Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1905-03-03
IT IS THE TOUGHEST
TRAIN ON EARTH
Northern Pacific Runs One, a
Special Called the "Drunk
Extra"
--------
is MADE UP AT BURKE
This Town Is a Mining Village, but All
Drinking and Gambling 10 Dis
couraged by Owners and
Wallace Is Just West.

Wallace, Idaho, correspondence in
Cincinnati Enquirer: IAN aboard for
the drunk train, Burke special this way.
Last chance 10 the mines!"
The wondering fastener, standing
upon the Northern Pacific platform at
Wallace on Saturday night is inclined
TO disbelieve his ears. Yet the depot
ftitIst-r, who spreads his legs wide
apart and screeches through "A mega
phone. is In earnest. Nobody appears
10 see anything but of the ordinary in
the announcement. Nobody PUSHES for
the train OF three cars that has been run
onto 81 siding behind the station. n
easterner alone Is astonished. The
Drunk train" is a regular institution
on this section of the system.
The Northern Pacific has the only
drunk train In the world. Ii runs once
a week, Saturday night, and has a
picked crew. 1t Is a dirty. dingy train,
with dirty windows, smudged with the
thumb marks of dirty hands. Its dirty
seats smell of old tobacco and ashes
litter it's aisle carpets. 1t is never
cleaned, for the simple reason that be-
ing the drunk train, 1t Is used for no
other class of passengers.
Down the road, on a y u that runs
from Wallace up in the mountains to
the north, lies Burke, the toughest
mining camp In Idaho. a little town
that for ''gineral cussedness,' rs the
superintendent Of the division puts 1t,
has niver been bate" Burke is a
mining camp and just that. 1t gives
employment to none but miners, and
having no city government, n being
given a wide berth. as a rule, by the
sheriffs, does as it pleases. And 1t
pleases as a rule, to be Burke" which
means hell"
There is no amusement in Burke, no
dance halls worth the name, no bic
saloons, no swell gambling halls, The
mine workers discourage h sale of
liquor. and the opening OF games. They
prefer to have their turbulent employees
so elsewhere for recreation. So Sat
urday at 3, when the day shift ZONES
off, there is an exodus to Wallace,
They come in sober and moneyed.
They go back drunk and penniless.
Some of them do not go back, but tarry
awhile in the county jail-others never,
return, and a fresh mound in the ceme-
tary tells their simple story.
Not a bad lot when sober. not a bad
lot when drunk, but quarrelsome al
ways n hard to handle, the western
miner. no matter what his condition
may be. never forgets in the presence
of ladies, that he is, or was, a gentle
ifeff - NAAA y aAN(A ~ hA5bN ~
II i'm Wallace. they sometimes dis
agree. So the train crew is picked.
An ex-sheriff, who knows little of
r~ailroading, but is familiar with the
business end OF a si~x-shooter, is con
ductor of this train alone, for he has
no other run" on the road. The en-
gineer is an ex-bad man, who served
time for the notches on the gun he
never puts from his hip. The firemen
and brakemen are picked for their bulk
and experience with desperados. The
whole crew, like the conductor, has
this one run" The rest of the week
they have Individual trades. But they
are paid big for taking the drunk train
down to Burke and back.
The train is run on no schedule. The
track Is always clear for this special.
OF necessity 1t starts when it pleases.
for no man a tell when it will pull
out, although the huge conductors
stentorian call of Drunk train this
wayi" through his megaphone begins
at midnight. But he begins to call at
IL. not with the idea that he can get
out that early. but to guide his charges
his way. He knows TO a man whom
he has brought down. Every man has
"a return ticket n a badge, In case
he loses ii, pinned 10 his vest. When
the train Is pretty full the conductor
counts noses. III any are missing he
consults with the police and the sher-
Ifs. Then. the missing located, either
in jair or at a hospital. he waves his
lantern ~nonchalantiy to the engineer
and the drunk train pulls out.
No tickets are collected. The badge
proves the man is entitled to ride. The
tickets are cancelled both ways when
sold, and therefore are useless to the
ticket broker. Moreover, they are off
a special die and mark ed "Gnad- only
on the Drunk Special" IT would do
YOU nc good, IL you were an eastern
sightseer, or correspondent, to beg, buy
or steal one of these tickets or one of
lowed to enter the train. The conduc-
tor would inform you, politely, but
firmly. hat he had no collins aboard,
and that the coroner was too drunk
to be reused at that time of the night.
During the run, having assured
themselves that all throwables are out
of reach. that the fire axes and bottles,
have all been removed and the doors
all unlocked, the crew takes refuge In
the baggage a and the locomotive.
They pay no further attention to the
passengers. If any wish to crawl upon
the platform and fall to death when
the train lurches. all well and good. for
the drunk special ticket is a pro-
which the purchaser is required
10 sign, 10 the cIIeCl lDal the p~dSSSnRtr
on his train valves all rights for dam
ages In case OF injury. Now and then
a man tumbles off or Is thrown of.
Ii he lives he is picked up later sober
and mangled. III he dies he is buried
by the county.
This policy upon the part OF the
railroad company is the result of long
and bitter experience. Before the drunk
special was hit upon the miners rode
on the regular last train 10 Burke.
Fights were of frequent occurrence. and
more than one conductor or brakeman
met an untimely end in his efforts 20
preserve order. Many a deed OF blood
has the dingy train witnessed, and
more than one bullet peacefully rests
In its smoky ceilings. The county
could moi afford TO put rev deputies
or the train. because after a few trips
there were vacancies in the sheriffs
Office, either through resignation or
other causes. An IDAHO deputy travis
only $50, and the accident insurance
companies draw up no special policies
for this sort OF thing. So the division
superintendent thought up the drunk
special. and o IL is an Institution.
II Is as peaceful as such a train
can ever be. 1t is only ~rarelv6noM
that trouble ours The train Is run
into Burks, left In the yards and de-
serted hs the. crew. The passengers
leave when they are ready. The next
night. IL ul. are out. the cars are run
hack 10 wallace. WHERE they lie Idle