The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1894-06-27
An rxpERImEnr IN rAIrvEay.
Tiae Greasers did Not CalcnImse ON saa
Plunder Being So Heavy.

4 49, $500 80 1s0S N&@A&0MA%& WM 06&
Plunder Being 80 Heavy.
At the time Geronimo was massa-
creing people for amusement and stir
ring things up generally along the bor-
der Of old Mexico and the states I was
with o party Of American engineers who
were constructing a branch of the Mex
lean Central railroad not far from the
border and directly in .old Geronimo's
territory.
Down there the Indians and the poor.
er class of Mexicans are inveterate
thieves and will steal anything they
q manage to carry away without be.
ing detected. They will steal a thing
totally regardless of whether it is of any
earthly use to them or not.
Our party had missed a quantity of
tools, supplies of railroad iron, ties,
etc, and could not imagine how the
thieves could utilize the material uniess
they were building a little railroad for
their own amusement. Night after
night we placed guards to watch for
them, but it seemed they always knew
when the guards were ON the lookout
and refused to attempt a foray on those
nights. So we concluded that the cul-
prits were members of the camp and
knew all that was going on. After ar
irving at that conclusion we made il a
practice to collect all portable property
into convenient groups and guard it
carefully.
In the outfit we had a large steam
pile driver, q heavy piece of machinery
difficult to transport even under the
most favorable circumstances-which
we did notdeem necessaryto guard, never
for a moment thinking the thieves
would attempt to make away with it.
But, as subsequent events showed, we
had moderated Mexican acquisitive-
ness.
1t may be we'll to explain that a pile
driver is o sort Of derrick varying in
height from so to 20 feet. 1t weighs
several tons and is held in an upright
position by strong guy topes. This pile
driver was located in advance Of the
camps and probably a quarter Of q mile
from the nearest.
One bright moonlight night the camp
was aroused by AN unearthly noise and
a heavy crash, the disturbance seeming
to come from the direction Of our pile
driver. We Immediately surmised some
deyilment, knowing, as we did, that the
'tgreasers'' were none too friendly to
"los gringos," as they called the Ameri-
cans. -Four of us hastily arose, buckled
N our revolvers, and with q winchester
apiece moved ON the enemy. When we
reached q knoll a few rods from and
overlooking the location of the disturb
ance, we 'slimbered up'' our artillery
and cautiously peered over the knoll,
expecting TO see a band of Indians or
''greasers" doing some sort of malicious
work and were fully determined to an
nounce mi disapproval with a hot
broadside from the winchesters. What
did see when we viewed the scene
OF the commotion surprised MS more
than would have the whistling of a few
bullets around our heads.
The Mexicans had attempted to steal
our pile driver and had brought a team
Of burros to drag it away. They Of
course placed the team in the wrong
position, cut the guy ropes and the pile
driver fell squarely across the backs of
the poor little burros, smashing them as
fat as tortillos (pancakes).
After that u pile drivers were safe
In Mexico. Chicago Record.