The Minneapolis journal., 1902-07-29
SAW WINE.ROOMs IA FAITHFUL HOODOO
Always Rides in Same Car With
ssHank', Lawrence.
HE'S THE HUMAN DANGER SIGNAL
In Five Years He Has Had q Wreck
on Every Run but
One.

III u
Henry w. Lawrence. the hooded mail
clerk" is at his home, 1926 Fourth avenue
S, convalescing from injuries sustained In
his latest wreck. Mr.. Lawrence Is en-
ployed In the railway mail service and Is
said to be the unluckiest mail clerk in the
northwest. He has been drawing pay from
Uncle Sam for Ave years now, and he has
spent a good part of that time fat on his
back, recuperating from injuries sustained
in various smash ups. 1t took him almost
year to recover from one wreck, and
now he is laid up as the result Of anot her.
Lawrence Is so unlucky that during the
entire period Of his service he has traY-
eled on only one route on which he has
not been wrecked. However, he was kept
upon the run only two months, and he
feels confident that the hoodoo would
| there longer.
Lawrence's i'll luck Is frequently the
subject of comment among his fellow
clerks. Some of them are superstitious
about it, and dislike to travel with him.
"He's one of the best fellows in the
SERVICE" said one of them this morning,
'but I'm hanged If ! like to travel with
him, just the same He's human danger
signal. The insurance companies ought
to rate him extra hazardous. g.
Last month Mr.. Lawrence had brief
lay off. One night he boarded a mail car
of which a friend had charge and sat down
! to make the run for the fun of>the thing
He was not working, but, as he himself
expressed it, travelled dead head" The
usual wreck occurred; but strangely
enough, Lawrence himself was not in
jured, although porter on the train had
two ribs broken, to say nothing of a
broken arm, while number of persons
were badly cut by flying glass. The
wreck occurred at Neenah, Wis. 1t hap
pened on Monday, Mr.. Lawrence's unlucky
day, and the day on which all Of his nu'
merous smashups have occurred.
On another Monday, three years ago
while he was on the run between Mime
apolis and Chicago, there was head-end
collision between the fast mail and a
freight train.
II was asleep that time,'' said Mr.. Law
renee, this morning, "and I woke up ir
mid-air. I was thrown about twenty feel
| into an end Of the car that had beer
| sma shed all up and that was filled with
debris. The fast mail makes the rur
| from Chicago here in ten hours. It stops
| only for water. A number Of trainmer
were hurt, and think the fireman diet
afterwards as a result of his injuries
| Mr.. Lawrences latest wreck occurred
Monday evening, July Ia, near Spooner
Wis The official report says that the
train left the rails "for some reason un
known Mail clerks, however, can ex'
plain it. They say 1t was the Lawrence
hoodoo at work again. Mr.. Lawrence
himself sustained blow on the head ant
was unconscious for half an hour. He II
now at his home recuperating. No ont
else was seriously injured.
Mr.. Lawrence is not superstitious, al
| though he admits that he has met will
more than his share Of accidents. H
says that wrecks have been unusuall!
frequent In the past year, ana that it i
not remarkable that he should hav
chanced upon two of them. However, tn
two came within Ave weeks time and
taken together with what happened pre-
viously, they certainly Justify the sobri
quet applied to hin-"The Human Dan
ger Signal : = @.----