Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1902-02-06
The Freight Crew
That Stole a Jail

THERE was always a cruel and re
lentless war waging between tn
c. J. d +. X. Railroad company ant
the town of Manikee.
Manikee was a small town, but i
did not know it. In its own estima
ton Manikee was a metropolis, and i
panied Manikee that the c. J. & f. X
railroad had not recognized that fact
Manikee felt certain that the c. ]
g. f. X. railroad owed most of It's
prosperity to the fact that Manike,
was on the line. Yet the railroad
seemed singularly unmindful of al
that il owed TO Manikee.
Several things had happened to
widen the growing breach between
the town and the railroad One of
the things that hurt Manillee most
was the running of the ST. Louis can
nonball express through the town at
the rate Of about a mile q minute.
If the people of Manikee wanted to
go to St. Louis on this particular
train they had to drive six miles
south to town named Hamptonyille,
the hated rival of Manikee.
Manikee had walled loudly over
what it called the unjust discrimina-
ton of the railroad company, and
the company had sent man all the
way from St. Louis to explain to
Manikee that the reason the train
stopped at Hamptonyille was because
there was another railroad there
which crossed the c. j. d f. X. at
grade, and, therefore, both roads we're
compelled by the state law to bring
their trains to a dead stop at the
Junction
But Manikee refused to accept the
apology. The express stopped at
Hamptonyille, and therefore, it ought
to stop at Manikee.
To be sure, there were hardly three
persons week who would have
boarded the train at Manikee if it
had stopped there, and one of these
was old Mrs. Pierson, who would only
have gone as far as Hamptonville to
see her sick sister, while the other
two would probably have been
stray drummer for grocery house
and old Squire Leonard, who used to
be in congress, and who was the great
man of Manikee.
But, just the same, the fact that
the cannonball express did not stop
at Manikee made a deadly enemy of
the town against the railroad.
The town council passed the most
strict laws against the railroad rum
ming trains through the town at a
greater speed than 35 miles an hour,
and the town marshal, Jake Salters,
used to stalk the freight trains like
deer hunter and arrest them every
time they left a freight train lying
over a crossing for a second over
three minutes.
Jake had watch about as big as
saucer and a star like a tin plate.
He would sneak down behind the old
mill and peek out at the freight
crew switching cars about in the
yard. When a box car would be left
blockading the street longer than the
time fixed by the town council of
Manikee Jake would converge on the
scene. waving his cane and holding
his watch as high as his head.
Surrender, surrender, gul darn We"
the town marshal would command.
Surrender, b'gosh. Ye've kept that
thar crossin' clused for four minits,
and tn law says We shall only clus il
fer three minits. Come on, darn We,
to jail"
Jake would arrest the conductor of
the train and a brakeman or two If
he could find them and march them
down to the Office of Squire Rubens.
where they would be perhaps IS or
20 minutes before the station agent
could get them relieved.
The trainmen of the c. &F.K.
finally became so angry at the town
of Manikee they would have cheer
fully burned the place of the map
II they could have done so without
taking any chances on going to the
penitentiary.
They resorted to all the small tricks
they knew Of in the way Of re-
venge. The engineers opened their
whistles wide when they went
through the town, and every engine
went screaming through the silent
watches IF the night at Manikee like
insane demons. The freight crews
threw coal at the dogs Of Manikee in
the daytime, and At night they pelt-
ed the houses along the track.
Manikee got even by increasing its
police force by one man and vipor-
ously enforcing al the blue laws
against the railroad that the town
council could think Of
Ii was favorite pleasantly Of the
town marshal and his force to arrest