The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-02-28
ewen. we were fnally forced % pull QUO

'Well, we were finally forced to pull out
with the ninety-nine.
while wondering what the outcome Of
the dilemma would be 1 began straishten-
ing out the freight and about the first
thing I took hold of was a veal carcass
which had been put IN the car a Carbon
dale. 1t had been kicked around in the
car until its sides were closed. ] took hold
of il by the tail and started to drag 1t
to the rear when l noticed that the thing
was TOO heavy for its size. [ caught hold
OF the hind legs and yanked them apart.
The sides Of the calf yawned and what do
you suppose lay in the cavity once occu-
pied by the stomach?'
''rhe silver pig, of course
Yes. sir; the fool brakeman who was
eternaly playing jokes on everybody be-
tween Cairo and Centralia had hit upon
that plan to josh me and ] must say that
during the next few moments was alter
nately the maddest I'D gl2ddest indlVd-
ual in Illinois.
II agree with my friend Jake, here"
continued Mr.. Heath, that 1t is almost
impossible to lose a bar OF bullion. While
l was running on the Fort Wayne. be-
tween Pittsburg and Chicago, l had a
presentment one night that something
was going to happen to me, or to my car,
or to both. The oldest thing about the
incident was that Mcpherson, the con-
dLctor, and Tony Kelker, the engineer,
both had the same feeling. To such an
extent did it take hold of me that the
baggagemaster told me to drag my safe
into his car and stay in there with him.
! had some bullion with me, but l fas-
tened up the doors and worked the run
from the baggage car.
That night a haif-awake brakeman
threw switch and ran our train, which
was making forty-eight miles an hour,
into a heavy freight train. The fireman
was killed outright and poor Kelker died
of his Injuries The car was splintered
into kindling wood. the freight being com
pressed into a shapcless mass The pigs
were in the miX-up. that took two days
to separate, but every one was found,
though scattered over a space two car
lengths long. might enumerate any
number of wrecks in which the pigs have
been badly used up, but they always turn
up"
Mr.. Heath belongs to a family of bull
lion-carriers. He is a brother of Spencer
d. Heath, who, on the night of May g.
1874, resisted an attack made by two rob
bers on the train between New Buffalo
and Niles, on the Michigan Central
Heath was almost beaten TO death, but
he managed TO shoot one of the gang, who
was found dead in the car along with the
unconscious messenger. For his brave be-
havior Heath received a gold watch and
a handsomely engraved testimonial from
William d. Heath was the Americans
messenger who, when the Crosby opera
house was ratified off, carried $4,000 part
of the way to Prairie du Rocher to one
Lee, who held the winning hand, and who
paid the above sum IN clean cash for the
property. The money was in five pack
ages of $4,000 each. The Heaths are
known to have carried an enormous guam
tity of bullion and money in their time.
"a. X. Merrill on the Northwestern, and
George w. Hall, on the Michigan Central,
are other old-timers in carrying heavy
shipments of gold and silver coin and bull
Hon.
Some OF the smelter people do not agree
with the messengers in the idea that sill
yer bullion Is not lost or stolen in transit.
A gentleman connected with a Chicago
concern says that every now and then he
reads in the papers an advertisement in
which bar of such and such a number
and weight is advertised as lost or stolen.
All silver bars are numbered consecutive
ly and the weight, down to the grain, Is
stamped thereon. The same person says
that recently a wagon loaded with silver
bullion disappeared i'm London. The
wagon. horses, driver, bullion and all van
ished as If they had been swallowed by
the earth, and all the sleuths OF Scotland
Yard failed to get a trace of the outfit.