Jim. a, gay as a jaybird and laughing
himself sick over the failure Of the
robbers
There wasn't any doubt that Jim's
scheme had worked well. and the ex-
press company gave him fifty dollars
a. testimonial of their gratitude for
having prevented the robbers from
Selling two hundred thousand dollars
worth Of gold dust. Bimeby a new
idea occurred 10 Jim. You see at that
time there wasn't any telegraph on
this line. and there being only a
single track. and that pretty rough
one. accidents were frequent One
day when there was drove of cattle
Oh the line. and Jim. looking out of
the car. saw that there was certain TO
be a smash up. he just opens his safe
and gets into il u wait for better
times That train went off the track.
and the baggage car broke loose and
went down an enbankment. turning
over half dozen times and going
clean 10 kindling wood. When we
began 10 clear things up and missed
Jim we all supposed that he had been
smashed. but when the conductor
opened the safe To see if things were
AL right. there was Jim. as smiling as
a basket Of chips. and inquired in a
careless way IL there was anything
the matter with the train. After that
Jim regularly climbed into his safe
whenever he heard the danger signal.
and he never once got the least scratch
or brui>e.
'.Iim was q careful man and never
neglected any prccaution that would
make the valuables in his charge as
safe a. possible This was why he
made il rule 70 change the combina-
tion of the safe every month. Abou,
the "a day 81 August remember the
month because | always suffer frs.n (
the liver complaint in August and 1
was off duty at the time and reading.
in the smoking car. being too sick To \
work as INSTRUMENTATION we came \
near running into a wagon that was
the track. When Jim heard /
the brakes blown down he crawled
into his safe and shut the door. expect
ing there would be an accident. 1t 80
that the wagon got clear Of
IN sra.k inst IL, ffrv,a md va. ,eopt -,