The Montgomery advertiser., 1902-01-30
"SKELTON IS MERRY
SEABoAHD AIR LINE CHANGES
 NAME OF STATION. M
Freight Would Find it's, Way to, Wrong skelton, Causing Great
 confusion.-other Railroad

whether'it all grew out of the personal popularity of Mir. John Skelton Williams or not, is a question open to debate and the thinks" of the person attempting to solve the problem.
 yesterday there were two stations on two railroads leading put of Montgom- cry. both stations bearing the middle air or the o ths Of the on the Montgomery division of the Mo bile and Ohio. ninefy-three miles from Montgomery and fourteen from Tusca The other sksltSn fa w1s %1 yss -the second station-on the C.. and A. division of the Seaboard Air Line. Tho horrible confusion caused by the simi . iarity of the M two names , was some something hdr given a very correct imitation of con- vention of deaf mutes in comparison. Freight intended for the Seaboard Air Linz skelton would ., lnysria6iy s be , sent sent versa.
 Then there would be something doing.
 On the day that the expectant mer- s , na % or Ar a s seSa tions or. any other old thing would be delivered that man after being gently Informed with the most cherubic smile ability had been delayed and would cer. tainly be there tomorrow. Tomorrow would come and the goods not being in their logical place the merchant, with inform the poor agent that he was many kinds of unnenttonable things, and af- ter making the atmosphere of the agents s office become imhued with drab color. would stalk back to his store-and go through the same process next day. Meanwhile the poor agent would be tear- ing out his own hair by the roots-a delightful occupation-muttering things that would not look well in print and doing sundry other stunts of that val riety while endeavoring to trace the box that had strayed from the paths Of rect itude.
 Skelton would receive box consigned to party that he. had never heard of be. fore. Finally tracer would come ana he would forward the box to the Sea- board Air Line Skelton.
 For some months past Commercial Agent Charlie Adams has been laboring to convince the General Freight Omce at Portsmouth of the desirabillity ldliG, on Of the G. and A division. His mission has been successful for yesterday he received a circular stating that the stauon nere tofore: yclept Skeiton would nence1ortn melodious cognomen of Merry" in which state of hilarity every agent on the line will join.
 The Mobile ana Onlo okeitoH sun oa.7 under the flag of that name, but in- stead of twins tfsere will hereafter pc only one "Skeiton.' and everything Will be as peaceful as lot ot ola maids slipping tea and talking about their neish- bors.
 When the Birmingham accommodation arrived yesterday morning 1t brought
 Traveling Passenger Agent The ca,,se air of his visit to Montgomery was to bring down a car loaded with thirty-eight ne- gro laborers. He got them from Clear Greek td Tsxss where they W be put to work with the graders outnt on
 projected railroad.
 tains the following sketch of General Passenger Agent R. F. l.. Bunch. ot the
 seaboard Air Line, together with hand- some half-tone:
 The youngest General Passenger agent in the railways of the world Is Robert E. L. Bunch. the North Caro. linnn who presides over the interests or the Seaboayd Air Line Railway at Ports
 mouth Va. The destinies of this com yr.Soass aSe xeaseny xs1s% Sea agitated among New Workers in the course of the dramatic contests for con trol waged between John Skeiton Mn- Hams of Richmond, and Thomas F. Ryan ht discussions and stock manipulation and litigation in the courts which for time kept the Seaboard Air Line in the public prints, its business affairs continued to be carefully and consistently managea' and the passenger service, under the dic rection of. this general agent of only z years. has increased until 1t must now be reckoned as a considerable factor. MT. Bunch was educated in the common schools of the Tar Heel State. entered railway service in 1887 as mail clerk In the office of the Richmond and Danville road in Raleigh, and has been steadily promoted in the line of the Southern rail- way. until the general passenger agency " him simultaneously with the assistant general passenger agency of the South ern.'
 Third Vice-President and General Man ager F. s. Cannon of the Southern. has
 written General Superintendent Joseph H. Sands. of Salisbury, N. C.. advising him that the company will take back the machinists who struck at Spencer last May. He adds that this shall apply to all except those who were guilty of acts which were judged hostile to the com pany's interests.
 This action was taken by Mir. Cannon only after the striking machinists had passed a resolution declaring the strike ended and asking the company to take them back without discrimination.
 Railway men consider this action Of MT. Gannon's quite magnanimous one and fully in keeping with his statement at the beginning of the strike that he was one of the best friends the machin- ists had.
 Luncheon baskets the largest ever pro- duced in this country are now being man ufactured in large quantities by the bas- and this is the season of the year when the demand is of the most active character. They are filled with ed- ibles of many different kinds and are carried by the people who go to Cali fornia in tourist cars, says The Chicago Record. This article came into demand with the building and placing in operation may cross the country with all the com forts of home without being required to put up a large sum therefor.
 No one who has not peered into one ot these huge food hampers or seen the con tents of one spread out on car table hold. A stock of provender stored in one Df these baskets will feed whole fami- ly three times a day on four days Journey to San Francisco. Portland or Los Angeles. Besides the regular meals. people nibble at luncheons which the re- ceptacles are made to give up until one would think the thing would be emptied two or three times
 Most of the people who are now going 10 California live in the small outside owns or on farms. Nine -tenths of them 'eed bountifuly at home. and are adopts n putting up enough to eat along the way. Some of them will roast a small sized flock of fowls and boil a whole nam. There are sufficient jams and Jel- ies to stock a county fair. and as for he butter, there are large yellow rolls hat seem never to give out. There is zeparaIIv ha1f-huSha1 0f dOiQhputa and