The state herald., 1894-01-12
The TRAVELLING TRAMP
RAILROAD PETE HAS LUCK
WHEN ON rHR ROAD.

RAILROAD PETE HAS LUCK
WHEN ON THR ROAD.
Accidents Had no Terror for Him-Hs
Could Griu and Hear Anything That
furnsd Up-Had Como Out Of n Dozen
kmash-Jts N.thoas n Scratch.
Eyes, o tramp Is killed in q rail.
rood accident now and then." said
the freight conductor, "but It may
DO set down US an act Of Providence.
In other words. II Is Tho tramp who
seems to havo nineteen chances out
Of twenty OF coming Of without d
scratch"
"Yott carry q good many on the
deedhead list. l suppasSP" queried
the Detroit FREQ Press matt
ii don't suppose that a freight
train enters or leaves Detroit which
hasn't from two to ten tramp passion
gers on tho bumpers" no replied
"1hc last thing before pulling out,
we go along tho train and drive Thorn
of, but they are hack Ii! place again
before the train is under way. N6w
and then I've had tramp killed on
my train, but he was II second class
tramp and now 10 the railroad bust.
ness. There arG two species Of him.
us you probably .know-tho railroad
tramp and tho highway tramp"
"No. didn't know that"
"Well, it's so, and tho railroad
tramp feels himself hond and shoul.
ders above tho other; ono rides In his
carriage. sd 10 say, While the ether
sloshes through mud or dust. We
were speaking. however. OF tramps
being killed on the road. A weel,
ago saw by tho papers that II woll-
known tramp called RAILROAD Pets
had been killed down near Dayton
i didn't believe II, and 1t wasn't an
hour ago that | met him down In tho
yards looking for Chicago freight. "
"Did you over carry him on any
OF your runsP"
"Did l? We'll. should whistle for
u COW on the track. III bot money
Pcto has travelled 5000 miles on my
trains, and I'll bet more money that
he COOS out with me.to night He is d
case in point. Hos been in at least n
dozen smash.ups and never got d
scratch. Five years ago, when first
met him. We struck Il farmers team
ut n crossing and had fourteen cars
piled into tho ditch. About the last
thing tho wrccking crew came to h.
they CLEARED away the debris was
knilroe4 Ea1A. bpl he didn't even
have ~ - 49, Nesfs. four OF
my 1a,st Il
and two men wef1 0lIj6f ~
cars smashed to kindiing
Pctc was down ut the bottom, al
usual. and | believe he got his foot
hurt that timo, DO you remember
tho big accident down near Monroe
vile two years ago?"
| -! believe there was one"
You can be sure there was
was running II train OF forty-two
cars. half OF them 'emptics,' when
the engine struck car which had
rolled on to the main track from a
siding That was what you might
cali II jim dandy accident. Twenty
nine cars left the track and the kind.
ling wood MAS piled thirty feet high.
The engineer was killed outright, the
fireman fatally injured AMI three Of
my brasemcn never knew what hurt
'em. got of light, but 1t was three
months in the hospital. Railroad
Pete was right In the center Of that
wreck. and it was eighteen hours bc-
fore they got him out. He hadn't
oven n bru:se &C him.
"But hc can't always escape"
~ dunno about that know OF
his having been thrown of n train
twice and landing right side up.
Two or three times he has jumped of
at stations where he didn't stop.
ana after knocking down fences and
uprootlng trees, has escaped even a
busted suspcnder One night, down
near Toledo. bo got to fighting with
another tramp on tho roof OF u car
and was knocked OF by n bridge
The other man was run over and cut
into strings. while Pete landed In a
snow-bank and reached town only
forty minutes behind schedule time.
Down hero at Trenton one nigh,
about year ago ho was mannuy.
ring around TO re. d ride on my
train when the express picked him
up. Say. II he wasn't thrown twenty
feet high and II hundred feet on,
into garden you may call me a
linr."
"And he wasn't killcd?n
"Killcd! Why. when half do7on
mon went after his b dy thoy
csuldn't find H. As soon US he
struck he jumped up and made II
half circle TO strike my train and got
n front seat believe no CON.
planned that ono of his knees was u
bit stiff FOR week or so. but that
was all. XIII old Railroad Petcl /,
might be done with gun or axe,
but he cant bc gathered to his faith
ers by any sort II railroad accident
We Know anything about in this
country"
In the Great Year 1900