The Coconino weekly sun., 1894-09-20

THERE WAS JIM AS GAY AS A JAYBIRD." time so far as Jim was concerned there was nobody who had the right to make any objection. The minister who conducted the funeral did say something about the extraordinary nature of the coffin that we had chosen for the deceased, but we told him that the coffin didn't con cern him and that all he had to do was to heave ahead and give it Christian burial without passing any of his remarks.
 Ut must have been year after the funeral when passenger got to talk ing with the conductor of the express in the smoking car about Jim and his safe, and he accidentally mentioned that the night before Jim shut himself up for the last time they, too, had been talking politics, and Jim, who was democrat, was singing language about President Hayes and saying that he had stolen the presidency from Tilden, and was no better than train robber. When the conductor heard this he swore awhile in a thoughtful sort of way, and then he says: We've got that combination at last.
 "'How sop says the man.
 Why says the conductor Jim al. lowed.that the com mbination was a word of five letters that had something to do either with robbery or politics. Now Hayes would be exactly that sort of word, and l can't think now happened that we didn't try it. haven't the least manner of doub, that if we was to dig that safe up and try it with Hayes it would open with. out the least trouble
 "'What's the good of opening it after Jim has been occupying it for more than year?' says the man.
 "'Why, just this, says the conductor. "That there safe is the only burglar. proof safe ever built and if the com. bination was known the relatives oi the remains could sell it for two thou. sand dollars easy. I'll see them about it tomorrow, and we'll have one mor~ try at opening it.
 Well, to make long story short, the relatives dug the safe up and found SuIS lldICS was IllG WOTu that unlocked it. It was little rusty on the outside, but otherwise it was just as good as ever. There wasn't very much left of Jim by that time, but what there was received second funeral, for there wasn't anything mean about Jim's family, and then the express company bought the safe for a;obtaan h,nd,ad Iollore and ;t ,,, used on this road for upwards Of two years"
 What became of it fnally2" 1 asked
 What always becomes of any thing or anybody that sticks to railroadipg too long? The train went off of Three Mile bridge about seventy-five mics north of Josephusville, and, there be- ing a quicksand at the bottom of the creek that no man could ever find the bottom of the whole train, including Jims safe, sank out of fight, and no- body ever found the least trace of it afterward. You ought to have heard of that accident, for about three hun dred passengers went down with the train and the company never paid a cent of damages, because there were no remains found and nobody could prove that anybody in particular had been killed. I say it didn't cost the com pany anything for damages, though they do say that the jurymen cost altogether not far from five thou sand dollars apiece. However, the company got out of it very cheap, and the directors were more disgusted about losing that safe than they were about losing the whole train. Come into my office and I'll show you Jim's photograph standing by his new safe and making believe to pronounce an oration on its merits. He was d good fellow was Jim, but he put his conf- dence in that safe once too often."- St. Paul Pioneer Press