Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1906-06-02
How He Cot His Start
[Original.1

dressed to himself in his fathers hand
writing Breaking the seal, he read:
when, my dear son, you receive the
shock in store for you contained in this
| paper l shall be removed from any re-
proaches you may feel like casting up
on me. l have always intended to tell
you what l am telling you now. but
| as you grew older and our wealth in
| creased shrank from doing so. Know
now, my son, that the father whom you
have always loved and reverenced was
| once a common tramp. My father
would make farmer of me or appren-
| tice me to tradesman. had no fancy
| for either occupation. What l was fit
| ted for was then not apparent, and the
result was that 1 was considered fit
| ted for nothing, and this was partly
my own opinion. One day, frenzied at
| the restraint and humdrum life of
saddler's apprentice, broke away from
| him and became tramp.
Zone night I was Stealing-I wish
| could use some other wOrd-a ride I'M
| der a car on an express train, when the
breaks were applied suddenly and the
train came to a quick stop. l heard
several shots ahead and surmised that
| the train had been held up by robbers
| l was under the front end of the smok-
/ ing car. Behind were the passenger
cars, next before me was the baggage
| and express car and next the locomo-
-! tive. Two men, whom I could see by
the dim light were masked, passed rap
| sxJJ 10 1,O
| let myself down and ran into the woods
| close beside the track. The ground
was higher on that side, and, going
| forward, I could look right into the To-
connective.
''The engineer was lying dead on the
| cab floor. A masked man stood be-
tween cab and tender, leaning out and
ward, and / heard them tell their own
engineer that the express agent had
been too quick for them and had lock-
| ed the doors of the car. The engineer,
! who seemed to be their leader, Swore
at them and, pointing to pile Of ties
| beside the track, told them to take one
| Of them and burst open the door. Seiz-
ing a tie, they began to batter at the
| door, the engineer watching them from
the cab impatiently. 1t was plain to
me that he wished to go and do the
work himself, but dared not leave the
| cab. Presently his patience gave way
and with smothered growl he jump
| ed down and ran to them.
''Then it occurred to me that were
| l in his place | could not restrain my
self from doing just what he did 1
saw an opportunity for me to save the
| express car. If | could uncouple the
car and get into the cab l might run
! it off before they could stop me- 1t
was a slim chance, for even if l got the
| car uncoupled unobserved and started
| the locomotive they had only to go half
! a cars length to get on the cab, kill me
| and turn off the steam. The danger
only made the plan more fascinating to
| me. Within few seconds all these
things passed through my brain, and
my resolution was formed.
"Sliding down the incline, got under
| the express car on the opposite side
| from that on which the men were
| working, though by this time they were
| at the rear door. l ran along beside
| the car and stopped under the very
platform on which they were operat-
| ing. Fortunately 1 was familiar with
| my position. Just as 1 came beneath
them they drew back for another blow
with the tie, which, by the way, was
hard to work between the two cars,
and when they pushed forward reach
ed up and seized the coupling pin.
"Now, if cars had been coupled then
as they are now, it would have been
impossible for me to separate them
Had the coupling pin been held by
| their being damned together or pulled
too far apart this also would have
blocked my game. With the scuffiing
| going on above | could not know
| whether the pin was loose or tight till I
tried it. My heart stood still as, taking
| advantage of the thickest of the tur-
MOL, l reached up and was overjoyed
that could remove it easily
snow came the second part of my
plan. Dashing forward, climbed to
| the cab, threw back the reverse lever
and as gently as l could opened the
| throttle. My next move was to look
| for a weapon. There were iron coal
rakes in the tender, and grasped one
of them. 1t was impossible that the
robbers should be unaware of the move
ment of the express car for any con
siderable time. / stood with one hand
on the throttle, the other grasping the
coal rake, my eyes watching my rear.
Presently the engineer came running
forward. l covered in the cab, where
he couldn't see me. He had his revolver
il his hand as he came up, but, quick
as fash, raised the coal rake and
brought it down on his skull. He was
good pluck and climbed into the cab
trying to shoot me, but it was hard for
him to climb and shoot at the same
time. He got into the cab, but slipped
at his last step and fell. l gave him
| another blow that finished him.
l.