The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1901-12-12
GOT EVEN WITH A RAILROAD.

1 0Si GfN ~ - - ~
That was a cold day for Dick Ray
mond when he was refused a pass on
/ the road over which he had Travelled free
the greater part OF his life, and Tor
some time he could not. would not. be-
{ lieve that the negative was absolute and
! irrevocabEe- He argued with himself that
there must be some mistake. But when
! he had appealed from the superintendent
/ 70 the president Of the road and found his
/ appeal in vain; when he had been in
/ formed in turn by all the officials that
no further privileges in the way OF free
I transportation would be given him he
( was q sorely disappointed man.
He had acquired the pass habit in a Sc
vereiy chronic FORM 1t had become acute.
! To be compelled TO pay for a benefit TO
/ which he felt entitled seemed to him 4
great injustice. The many privileges ne
1 had enjoyed in the past did not console
him now. Dick was sui generis; his en-
emies said, no compos mentis. his friends
/ apologetically, that he was not "an
/ there
It might be well to explain why Dick
Raymond considered himself eligible TO
! the privilege OF free transportation. 1t
I began twenty years ago, when Chicago
was more OF a village than at present,
/ and railroad passes encouraged travellers
| 10 advertise facilities of travel. Dick
was newsgatherer on a country news
/ paper which had weight in it's commu-
nifty. He had vivid Imagination and a
faciie pen, and pleased the officials of a
most important railroad, one of the oldest
/ IN the West He was a young man who
| had plenty of that commodity known as
! check" or brass in those days. now
( classed as nerve" The suavity Of his
manner and his interesting method as a
writer-up of topics of value in railroad
! circles saved him from becoming 4 bore
I h1ft ha
as when he asked the general superin-
tendent of the railroad for pass for
himself and brother. That official sat
back in his desk chair and looked at
Dick, who never changed cOuntenance at
the sarcastic question:
Il know what you have done for the
road, Mr.. Raymond, but may ask what
your brother is doingY'
Dick had the saving race at that mo-
! ment Of absolute silence. The superin-
tendent saw that the young man was
conscious of the fact that he had gone too
far. but, like all railroad men of that day,
who had known hard lines themselves
he was good-natured and kind-hearted
and ne made out the pass land brother
And he was glad when at a social gath
ering of railroad magnates, where sto-
ries came in at the wine and walnut
course, he told the story as an illustra-
ton of colossal cheek, and another Off
cial of the same road asked:
Did he tell you about that brother?"
mot word"
He was cripple from his birth and
Dick has brought him up by hand, the
mother dying when the boy was an in
FAINT. Dick is very kind to the young
ster. and 1 am told remains single for his
sake. He is something of a hero as well
as a hustler
As the years went on Dick found it
hard to round that circuit of labor which
is described metaphoricaily as making
both ends meet. And he had only one
poor talent which he made the most of:
on all other lines he was dull and hope
less. Long after the time had passed
when he was Of use to the railroad he
received his passes, and then the system
changed, new men owned the line, and
trains no longer stopped on the crossings
to pick up individuals on the signal Of a
waving hat or handkerchief. Dick was
no longer the only scribe in the local ink
puddle. There were others who had
greater influence. The officials laughed
at him when he demanded pass that
he might bring his scraps of news TO the
city newspapers and collect his small dues
without paying toll. They quoted scrip
ture to him, Though they roar they shall
not pass, and he was compelled to use
his small stock of money on hand to buy
ticket. Yes, he actually stood at the
ticket window, and was snapped at by
the ticket agent for standing there ask
ing questions and delaying traffic.
He read the precious bit of paper as he
walked out of the depot-he was not re-
turning home until the next day-and as
he did so a thought struck him with I'M
usual force. He would get even with
the railroad. Honestly. too. He went
and hunted up an accident insurance !
company and had life insured. paying
the first premium, and taking out his
policy. If injured he was 10 have
certain sum every week until well, and if
he died more money than he had ever
dreamed of having, and the beneficiary
was his crippled brother.
Dick had grown old and gray but he (
kept his good heart and his foolish smile. /
wore cheap clothes and gave his crippled
ward every comfort. but no one knew |
except one other and himself what a
'demnition' struggle life had been And
It looked darker than ever as he started
home penniless- Started, but did not so /
there. 1t is always the unexpected that |
happens yet this was the very thing I
which Dick was planning for, but not in |
such a hurry. A rear end collision with /
a milk train sent him 10 the best hos /
pital in the city, and his insurance paid |
all his expenses, including the crippled !
brother. And the railroad did the rest
the corporation lawyer waiting on the /
sufferer with a proposition of settlement !
on the most generous terms. Whereas. I
if Dick had been riding on q pass the /
company would have been exonerated +,
from blame or obligation.
His friends visited him at the hospital, I
finding him in splints and bandages. hts /
head bound up. one eye badly damaged, /
but a smile six inches long across his /
white visage.
Did you ever hear Of such luck?" he /
asked cheerfUlly. 1T seems too good TO |
lie true. All my expenses paid. and dam 1
ages till I can't rest. Why. If I'd got /
the pass 1 wanted I'd have been ruined. /
but 7 can tell you ! felt mighty bad /
over it-when ] didn't get It. And ] /
wouldn't have had a cent Of dana ges. |
And now Jimmy and can live like fight /
ing cocks for the rest OF our days. And |
I tell you I did get even with the road. |
and there isn't any jury can say I was /
a contributory cause either. Negligence !
Not on ny part. It's just the biggest (
piece Of luck ever had IN my life. -
II. L. Rayne.
A Steady Customer.
Judge Berrys court in Lynn IS busy I
nowadays making American citizens The /
other day one OF the witnesses for (
candidate for citizenship took the stand /
70 test-fy to the applicants good reputa- /