Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1899-11-25
MD SATURDAY. NOVEMBER a5 lsee
FROM OMAHA TO CHICAGO.
A WOMAN'S HEROISM.
Incidents On The Chicago & North West
ern Railroad Riding In a Mail Car.

Special Correspondence to the Evening Capital
Leaving Omaha for Chicago over the
Chicago x North Western Railroad on
the homeward trip. to one who has been
at all observant the scenery along the
road has grown familiar. and special
points of interest are again looked out
for. Among these is Kate Shelley's old
home, and the new one too. the gift OF
the Chicago NtsOs.
Both houses stand side by side, and
on the morning of our return trip Kate
and her mother are on the veranda,
waving the train as it spins past her
home. Your readers will recall the brief
mention OF Kate Shelly's bridge made in
a previous letter. Kate is plain every
day ordinary woman, now "a years old,
OF little education but a great deal of
pluck ard hsroism. and who lives in Iowa,
along the Chicago & North Western rail-
road between Boone's and Ames, in that
State.
Some years ago she swan the Des
Moines river at night. and signaled An
approaching passenger train about to
cross bridge over the river. which had
become weakened by the heavy rains.
and which freight train had gone
through. She thus saved many lives.
For this heroic act the Chicago & &North-
Western Railioa gave her S.. 900 and
an annual pass over their road, also a
gold medal with their stamp studded in
diamonds
The Chicago & Northwestern is the
only road that has double track from
Council Bluffs TO Chicago. The new
rea1 bed is not quite finished, and when
completed will be one oi the finest roads
in the West. Passing along the road
one has good view of the Indian Res
ervalion in Iowa. In early summer on
the outbound tip we saw these Indians
scattered about near the railroad, now it
has grown colder, and they have moved
their camp farther away upon the hills,
into the shelter of the woods.
On this occasion a number of them
were in their cemetery, burying one OF
their dead. They wore their character
istic dress. and were wrapped with beau
eiful red and Roman striped blankets.
The graves are queer looking objects.
and have board coverings. The Indians
on this reservation are said to be bad
set, and the white man is shy of them.
Farther on the c. & N. w. tracks cross
handsome steel bridge over the Miss.
issippi. Here one sees the two States
Iowa and Illinois, together.
Several large saw mills are located on
the Iowa side of the river, and RATS Of
logs are seen floating down the great
Mississippi. The Mississippi Valley Stove
Company has large mandatory on
the Illinois side, and does an extensive
business. The day ride from Omaha to
Chicago is long and tedious to one who
attempts to sit still, but to the human in
teirogation point, which numbers this
column among lis class, the fourteen
hours tide can be made very pleasant.
We visited the baggage car. and al
though this " as one OF the "dull days,
the baggage master told US in Io years
OF his experience in this capacity on the
Chicago < North Western road he had
not known a buster season than the past
summer. He a so said that in those I6
years there had not been a single acci-
dent. Visiting the mail car is privi-
lege accorded but chosen few, and can
only be obtained by special permission.
To one who has never visited mail car
or ridden in one, the sight and expert
lar postofflce on wheels.
Here the railway postal clerk and his
four assistants, assort and distribute the
mail from pouches put on at the various
stations. placing the mail matter in pig
con holes the same as at the postoffice.
The West bound mail is always twice as
heavy as the East bound. The mail for
New England and New York city is
heavier than all other East bound mail.
A great deal Of foreign mail passes
through the mail car, and much regis
tered matter. II one doubts to what ex-
tent our business houses do business with
foreign counties, he has but to see the
letters single business house sends to
France, Austria, Arabia, Porto Rico,
New South Wales and other foreign
counties.
A mail car usually handles IS tons oI
mail each trip. The mail pouches are
sacks weighing from 200 to 400 pounds
each. The mail is always heavier at the
first OF the week. The letter mail is al
ways heavier on Monday, probably be-
cause Sunday is the popular letter-writ.
ing day. The paper mail is heavier al
the last Of the week because of the week.
lies. The railway postal clerk and bis
helpers have no easy job. Recently on
a Chicago & Northwestern mail train
three men handled 500 packages and
$4,000 letters on one trip, working, how
ever, fifteen hours. long days labor.
Each man is responsible for his own
work. and he is required to leave the
mail car in perfect order. Each mans
work is labeled with name, day and date,
and all errors are charged up against
him. Annapolis is place Of no little
importance after all. One sees some
thing about it. or from it or on the way
to the historic town by the Severn every
where one goes. even in a railway car;
for here. in railway postal car. We saw
letter on its way to Annapolis to a
cadet at the Naval Academy. For fear
this one little letter might be lonely on
its long journey to the town "Richard
Carver' has again made famous. we
sent another along with it to bear it COM
pany.