Walker Lake bulletin. (Hawthorne, Nev.) 1883-1926, 1895-10-09
COLLECTING A FAIR.

CULLECIlNu rAlk
81 had an odd experience once in
the far West,'' said a Chicago mer-
chant. "I was at that time travelling
for the house in which I am now a
partner, and my business took me to
the Rocky Mountains. There were two
or three stories up in the mountains at
the terminus of branch road they
were building to some mines, and |
had to take them in. There was a
tremendous grade; presume as much
as a hundred feet to the mile for
twenty five miles, and the two trains
day that passed over the road with
passengers was not the finest on the
continent. However, they were good
enough, and beat mule train all to
pieces.
"There were not more thar dozen
passengers in the single coach, very
primitive affair, indeed, when we
started. and by the time we had gone
dozen miles there were only two OF
us, and one of them had come on at the
last station. He was equal to all the
other dozen, though, for he was just
drunk enough to be ugly, and was a
terror besides. He had two big guns
in his belt, and knife to keep them
company, and when the conductor
asked him for his fare, he simply gave
him cursing.
"When the conductor insisted on
his paying. he told him If he didn't
get out he would fill him full of lead
and tap him with his knife, and the
conductor retired, but IN no good
humor. AS he sat down in the corner
where I was, by the stove, I asked him
who the passeng ger was, and he told me
he was the worst man in the noun
tains, and had killed man for every
finger he had on his hands. He had
at one time shot a hole through the
conductors hat. but the difficulty had
been patched up temporarily.
81 could see the conductor was feel
ing sore, and when I stopped asking
questions, he shut up like clam and
devoted himself to profound thought,
every now and then looking over his
shoulder toward his unamiable pas
senger. Some time later when we
might have been five miles from our
destination, the conductor asked me if
l wouldn't please take my bag and step
into a oaboose that served as baggage
car. did so. and took my seat on
one of my sample cases, the conductor
shutting the door of the Car behind me,
and leaving me there. A minute or
two later | felt the train start forward.
as if part of it's load were gone, and
in minute or 80 more the conductor
came in. l asked him what the mat
ter was, and he pointed to the door.
got up and opened it, and instead of
finding the passenger car. where l had
left it, it was flying back down the
track at breakneck speed. In another
minute it had whirled around curve
and was out of sight.
7" 'How did that happen?' / asked
the conductor in horror.
f" Got loose in some way he an
swered.
w uoro euO pdoooh6OA Wo ioio
there?'
+" Hes there yet, guess.
We'll, aren't you going back to
do what you can? The whole thing
will be smashed
'Wouldn't be surprised.
''Then he stepped to the forward
door of the caboose and told the en-
gineer to reverse the engine and go
back. Five miles down the track we
found the ramshackle old passenger
coach in million pieces at the bottom
of gorge hundred feet below the
track. We couldn't get to it then,
so we went ON to our destination,
where the accident was reported. and
the Coroner notified. He went down
the next day, but couldn't find enough
of the terror to hold an inquest on.
and returned verdict in accordance
with the facts, and gave the revolvers
to the conductor for future reference.
"Did the conductor cut the car
loose?'
That's what the Coroner asked
me-" replied the narrator, but how
did know? The conductor hadn't
word to say to anybody, and he couldn't
be compelled to testify under the cir
cumstances. Wv Washington Star.
Mr.. Labouchere writes: "a lead
ing article in the Birmingham Daily