The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-04-21
FAR WESTERN HoRoEs.
Remarkable Ingenuity and Daring
Displayed by Irrepresstble Ride
Stealers


From the New York Post.
The California newspapers say that the
Southern Pacific railway managers have
resolved on more vigorous measures to
rid their road of the tramp nuisance.
do not wonder at it. The railway tramps
Of the far west are a class by themselves.
L have seen a-train on one Of the Pacific
coast railroads carrying, it is safe TO say,
one-half as many tramps as paying pas
sengers. Going over the Siskiyou noun
tains few years ago, our train stopped
four times within distance of twenty
miles TO comb OUT the tramps. They
were under the cars, on top of the cars,
hanging to the platforms, riding on the
cow-catchero-- everywhere, in short,
where human fingers could close a grip.
They were more decently clad and bet
r-looklng, as q rule, than the tramps we
see in the east. was told by an expert
enced railroad man that most of these
fellows are mechanics and laborers of re-
spectacle antecedents who have drifted
westward in search of work, spent their
money, and been compelled to resort to
this ragged-edge sort of life in order to
make their way home again Some of
! them by and by acquire a habit of tramp
ing and taste for it so that they are IN
fitted for steady employment, but others
! they strike a. Job. then settle
| down and become reputable and we'll
| TODD citizens. In the newly settled COM
| munities of the Pacific coast disposition
| TO pry into ones neigh boris past is not en-
| couraged, and the man who begins as a
| rlde-stealer does not have to live down his
| record as he would at the other end of the
| country. A member of congress from
| western state who has made something of
a national reputation for himself once told
me in confidence that as young man he
! was champion tramp and train nuisance.
INGENIOUS, HUMOROUS AND DARING.
| remember one fellow saw in Oregon
who was put of a way train at every sta
| ton between Rosebhurg and Salem, but
who always contrived to get aboard with
in a minute or so after his expulsion. He
was bound 10 go to Salem, and frankly
said as much to the first train hand who
| tackled him, and he accomplished his
| purpose. Having formerly worked on a
| railroad he knew all the tricks of the
| trade At the start he crawled in under
a car and rode on the trucks. When dis
covered there he walked off as if satisfied,
| only to go around the train and crawl in
again on the other side He was next
| caught riding on the roof Then he
! climbed up the rear of the tender and
| stretched himself out so that he looked
! like a log of wood. Discovered there he
| secreted himself under the step of the 10
| comOtiVe cab, and when the train was on
a stiff upgrade so that it could not very
! well be stopped he mounted to the cab
and impudently offered his services to the
| engineer as assistant fireman. Next he
| tried the trucks once more, and so on.
The manner of his final leave-taking
was startling. Having been discovered
| on the roof Of the first car just as we
! were drawing near Salem, he was chased
! by one of the angry trainmen down the
! roofs of the cars to the rear end, skipping
from car to car like a monkey. At the
| tail of the train he Mortified his pursueI
by taking flying leap from the roof
| down into gully at the side of the track
The trainmen signaled the conductor, the
| engine whistle sounded "dOwn brakes, -
| and in few minutes we were backing ia
| the scence of the perilous exploit. The
| courts of Oregon at that time were dealing
| very severely with accidents on railways
| and even tramps were considered as having
rights that must not be trihed with; sc
the idea was to pick up the jumper and
carrVs. his corpse to the undertaker's in
Salem, or his broken bones to the nearest
hospital.
| TRAINMEN LEFT BEHIND.
The conductor, brakemen and all hands
except the engineer and fireman jumped
off and FASTENED to the rear of the train,
peering into the gully as they approached
it, to get first glimpse of the victim.
| Fancy their modification at espying him,
presently, seated on a grassy bank and
engaged in lighting his pipe, with the
calmness of householder by his own fire.
side.
Anything the natter" he called out,
with chuckle in his voice.
AREN'T you hurt2" shouted the con-
ductor
"Naw'' drawled the tramp. "Who
said he was goin' ter hurt me}"
The conductor spurted out some
phrases with which | shall not decorate
this page, and the whole crestfallen crew
started to return to the train. Once more
the tramp's spirit Of impudence overcame
| him. He was perched high enough on the
bank to be in full view of the engine.
| The train's' crew, on the contrary, were
crossing a depression where they were
hidden. He sprang to his feet, and, call
| ing his old knowledgeof railroading to
his aid, waved his arms in the air with
| the signal meaning GO ahead J" The
| engineer, installing him for a trainman,
| sounded his whistle in response and the
train started. Then the tramp threw
himself down on the ground and roared
with merriment as he watched the crew
| scramble over each other in trying to
| catch the platform of the hindmost car
while the mystified and alarmed passen-
gers poked their heads out of the win
dows, no one understanding the situation
| well enough to pull the bell-cord. The
first member of the crew who climbed
aboard, of course, brought the train to a
| standstill again, and enabled his compan
ions to re-embark with more dignity.
SAVING A TRAIN FROM DESTRUCTION.
recall another incident in my western
travels in which tramps played a most
! creditable part. Two of them had beer
put off a Denver and Rio Grande train q
few miles east of Salida, Col, and haC
! seated themselves under a tree to escape
a rain which had begun to fall, when
cloudburst- one of those dreadful Wis
itants which are not inirequent in thai
! regiOn-deluged the hillside a few yard;
away scooping out trough and buryins
the railway track several feet deep under
earth, gravel. and small powders. From
the windows of our train, which had
crossed the great divide on its way east
ward that morning, we had seen the pc
culiar cloud formation strike the side OF
the mountain and disappear among the
trees, but nobody suspected its effects
/ AS the road had a single track, we waited
at Salida several hours for the west bounC
train TO pass us on the siding, and then
concluding that it had been detained al
the next station beyond, our conductor
ventured to move us cautiously forward
. gl,o ~ ali ha