Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1905-01-27
DAILY SHORT STORY
STEALING A CAR.
IOriginal.l

-
Andrews capture of railroad train in
Georgia during the civil war" said a
veteran, but my runnin' away with
box car I'm North Carolina has never
been put in type
Half dozen pipes were withdrawn
from as many mouths. and the smok-
ing comrades pricked up their ears.
Never heard o. that raid" remark
ed one of them.
Lets have IT." said another
Me and my friend Bill Acres tun-
neled out o ADdersonville prison pen
and made a successful escape-that is.
we escaped from the prison and had
the whole south TO roam in. Gettin'
into northern territory was Il far diff
ferent matter. / found a dead Confed-
crate that hadn't been buried and ap-
propriated his clothes. There wasn't
much uniform about 'en. but they had
the southern cut. and the coat at least
was gray. with c. s A. on the buttons.
well, Bill and / concluded to sepa-
rate. We wouldn't be of use to each
other. and il might give me away as Il
Confederate to be seen associatin' with
a miserable escaped Yankee prisoner.
So when we came To a fork I'm the road
Bill took to one fork and 10 the other
1 didn't see anything of Bill for two
weeks, and in the meantime I'd gone
over a good deal OF ground When l
did see him it was this way:
"One night always Travelled nights
and hid I'm daytime struck Il rail
road. l was pretty near worn out and
determined to- follow the track till
reached Il station and try To beat my
way on IA train goin' north, relyin' on
my cheek and Confederate uniform
for protection. Fact is, 1 was SO des-
perate that / was even willin' to run
the risk OF bein' taken in for spy.
/ walked on the ties for an hour. when
1 came 10 u sleepy little station. A
freight train stood on IA side track with
Il locomotive headed south. l walked
along till l came to the rear car. box
car. and heard voices inside of II. l
listened and soon learned from what
they said that they were n lot of I'm
ion prisoners of war Oh their way 10
Andersonville. But what startled me
most was hearin' Bill Acres voice
among the rest. There WAS no guard
about. which surprised me, and. call
in for Bill. made myself known 10
him. He told me OF his capture and
said that the prisoners had all given
their parole To the guard not to- escape
10. o.. an.-fa. aN
with IL first class meal the next day.
Then the guard had gone OFF To Il
dance in barn. There wasn't much
use takin' the prisoners parole. for
they couldn't git out nohow.
while we was talkin' / heard
putin below and knew there was "A
train comm up from the south. /
made up my mind to play n desperate
game. l told the boys in the car To
keep still. Seem lantern on the
station platform, swung 1t and stop
ped the comm train. freight.
What d'y' WANT asked the con-
ductor, gittin' out o. the caboose car
in the rear and comm forward with
lantern.
IL want that car coupled on TO your
train
Got in orderT
"'Not railroad order. The army
can't wait for railroad red tape. That's
what brought il down here when it's
wanted farther north. It's full of
This settled the matter. and the man
gave the necessary orders. ! had learn
ell from the men in the car that we
We're between Raleigh. y. C., on the
south and Lynchburg, Va, on the
north. told the conductor that i
wanted the car pulled 10 Lynchburg.
When II was coupled on behind the ca
boose and we had started. the conduct
or invited me 10 ride I'm the car with
him. but ! told him that l wouldn't
leave the ammunition out of my sight
for n moment. had my plans all form
ri. My intention was when we reached
n convenient point TO uncouple the car,
break open the door. free the prisoners
and all make tracks for the Blue Ridge.
"Of course the nearer we could get to
the mountains the better. but OF course
all the time we stayed with the train
we were at great risk and under terri
bic suspense. A. soon as we got into
Virginia I began To think OF droppin'
away from the train Luckily at a
station where we stopped j WAS able
10 steal a crowbar for openin' the car
and laid IL on the roof Since all was
;Oin' well. I kept with the train till we |
reached n point ten or dozen miles |
from Lynchburg and as many from the |
then / went TO the couplin'. |
The door of the caboose was right up 1
against the coupled end OF the prison
AR. but the caboose door was shut. and |
III the risk ! took was of its bein' sud
lenly opened couldn't pull the coup
in pin. 50 | got my crowbar. and
his helped me out. After DRAWN the
pin ] waited while the car fell slowly
lack. not DARN TO make sound with |
he brake. ! tell you I watched that II
door with terror till my car
Was far enough away TO apply the
brake When I had drifted a hundred III
Pa rds behind and fhe train before mo II