The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1901-01-17
JOURNkY TO BUXTON
Supt. Braden and Party Inspect
Branch Extension.

guests, made trip down the south
branch Tuesday in his business car,
taking in the new line to Buxton. In
the party were Mr.. Braden, Q. T..
Dixie, division engineer; Luke Flynn,
road master on the branch; A. w.
Eberhart, travelling agent for the
com pany from Cedar Rapids; s. O.
Graham, master mechanic; F. E.
Carey, general yardmaster at Boone;
Hon. s. s. Sweet; w. F Muse, OF
the Mason City Globe-Gazette and
the Union representative.
The start was made from here at
s:15 and stops were made at several
stations along the line to inspect the
depots and station grounds. Con-
ductor L. 8. Wells had the special in
charge with T. j. Wright as brake
man. On the engine, No. $50, En-
gineer D. @. Mccormick and Fire
man Geo s. James kept things NOV
ing. Dinner was eaten at Muchaki-
mock, after which the special was
sent over the new line to the new
town of Buxton which is to be the
center of activity in the future for
the Consolidation Coal Company.
The object of the visit was the in
spection of the line by the officials
preparatory to inaugurating train
service there last Sunday.
The new line leads on from No. 9
switch at South Iowa Junction, three
miles from Stark. 1t runs south
and west for 81 miles, crossing the
Des Moines river on a fine long
bridge. One new town, LakOnta,
which is very prettily situated in the
hills of Mahaska county, has been
started. A pretty little depot has
been built here and a good sizen
stock yards, and as the town is stu
ated in a good fertile country, it is 10
be expected that it will make quite
station in a short time.
The engineer in charge of the con-
struction work, J. W. Harris, was
picked up on the new line and made
one of the party for the rest of the
trip to Buxton. The day was bound
not to be uneventful. the sensation
being encountered near Lakonta,
where a horse running along the
track for quite distance, fell in try
ing to cross bridge, with its legs be-
tween the ties. 1t had crossed one
bridge safely and Engineer McCor
mick was giving 1t plenty of time 10
get of the track before the next one
was reached. The animal, however,
preferred the grade, and kept ahead
of the train. After falling, it made
several frantic struggles to get up
and away, and succeeded twice in
getting on it's feet, only to fall be-
tween the ties again. Section men
with hand car, who happened to BE-
near, we're sent to the new station
after plsnks and a plank walk was
built for the horse, which seemed to
realize what was being done ano
waited patiently for the men to la'
thu plank, when it cody Wake d off
the struc ture. This was the only Az
venture of the day to cause any uu-
due excitement.
At the town of Buxton, which il
new from the ground up, the party
inspected the company store, being
shown arouud by the manager, MIR.
Wells. The store building would be
a credit to many larger town. 1t is
a frame structure, with two ful,
stories and basement, steam heated
and lighted with electricity. Mr..
Wells entertained the visitors wi b
many anu sing tales of his experience
with the darkies who are the bulk OF
his Gust ,p1ers. Two OF them are
worth relating.
A minsr came in on settlement day
and asked why he had been charged
with a ham.
Didn't you get that ham?" asked
Mr.. Wells.
"No, fo' sure, 1 didn't" said the
darkey.
Now" said Mr.. Wells, "don't you
remember that ham was lying on the
counter that Tuesday morning."
eyes, saw dat ham, but wat has
dat ham got to do wiz me?"
"Now, don't you know that that
ham disappeared this morning."
said Mr. Wells
"Well, dat all right, reckon and
you'd better leave de ham on de bill,
but t'wan't me was only playing
wiz dat ham"
The other was one where one Of
the societo leaders in that commun-
ity wished to order full dress suit +,
thing which is not 80 uncommon
among those people as one might
think, as they are fond of good cloth
es and their society events. This
gay young man wanted his trousers
cut "just right. Dey must be just
twenty three inches aroun." Mr..
Wells, however. persuaded the man
that a little smaller would be better.
At Buxton, Ben Buxton, manager
Of the mining company, joined the
party and went with 1t over to the
mine, No. 10. which has just begun
shipping its product. About twenty
Eve cars day are now beingiloaded