The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1896-02-19
A CAR's EAaHN..
IT sTARTFU = EEly E5EEo OF CAT.
TLE Ia THE cE-swARE VALLEY.

Strange Rgeak.
''It isn't likely that thoro is any u
the Coe Little breed Of cattle left In the
upper Delaware valley" said n 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 hreed u
cattle, except the way they happened 10
he introduced into that locality.
In these days live stock transporta-
tion was one Of the Erie's big items of
traffic. Trains half a mile long. loaded
with horned cattle. horses. sheep and
hogs. used % pass over the road two ur
three times a day. Such thing l. al
most n curiosity nowadays. Coo Little
was conductor Of one Of these stock
trains between Susquehanna and Port
Jervis. de left Susquehanna enc night.
in thOse good old days Of railroading.
with long train Of cattle cara Those
trains were next to passenger trains so
class. and were run over the road a-hum-
ming. Conductor Little delivered his
train at Port Jervis pn time. and hand
ed over his way bills. which he had re-
ceived at Susquehanna. and On which
the number. character and contents %
every car in his train were recUrded
When the agent az Port Jervis compared
Little's train ON this voucher. one car
was missing. Tho car was entered on the
way bill a. having left Susquehanna all
eight, but u wasn't in the train. It's
place. according 60 the bill. was about
n the middle Of the train.
Wei. here was a situation. Coe
Little declared that every car was in
the train when he left Susquehannn. for
he had checked the number q each one
IN the way hill himself He certainly
hadn't delivered the missing car TO any
une ON the way. and he couldn Z see how
any one could have sneaked IN and sto-
len IL. especially as the train had been
IN the mcve pretty much al the time
between Susquehanna and Port Jervis.
A telegram was sent 10 the agent at Sus-
quehanna. asking for information about
,he missing ear. The ruply was that
nothing was known there that could
throw any light on the subject: quite
the contrary, for the agent corroborated
Little's report. The car was in the train
when IL left Susquehanna-
During the efforts of the puzzled
railroad men at Port Jcryis to 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 of
% coupling pin. the link being broken in
.uch n way that IL had becUmc hook.
which was fast IN tho pinhols in the
coupler of the other car. This didn't
help matters a little bit. and rather
deepened the mystery.
They were still deep in efforts %
solve the mystery, and n car tracer was
abuut 10 be sent back over the road 90
zee il he could find the car. when a tele-
gram came from Shohola. q station rs
miles west Of Port Jervis. The agent at
that station said in effect that some
bOdy's cattle car was astray in a field
along the Delaware river Just beyond
Shohola station, and that somebody had
better come and look after IL. Tho
wrecking gang was sent up from Port
Jervis, and, sure enough. in the middle
of a field. 100 feet or more from the
, railroad. stood the missing cattle car.
right as "a trivet. except that It's doors
were open and its cattle gune. To get
? where il was the car had run down a
ten foot embanlment. across wagon
road and through a stout rail fence.
There was only one way 20 explain
the fseak Of the car in quitting its train
so unceremoniously. Going east along
that part Of the Erie the track Is on a
heavy down grade. Just before reaching
: Shohola the coupling pin that held the
car to the one ahead Of IL must have
broken. This divided the train in two
, parts The head CIR Of the rear part
jumped the track, and breaking the link
that held IL 10 the car behind It. went
ON down the bank. getting out Of the
, way Of the cars following on the track.
when the Leading section Of the di-
, vided train got 20 the foot Of the grade.
its speed slackened. The hind section
caught mp with il. and ran into the
rear car. but not with force sufficient %
do any damage or attract attention.
. The broken link. then a hook. happened
to 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 a car right out Of its very
! center having been discovered by any
! one. There is no parallel 20 this one in
, the record Of mishaps TO railroad trains.
and it has never ceased TO be q wonder
/ TO all old tiIne railroad men.
well, whether the doors Of the fugi-
] tive car were broken by the Jar and jolt
: Of its trip down the bank, through the
fence. and across the lot. or whether the
cattle inside kicked them open. cant
} say. They were open. and the cattle
: jumped out. IL was winter. and the
: Delaware river. only 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.
= -. q