The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1906-01-19
Carruth hod put his best man on the


bales They were from five to five
and half feet long, something under
a yard wide, and twenty two to TWEEN
ty-six inches thick. They were set
on end three abreast; and as the dis
t .nce from fl ,or to roof was approxi.
mately seven feet and half, an emp
ty space of two feet was left above
their tops
Forward crawled the tallyman on
his hands and knees, taking note OF
each separate ssbale with his fingers,
and registering it ~mentally at the
same time.
By the system of blind checking
under which be worked, only the car
numbers were set down in the note
book handed to him, and be was given
no inkling as to how many bales he
was expected to find. When tie re-
suit of his labors was reported at the
Office, the clerks there compared it
with the waybills.
The first car contained 81 bales
Harrigan dropped to the ground, en-,
tered the number in his book and clos
ed the door. He then broke the seal
on the next car. In few minutes he
had finished h work in this car also,
and charged 4S against it. Five cars
more were examined without special
incident.
With strong 'rk H .r'i .an broke
the seal Of the e'g TIA car, showed the
door open just enough To allow his
body to pass, and was soon scramb.ine
in the darkness over the hnrlapped
ends. As the roof was lower than
those of the Other cars, there was bare
ly eighteen inches of open space, and
his progress was much slower.
On through the gloom crept the
freight-handler, lingering the rough
edges, and counting in an undertone
as he made his tally.
Sixteen seventeen - eighteen
His head bumped against a crossbeam
of the roof, and be stopped low to pass
beneath it.
"Nineteen-twent-
the last number was never frished,
but died away in m ufiied cry of sur
prise and con sternation; for the TWEEN
tieth bale was not there!
The two hands that he thrust for
ward, expecting to strike burlap touch
ed nothing. Down pitched Harrigan
head foremost into cavity just large
enough to admit his body. He caught
unavailingly with his fingers at the
coarse bagging, but so we'll had the
hydraulic press done its work that he
could grasp no slack in his frantic
clutchings, and his course was not ar
rested till be struck the hard wooden
floor. The sudden shock doubled up
his finger tips and drove back his
hands. His head came down upon
the planks with stunning crack that
made him for the moment half-insen-
sible.
When the car was being loaded at
Memphis, there had been found in the
shipment one bale considerable broad
er than the others. 1t was placed at
one end of the seventh row from the
door, and bale: of ordinary size was
put at the other end. The space be-
tween the two was of necessity left
vacant, as it was not broad enough to
admit another bale. This formed th'
cavity into which. two weeks la Ell ,
Daniel Harrigan was unlucky enough
to fall.
For perhaps thirty seconds the
young Irishman remained inactive, re-
covering from the effects of the blow
upon the top Of the skull. HIS cap
had been pulled on so tightly that it
had not fallen off when he plunged
downward; hence it slightly broke the
force of his fall With returning con-
sciousness however, he began to feel
shooting pain in his temples.
The second finger, too, on his right
hand had been severely sprained, and
the nail split down to the quick, so
that it was bleeding freely. The full
weight of his body resting upon the
crown OF his head strained the neck
muscles severely, but he struggled to
raise himself on the palms of his
hands.
This change Of position had a very
unexpected result. All the contents
of his pockets poured out upon the
aoor under bis nose IN jangling cas-
cade. He could hear the copper and
silver coins and his jack-knife clin king
together on the planks. His watch
slipped from its place, and hung dang