The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1906-07-16
His Luxurious Ride

Dcen celebrated tourist, filled his
corncob pipe and RECALLED his fellow
knights OF the key with the following
tale;
1T was a few months after the big
strike OF 49, when telegraphers all
over the country quit work at the sig
nal Grant is dead that starred out
as a tourist was in Detroit at the
! time and had a good sit as assistant
train dispatcher, but went out with the
others, One fellow who talked louder
at the meetings than anyone else was
! the first TO go back, and he was given
my place in the Office The officials of
tho road sent for me several times, but
J ignored them, much to my sorrow, as
| il afterward turned out or course, we
| lost the strike, and when IL came to
| casting about for another job little
| Willie found that he had been black.
! listed-at least where | applied for
work | was told there was nothing
doing.
4 had a friend who was chief train
dispatcher for the r & p. at Texar.
kama, Ark. and wrote to him. asking
II he could stake me 10 anything. In a
few days | got letter from him tell.
Ing me to come on, and he would give
nae the night trick at Terrell, Texas. Ii
paid only $f5 per but that was
whole lot better than loafng rode
the bumpers TO st. Louis. where | land.
ed on a Sunday morning That after.
noon | made two attempts to get ous
OF town on the Iron Mountain road.
hut each time was driven off freigh.
trains by the brakemen. AS the walk.
ing was pretty good, / hit the ties to
Jefferson Barracks, where | side
tracked until a train came along after
dusk
II was through freight, bound for
IeNas points, and hoped aboard of a /
nat car on which were two brouchams.
me carriages were covered with can. /.
vas and cleated, and | said to myself |
jim, old BOY, if you could only eet in /
to one of those wagons Pullman +
sleeper wouldn't be in it, / crawled !
up under the canvas covering ana |
tIied The doors of one, but nothing do. |
ms. Then | tackled the other one /
ana Just as true as I'm sitting here !
FOUND one of the doors unlocked.
There was luck for you, crawled
INTO the carriage through a narrow
space-wasn't as heshy then as am
how--and say, there we're cushions
inside that'd drive a man crazy.
didn't do thing but fix M nice he'd
iof myselt and | tore off about nine
hours of the most peaceful slnmber
that 1t had ever been my good fortune
to enjoy.
ne next morning the train got ia
the end Of division, where cot out
ana bought something to eat. / also
quenched my thirst at the dcpot
pump, and as | had something ln-e
vs. IN my jeans, bought some tobacco
ana clay pipe. After the train
pulled ont got back into the hack
again unnoticed by the crew. and
enjoyed my smoke like those Turks
whose pictures you see on the cigar.
cite boxes.
When we got to Walnut RIDGE
about 225 miles from St Louis, had
another opportunity to replenish the
commissary department. That lasted
me until | got to Beebe, Ark, where
| filed up on goose plums and
peaches.
When the train reached Texar.
kama, after a run of 500 miles from
st. Louis, | got out and hurried ND
TO the chief dispatchers Office Of the
Texas & Pacific road knew the
train would lay over at Texarkana at
least half an hour, giving me time to
sec the dispatcher and catch my pri.
waite car before she pulled out for
Dallas.
The dispatcher was pretty busy
when / broke in on him, but he took
time TO tell me that the job at Ter
rel vas still open and to get there ,
at once. | was delayed several min
utes in seeing him, and when I liked
back to the yards where | had left ]
my special ! saw it pulling out. The !
flat car with the carriages on it was {
In about the middle of the train next q
TO a car Of coal stood behind an r
oil tank keeping out of sight Of the I
brakes. and when | saw the coal ,
car come along with no fiat behind il :
my heart sank. While | was up at
the dispatcher's office they had cut
out the fiat car. Texarkana being it5
destination.
There was nothing for me TO 10
)ut go back to the dispatcher's Office :
md brace him for transportation to .
Terrell. On my second visit TO his
,ffice ! found him not so busy, and in
IN oiThand way I said:
by the way. Jack. | forgot 10 ask Z
you for transportation when | was j.
lere little while ago.
YES. said he. and | was 50 busy !
II the time ! forgot all about 1t N.Y. y
elf o
HE then wrote me an order on the +
superintendent. which got me the
iass. continued my Journey within Y
n hour on passenger train. but | j.
would rather have been on the fat ,
ar.
Since then ! had ridden on some p
e tho ..,,af f,vrt-ipra eleanor that g