CanÌƒon City record. [volume] (CanÌƒon City, Colo.) 1883-192?, 1908-07-09

AAcA n. Lacey, puUhBueE u INC IIi-
bune at West Cline and is well
known to many Canon City people.
The story is taken from recent issue
Of the Kansas City Star:
Captain Alex H. Lacey, the veteran
editor of the Wet Mountain Tribune of
Westcliffe, Colo, was in Missouri re-
Gently, looking over the ground where
stirring history had been made during
his residence here. When chaos ruled
in Missouri Captain Lacey was identi-
fed with the Unionist party, and even
before the breaking out of actual hos
tilities his espousal of that cause plac-
ed his life in jeopardy several times.
In the SOS Captain Lacy was cub
printer in the Hannibal Union office
and enjoyed the intimate association
OF Mark Twain, who, he frankly con-
fesses, intensely surprised him by
turning into a man of letters. The
captain says the great humorist didn't
reveal any symptoms of his future ca
reer when they were mutually en-
gagged in covering themselves with
ink in the old Union printery. Later
Captain Lacey went into the secret
service for the government and as
sisted in procuring the arrest and con-
viction of several renegades who had
scented the approach of war and were
prematurely creating trouble for the
government.
While the war was going on the
Hannibal & st. Joseph railroad was
doing it's best to deliver the Eastern
mail regularly to the pony express"
which began its 1000 mile run for the
coast at St Joseph. .......
The country was infested by bush
whackers and malcontents owing al
legiance TO neither North or South.
but remorselessly taking advantage of
the disturbed condition of the country
to pillage on every side Naturally
antagonistic to the government, rail-
roads carrying mail and troors were
especially marked as victims. So vi
cious did these bands of mauraders
become that the government finally
established blockhouses and all the
large bridges along the road and sta
toned troops in them. The last of
these ancient blockhouses. the one AZ
the Charlton river crossing. was des-
troyed by fire a few years ago.
While shaking hands with his many
old friends at Macon, Captain Lacy
reverted TO an incident of 1864. when
he was a railway postal messenger.
handling the mail to and from the
coast ...... ...
A Dream that Nearly Came True.
Il am not a believer In dreams. nor
In ghosts. nor in the superstitions re-
garding the position from which yoa
would first observe the new moon.
said Captain Lacy. but this is the
way the warning came to me: One
night when we reached st. Joe, was
too tired to walk around to the hotel.
and went to sleep on the sacks in the
mail room. / awoke about midnight,
after distressing dream of being
Bill Anderson's desperate gang had
Bu, recently annihilated Major John
sons militia at Centralia, and then
shot down train load OF soldiers
tnxr
was aghast at the atrocity. The dis
covery that only the iron staples on
the mail sacks had been pressing into
my flesh did not dipsel the influence
OF the dream. told Conductor Count
Harris and several OF the crew about
1t. They laughed and said I was get
ting womanish. On the eastward trip
that day they made life a misery by
ment and sarcastically inquiring about
the locality OF the bandits. At Hun
newell-somewhat more than half way
across the state--we were held q
short while until n wreck ahead of
us was cleared away. The suspense
of waiting brought the dream back
with double force, and i secreted the
registered mail and valuable pack
ages about my clothes, Then told
Conductor Harris that wasn't going
any further down the road that day.
He questioned my courage, and this
time he was serious. couldn't stand
that ana r~~Olvod IN nfnv nth fha