The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1896-03-05
A CAR's =
T sTAE1su 4 NEw oRzEo or CAT
nE lH THe DELAWARE VALLEY.

Strange Fruak.
''It ism, likely that there IL my of
the Coe Little breed Of cattle left in the
upper Delaware valley" said a veteran
railroad man, because, by this time.
their identity must have been destroyed
though mixture with other breeds. IL
doesn't matter, for there was nothing
Of particular note about that breed of
cattle. except the way they happened 70
he introduced into that locality.
''In those days live stock transpurta-
tion was one Of the Erie's big items Of
traffic Trains half n mile long. loaded
with horned cattle. horses, sheep and
hogs, used 70 pass over the read two or
three times a day. Such . thing Is al
most n curiosity nowadays Coe Little
was conductor Of one Of these stock
trains between Susquehanna and Port
Jervis. he left Susqgehanna cne night,
in those good old days Of railroading,
with long train Of cattle cars Those
trains were next 20 passenger trains in
class, and were run over the road a-hum-
ming. Condue Little delivered his
train at Port Jervis rn time, and hand
ed over his way bills. which he had re-
ceived at Susquehanna. and On which
the number, character and contents Of
every car in his train were recorded
When the agent at Port Jervis cumpared
Little's train ON this voucher. one car
was missing. Tho car was entered on the
way bill as having left Susquehanna all
right. but II wasn't in the train. It's
place, according TO the bill. was about
III the middle Of the train.
We'll. here was n situation. Coe
Little declared that every car was in
the train when he left Susquehanna, for
be had checked the number of each one
on the way bill himself. He certainly
hsGn't delivered the missing car to any
one on the way. and he couldn Z see how
amy one could have sneaked in and sto-
leu IL, especially as the train had been
or the move pretty much all the time
between Susquehanna and Port Jervis.
A telegram was sent 20 the agent at Sus-
quehanna. asking for information about
the missing car. The reply was that
nothing was known there that could
throw any light ON the subject: quite
The contrary, for the agent corroborated
Lsiile's report. The car was in the train
W IN il left Susquehanna.
During the efforts Of the puzzled
railroad men Rt Port Jervis 20 solve the
mystery Of the lost car. some one dis
covered that the car that should have
been just behind the missing one was
coupled TO the one that should have
been Just ahead Of IL without the aid uf
= upling pin. the link being broken in
such a way that 10 had become a hook,
which was fast in the pinhole in the
coupler Of the other car. This didn't
help matters n little bit. and rather
deCpeued the mystery.
They were still deep in efforts 20
solve the mystery. and a car tracer was
about 20 be sent back over the road 70
see II he could find the car. when a tele-
gram came from Shohola. n station 10
miles west Of Port Jervis. The agent at
that station said in effect that some
body's cattle car was astray in field
along the Delaware river Just beyond
Shohola station, and that somebody had
better come and look after IT, The
gang was sent mp from Port
Jervis. and. sure enough. in the middle
Of field. 100 feet or more from the
stood the missing cattle car,
right as a trivet. except that its doors
were open and its cattle gone. To get
where il was the car had run down n
ten foot embankment. across a wagon
road and through a stout rail fence.
There was only one way TO explain
the freak Of the car in quitting its train
30 unceremoniously. Going east along
that part Of tho Erie the track Is on a
heavy down grade. Just before reaching
Shohola the coupling pin that held the
car 20 the one ahead Of it must have
broken. This divided the train in two
parts. The head car Of the rear part
jumped the track, and breaking the hnk
that held il TO the car behind IL. went
ln down the bank. getting out Of lhe
way Of the cars following on the track.
Nv hen the leading section Of the di-
Vided train got 70 the foot Of the grade.
lis speed slackened. The hind section
caught up with 81. and ran into the
rear car. but not with force sufficient 70
10 aEy damage or attract attention.
The broken link. then a hook. happened
10 fall into the pinhole Of the coupler
ahead Of IL. The train was thus recon-
pied and went ON TO Port Jervis without
The loss Of n car right out Of its very
,enter having been discovered by any
one. There is no parallel to this one in
the record Of mishaps to railroad trains.
and il has never ceased TO be a wonder
10 all old time railroad men.
well, whether the doors Of the fugi-
tive car were broken by the jar and jolt
1f its trip down the bank. through the
fence, and across the lot. or whether the
cattle inside kicked them open. can't
shy. They were open, and the cattle
jumped out IL was winter, and the
Delaware river. only a few feet away,
was filed with running ice The cattle
must have been in a panic. or must have
known that they were in Pike county.
Pa, or something Of that sort. for they
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