The Pioche weekly record. [volume] (Pioche, Nev.) 1877-1900, 1894-01-18
THE TRAVELLING TRAMP
RAILROAD PETE HAS LUCK
WHEN ON THE ROAD.
Accidents Had no Terror for Him-He
Could Grin and Bear Anything That
Turned Up-Had Come Out of a Dozen
smash-Ups without q scratch.


Yes, tramp is killed in a rail-
road accident now and them said
the freight conductor, "but it may
be set down as an act of Providence.
In other words, it is the tramp who
seems to have nineteen chances out
of twenty of coming off without
scratch"
''1 GU carry good many on the
deadhead list, l suppose?" queried
the Detroit Free Press man.
al don't suppose that a freight
train enters or leaves Detroit which
hasn't from two to ten tramp passen-
gers on the bumpers" he replied.
1.-The last thing before pulling out,
we go along the train and drive them
off, but they are lack in place again
before the train is under way. Now
and then I've had tramp killed on
my train, but he was q second class
tramp and new to the railroad bust
ness There are two species of him,
as you probably know-the railroad
tramp and the highway tramp"
mo, | didn't know that"
"Well, it's so, and tho railroad
tramp feels himself head and shout
ders above the other; one rides in his
carriage, so to say, while the other
sloshes through mud or dust. We
were speaking, however, of tramps
being killed on the road. A week
ago l saw by the papers that a we'll
known tramp called Railroad Pete
had been killed down near DAYTON.
| didn't believe it, and it wasn't an
hour ago that met him down in the
yards looking for Chicago freight
did you ever carry him on any
OF your runs?"
Ibid |? Well, / should whistle for
q COW on the track! I'll bet moncv
Pete has travelled 25, OO) miles on nv
trains, and III bet more money that
he goes out with me,to night. He is
case in point, He's been in at least
dozen smash-ups and never got
scratch, Five years ago, when | first
met him, we struck farmers team
at crossing and had fourteen cars
piled into the ditch. About the last
thing the wrecking crew came to as
they cleared away the debris was
Railroad Pete, but he didn't even
have his nose skinned where four of
my crew were killed. Six months
later my train went through a bridge
and two men were killed and eight
cars smashed to kindlino wood.
Pete was down at the bottom, as
usual and | believe he got his foot
hurt that time. Do you remember
the big accident down near Monroe
vile two years ago?"
81 believe there was one"
'4ou can be sure there was, I
was running II train of forty-two
cars, half of them 'empties,' when
the engine struck car which had
rolled on to the main track from
siding. That was what you might
call jim dandy accident. Twenty
nine cars left the track and the kind
ling wood was piled thirty feet high.
The engineer was killed outright, the
fireman fatally injured and three of
my brakemen never knew what hurt
EN-. got off light, but it was three
months in the hospital. Railroad
Pete was right in the center of that
wreck, and it was eighteen hours be-
fore they got him out He hadn't
even bruise oe him.
"But he can't always escape.
81 dunno about that. | know of
his having been thrown off a train
twice and landing right side up.
Two or three times he has jumped off
at stations whore he didn't stop.
ana after knocking down fences and
uprooting trees, has escaped even n
busted suspender One night, down
near Toledo, he got to fighting with
another tramp on the roof of a car
and was Knocked off by a bridge.
The other man was run over and cut
into strings, while Pete landed in n
snow-bank and reached town only
forty minutes behind schedule time
Down here at Trenton one night
about year ago he was manpuv-
ring around to get ride on nv
train when the express picked him
up. Say if he wasn't thrown twenty
feet high and hundred feet out
into garden you may call me a
liar!"
"And he wasn't killed." .
"Killed. Why, when half dozen
men went after his body thew
couldn't find it, As soon as he
struck he jumped up and made a
half circle to strike my train and get
a front seat. | believe he com
planned that one of his knees was
olt SUN Tor week or so, but that
was all. Kill old Railroad Petel #
might be done with gun or axe.
but he can't be gathered to his faith
ers by any sort of railroad accident
we know anything about in this
country"
Satisfactory Reason.