The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1897-09-14
QUEER EXPRESS PACKAGES.

Queer express packages Well, l
should say so. You can hardly name an
animal or thing that have not had
charge OF. I've nursed five months
baby Tor 300 miles and travelled with two
grlzzly bears and dozen rattlesnakes
from the Rocky mountains 10 Chicago,
Corpsos-weli remem per. during the
war, when was running, between wash
lnRton and philadelphia, my car was "a
regular cemetery. I've seen as many as
2UO soldiers sent North on one train -
thus said old John Craigson, veteran
expressman, TO number OF Interested
listeners. The old man served under
harden, the pioneer OF the express busl-
ness, and remembers the time when a
single carpet bag contained all the OK
press parcels between New York ana
Philadelphia.
Talking about queer packages, no
continued, i remember "A sttanRe ex-
perience L had about twenty i've years
ago WIN lot OF pigeons that were OK
pressed from Cincinnati 10 town ABOUT
100 miles away. In them times express
messengers used To have share OF the
baggage car. as they do today where the
traue Is small, and the haggageman ana
messenger were generally great chums.
one morning when | boarded my train
i found among the packages Slated
case containing doves, or pigeons. L
pretty, gentle creatures, and | thought
they would not be Troublesome passengers.
But they were, as it happened. The
nag egageman on that train was the most
internal restless fellow | ever seen. He
couldn Keep quiet. nohow. And smash
baggage! Why. Lord bless you he could
fairly make IA trunk talk. in them days
trunks were stronger than what they are
now, but in spite OF that, this here Jim
Brady used to do some OF the
tallest smashing ever seen. 1t
was as good as circus 70 see
him among a pile of baggage. How
nice nc done il When he seen that a
trunk was bursting on one end, he'd
banH it down on the other so's 10 close 10
up again. Then he'd smile pleasantly
as II no had done his full duty. With
that man nothin' was ever right in the
car unless he had handled 10. That night
no just Tired them trunks around like
they were baseballs. and kicked the
vallses from one end Iof tho car TO the
other, and then sat down to take breath.
After awhile, when we were fifty miles out
OF town or So, he took look at my end
OF the car. BY jingo. says he, that there
case Is in the wrong place. and up he
Jumped. He grabbed hold of one of the
stats OF the pigeon ease, Jut 10 couldn't
stand that sort of handling. and he
staggered back with the slat in his hand.
was laughlng at him when L heard
whir-rr. and half dozen pigeons shot by
me out of the open door | ran TO the
cases, before / could reach il, The other
hirds-eleyen in ail-few past me. ana
joined the others. Jim was sorry, but l
told him the birds wasn't worth more n
a dollar pair When we looked at the
way Dill we found the lot set down at
$3.50
"Of course. 1 made no deliver on that
n1K " nd h.,, n
natl l reported to the superintendent.
That's all right. says he. them birds
won the match. They were carrier pig
cons. and had gone right back home.
Inc Funny part Of the business was that
the owner couldn't make out no WAYS
now the birds made the passage Sc quick.
Poor Jim, +" said the old man, after
pause. He died out in Omaha Iew
years afterward. The boys put up a joh
on him. They nailed big Saratoga
trunk to the floor CT the station, and
challenged Jim to go for it. He went,
but the spikes were too mucn for him,
and he burst u blood vessel He died in
harness, anyhow. '-Express Gazette.