The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-03-11

Which illustrates How Little 1t
Takes to Make a RumOr, Which
the Newspapers Have TO Trace 10
Its Meager Foundation OF FIimsy
Fact
1t all happened because the general SUI
perintendent forgot to clean out the pig
con holes in his desk for two years. Then
the yardmaster, who loves a practical
Joke, flourished the two bits of gray pa
per, railroad passes to a point in Ohio,
before the bulging eyes Of his Irish yard
foreman. Thus 1t befell that the Ghast-
ly Rumor stalked abroad in the Northern
Pacific yards, and thus 1t is that until
this day many men believe that a prom
Using young man who came to his death
by his own hand, never died md was
never buried. Also it befen that In the Of
fee of a great paper reporters talked of
sensational story, and scurried out with
suppressed excitement to burrow into the
records of the city health department,
and TO delve into forgotten reports of
cemetery actuaries.
In the beginning of things the young
man was the son of one-time wealthy
parents. In the crisis of 1884 they lost
their possessions and were reduced to
the extremity. 1t was the old story of
the gruesome effect of little things which
resulted in the event Of which his friends
speak with sorrow, and it was the pres
sure Of poverty and the biting pain of
lacking the comforts of life which made
1t necessary for the young man to take
position at salary of only $45 a month,
on which he vainly tried to support his
family.
In 1895 the young man worked for an
inspection and weighing bureau which
handled freight in transit from coast to
coast, and was brought much in contact
with the yardmen and force of the
Northern Pacific road. His manly fight
against long odds and his straightfor-
ward struggle with circumstances won
him their friendship and kindIiest regard.
he was a personal friend of brakemen
and superintendent alike, and fought
hard for promotion to a position where
he could receive a salary sufficient to
meet his wants and necessities
More than two years before his death
he preferred request to his friend, the
yardmaster, for transportation to a point
IN ONO. The yardmaster drew a requi-
sition on the general superintendent and
the superintendent upon the Minneapolis
d st, Louis and a road east of Chicago
The limitless round Of red tape DELAYED
the delivery of the passes, and the young
man tired of waiting and paid his own
rare. Then the passes came and were
sent TO the yardmaster. The yardmaster
returned the little gray slips to the gem
eral superintendent with notation to the
hot
then the general superintendent filed
them away in his desk
Later the young man returned again
lie secured the position with the weigh
ing and inspection bureau and went to
work. Months passed and the severe and
unaccustomed labor began to tell upon
his nerves. The endless succession or
car numbers and inspection of weights
and seals began to grind, and his mind
turned to melancholy things. A chance
suggestion of the ease with which this
mortal coil can be broken turned his
thoughts into dangerous paths Then
came experiments with deadly drugs and
researches determining the fatal prop
critics of poisons. Then the strain became
too great, and the yardmaster one even
ing received a note announcing that the
young man had determined to die.
Early the next morning the yardmaster
toiled through the snow and took the
first car to visit his friend. He was too
late. On his bed in an upstairs room
the young man lay cold in death, with
tell-tale bottle with deaths head w.
ing close at hand. The coroner visited
the remains and spoke kind words to the
almost demented father and mother.
Crazed with grief and fearful lest
the manner Of his sons death should
become known, the father implored the
coroner to file a certificate of accidental
should again see the body and covered
1t with white sheet as 1t lay These
things became known later and aided in
the birth of the CHASTITY rumor
Never was such q florists boy The
wreath which the yardmaster purchased
as tribute arrived at the family resi-
dence after the funeral procession had
left for the cemetery AS the body lay
In the house prepared for burial came
many yardmen and railroad employees to
pay their respects. These were refused
admittance and We're sent away wonder
ing and sorrowful. These things also
became known.
Then came a bill to the yardmaster for
the flowers, which he cast upon the
floor and with profanity cursed. The
Irish assistant saw and gravely nodded
his head, for he knew the flowers
had been returned. Then after year
had elapsed, the superintendent cleaned
his desk
1t was the Irish assistant who stood
by the yardmaster as the superintendent
when he handed back the two little gray
slips.
''W at how We there?' he demanded.
Passes for Blank" responded the
Vardmaster, handing them over.
Blank is dead, We scut," almost shout
ed his assistant as he drew back from
the proffered slips. Yet he read the
name, forgetting to examine the date,
and went away wondering. This was
the birth of the rumor.
Blank was a foine bhoy." remarked
the assistant as he sat on the edge of a
box car with a pair Of friends. "Phat
a quare thrick av the divil. He niver
died. Ut was "a stiff thot they buried.
OF how seen pair av passes fresh from
tn office intinded for tn bhoy. He niver
died at all, at all. He lives as shure
as Sunday and he was seen on the strate
in Minneapolis t'other day." The next
man added to this that Blank had been
to South Africa and was on his way
back with "all kinds of COIN"
Then after records had been reached |
and hours Of work expended locating
the rumor, it was found that Blank had
died, was buried properly and that proper |
returns OF the death were made. But |
no amount Of argument will now con-
vince the assistant that the boy is not |
living. He saw the passes.
In this manner 1t fell out that because
the superintendent forgot to clean his
desk, the father tried to fix the coroner, |
the passes were delayed by red tape, the
flowers were returned, and because the
yardmaster loved his joke, that 1t was