The sun., 1908-04-26
no TRAINs srOR GT E0LA N0K.
Maybe TIE RailFSad oa TIE Eyidsnos q .
Barn Deer WIN Have 70 Puy Ga ,ASO.

lAhCAbfhh1 NO. AIfll Es'--At N"hhbN -.
April 20, 1904, Charles @. Dean made marx
on bis barn door at Zola with piece Of red
chalk. Next evening he executed with the
same material twin brother to the first
He kept this up until there was no more
room on tho barn door.
Each mark represented day gone and
no trains stopping at ZoA, which failure
Of trains 10 stop was a violation OF con-
tract Mr. Dean made with the Keokuk and
Western Railroad in 1887, when he decided
his land 10 the company, There ls Missouri
statute which says that when a railroad
accepts deed to land for station switch
yards and other purposes, II q village grows
up there the road must maintain its service
or forfeit to the school fund Of the county
$40 for every day 1t suffers such service 70
be withdrawn,
Mr.. Dean owned the land on which the
village of Zola developed He pointed out
to the Keokuk and Western folks that the
Wabash road was getting all the fat hogs
and steers thereabouts by way Of its own
town Of Coatesville, about mile and q hah
away. The X. 4 W. folks came out In q
private car, looked over the country with
field glasses and told Dean he had guessed
right.
Then Dean offered to donate town site,
station grounds and an. on condition that
the railroad should stop lie trains there.
The offer was snapped up and the road diu
all nominated in the bond
A couple Of cottages and store followed
the station Then Uncle Sam sent man
out to the north Missouri prairie and he
established a post Office and some rural
routes. Zola was on the map and Farmer
Dean was Oontented.
He was a great admirer OF tho french
writer and he had done what he could TO
perpetuate his name in America. It had
been his ambition TO found a real town and
he had made good. Iola stood for liberty
and progressiveness, and 90 did his name
sake here.
Doan was Mayor, justice Of the peace,
tn leading citizen, the most prominent
stock raiser Wh,n he travelled on the
railroad the conductors and traia crews
addressed him as Colonel,
New industries developed apace. The
storekeepsr put in corn sheller. the town
erected watering trough and a windmill
and the postmaster constructed PLATFORM
for women to alight from wagons.
When the trains came In sight they would
whistle and ring tho bell 90 as - warn
people 10 look out for the cars, and then'
they would stop at the station the same as
they do in Chicago and New York, &C Inc
leading citizen, the merchant and the post,
master would meet all trains 30 as 70 eHteno
the glad hand to any stranger who might
happen in and TO direct him about to pre-.
vent his getting swallowed up 10 the roar ol
Zola's metropolitan traffic.
There we're streets. alleys and parks
on paper-and suburbs covering AL out
doors. Laws we're passed and posted in the
post Office prohibiting fast Criving In town,
advising against whiting on the thor
oughfares and shooting out the street lights.
OF course this was sim warnlog 70
careless visitors from the country. The
local population knew better
During the days Of storm and snow on
the prairie the town would assemble-in the
station and the agent would catch rom
the wires the bulletins about prizehght
somewhere or a political oonyenuon or
some other patriotic event and pass II out
10 his fellow citizens. and then after working
hours they would gather around the mer-
chants stove and discuss the days news
far into the night.
So we'll did the citizens OF Zola become
acquainted with the train crews that they
could call every man by his first name, and
they felt themselves entirely free 70 oner a
chew OF tobacco in case the men OF the road
were out As for the crews, they developed
a warm feeling for the people ot IolA. end
all Of them would get on on the platform ana
shake hands all round, ask pertinent ques,
tons about crops and the weather and
then drive on.
If the people Of Zola happened TO be
eating a watermelon when the train came
along they would slice. It 30 that the con-
ductor, engineer, butcher, &c, could share
and the train was held until hos
pitality was satisfied There was none OF
that crazy scramble 10 keep moving in the
good old days
These circumstances are cited incidentally
10 show the natural grief that possessed Alr'
Dean when he saw the Trecker train stop,
cut out the telegraph instrument and lnad
the little station on pair OF hats II meant
the extingushment OF Zoa.
The merchant left next and then the |
postmaster. Mr.. Dean became the only !
citizen, the same as II was In the days |
when the coyote and the jack rabbit were |
his nearest neiRhbors The trains. which |
are now operated by the burlington system, I
wouldn't even toot a. they whiz1ed by. /!
The crews acted like aliens, forgetting the
tobacco and the watermelons
Mr.. Dean said there ought TO be law
against il. The prosecuting attorney found
that seemed TO covert, and the
sole survivor went to work making chalk
marks on bis barn door.
A careful computation showed ,iI3 marks !
On certain day in early April. He had |
he door photographed and swore to tho
account before the prosecuting attorney. ]
The marks, each representing one days
failure Of train service, come 10 an aggre- /
zate Of $3.50, which the prosecuting
lttoney OF Schuyler county figures the
-ailroad owes the school fund on the in
ormation Of Mr. Dean. As the station
which was carted OF was worth only 500
I might have been money in tho roads
pocket TO let II stay.
In the event Of a recovery none Of the
,rize money will 90 10 Mr.. Dean. But
hat Is nothing. There's a principle in the
hing. The public can't be damned with |