The Sunday globe., 1901-05-05
A Worthy and Industrious Class Who
Earn Moderate Compensation.
BURIAL OF A FAITHFUL FRIEND.
Remarkable Tale Told The Sunday Globe by
One Of tho Oldest Of the Fratemy-The
Ride 10 Cemetery and Subsequent
Discovery

awaiting patiently the patronage of the
public. These eXpressmen are a patient
clever set Of men, and earn every cent
they get. The prices they are permitted
to charge are regulated by the Conn
missioners and business must be par
ticularly good if they succeed in getting
over $500 per day, on an average for
their work. Some days, it is true, an
eXpressman makes $4.0O to $500, but it
may be two or three days thereafter
before he has another such a run of
luck, and this brings the general aver.
age to about the figures mentioned
above.
The writer was talking to one of these
eXpressmen the other day concerning
the duties Of his business and its com
pensations, when the question came up
of how many men in the city depended
upon the patronage given their express
wagons 70, a living for themselves and
loved ones.
81 don't know exactly - said the eX-
pressman, "just how many men there
are in this city who do nothing else,
other than driving express wagons, but
I should Judge there are hundreds"
"Do they al I1s!,o Mo2gy?" asked
the writer.
"They all make a living, but whether
they all make money is quite different
thing. You see the greater part of our
trade consists in moving a single article
from one part Of the city to the other,
for which we usually get but quarter,
unless the distance is somewhat out of
the ordinary and if we are favored with
eight jobs a day, which is a pretty rare
thing these times, we get but $500 for
a days work, which, when you come
to divide it up between the horse who
works for you for feed the landlord for
rent, and your wife and children for
food and clothing, you will have but a
little left to lay aside for a rainy day"
"What are you called upon to haul
in the course of day?' was asked
almost everything from dead cats to
live babies, There is nothing in the
whole range Of portable articles, but
what al eXpressman is called upon to
carry ia the course Of the years as they
rush along. Now I've been in this bust
ness since soon after the close of the war,
| and am one Of the oldest expressmen on
the stand.n
"What was the most peculiar thing
you were ever called upon to haul?"
"Well, I'll tell you the strangest ex-
perience l ever had since have been in
this businese, and l am sure you will
say when lam through, thatit was some
what out of the ordinary. About year
ago some one came to my door about 10
o'clock at night and inquired if was an
eXpressman, and whether / would do a
night job if l was well paid for my SER
vices. In answer to an insinuation Of
mine the reply was given: 'Pll tell you
that after you say whether or not you
will do the work. Well, as business
had been pretty dull that week, and l
had not paid my rent yet, although it
was three or four days past due, told
the man if the work did not involve a
crime would go with him just as soon
as | could hitch up my horse, The man
laughed 4 little at my answer, and with
out answering the crime part OF my ques-
ton, told me to go and harness up, and
he would wait on my doorstep until
was ready. 1t was mysterious kind of
call, and | thought as | went to my stable
that ii was somewhat funny that any one
should have TO come to mo to do a job at
that time of the night, but as the man
had said nothing about the pay, and
needed about ten dollars at that time to
even up things, concluded l would
make the trip let the result be what it
might. Besides l had more or less curl
osity to know what kind of mission l
had been engaged to go upon, and was
soon ready. | drove around to the front
of my house, where the gentleman was
in waiting. / asked him where | was TO
drive. He named a number and we
drove up to handsome residence, with
flowers blooming in the yard, and other
ev' iences of taste and culture visible on
@ cry hand. The gentleman jumped
.Own from the wagon and bade me wait
a few moments, All this time nothing
had been said of what l was to do, be-
yound the fact that was to haul some
thing, but what and where, had not been
disclosed, neither had the price was to
receive tor my services been mentioned .
But l had not lorg to wait. In few
minutes the gentleman who had engaged |
me, and another, bearing a long box be- |
tween them, came around the corner,
from the back part OF the house. While |
the box did not look like a coffin, IL bore |
some resemblance to that ghastly look
ing piece of furniture, and | began TO |
protest within myself that tnotwithstand- |
the assurance ! had received when | en- |
gagged to do the work, that / was not to |
be a party TO a crime, that l was about :
to be drawn into something which looked |
very much like It. | had about madeup |
my mind that / would not permit the |
box 10 be placed in my wagon, when l
recollected l had not been sworn to .
secrecy, and that perhaps l would, by /.
staying with the job to the end, be in |
position to bring TO justice the perpetra- |
tors of some bloody deed. Besides / /.
hadn't received any pay, so / concluded |
that ! would see the thing out. The gen. |
tleman placed the box in my wagon |
without any assistance from me, and |
then the one who had employed me .
up on the seat beside me, while |
the other clambered into the wagon and /
seated himself on the box. Take the |
road to Arlington said the gentleman |
by my side. Then ] was certain that the /
box contained human body which had |
come to its death by some mysterious |
means, and | determined that / would |
take such look at the faces OF the young |
men as would enable me TO recognize .
them, though it might be ten years be-
fore l saw them again. Just then, as if .
to aid me in my determination, the moon
which had been under a cloud, came out
and | got good view Of both the young
men. They were nice, pleasant faced
fallOWs and did not look at all like