The San Francisco call., 1908-05-09
Gossip of The RaiIwaymen

He is a thrifty young man and had
an accident at Mendoza. and in the dis
aster his new hat received large and
ugly dent All the stores in the Raisin
City were closed. and he had to obtrude
his person to the gaze of the esthetie
residents of that city with a misshapen
hat all Sunday.
he intimates that the hat was the
cause of his not becoming. through an
alliance. the owner of a large vineyard.
a noble mansion and several outhouses,
all in good repair.
He first called on the claims depart
ment OF the Southern Pacific for dam
ages for his hat. II was explained
to him. however, that a hat when worn
did not come under the classification Of
freight, unless boxed or Grated He
was referred to the passenger depart
ment and John Ross, after celebrating
on this question for two weeks. decided
that as it was not human he could Sc
cure redress only from the claims de-
partment.
'1 want damages for my hat in
sisted the man. "and compensation for
my wounded feelings, and the claims
department has refused the first de-
mand.
That" replied John Ross. judicially.
gives different aspect TO the case.
If it is alIeviation for mental complica-
tion I will consult C. w. Durbrow.
Come back in about a week"
He returned and John Ross said:
You had better sue the company in
the Justices court. and, of course, we
will fight it. If we get beaten We will
carry it to the higher court. then to
the supreme court, and in case we are
beaten again we will carry 1t to the
supreme court of the United States. In
about Is years we will get a decision
and you Will be out about s1.500."
And 1t has taken me six months to
learn this" said the amazed man.
That's the best>I can do" answered
John Ross, humbly.
Young man." he said solemniy
don't ever quit the railroad service. A
person with disposition as accomno-
dating as yours. and so fertile genius.
must eventually rise to be railroad
president. Hartman has a treasure in
YOU"
In the light of Paul Mortons re-
peated denials of the statement made
in these columns that he was going
back to the Santa Fe. his election as a
director of that corporation seems GER
tainly queer. The assertion that was
made in The Call that he was slated for
president is more than ever firmly be-
lieved. and this is strengthened by the
statements of railroadmen from the
east. who say that at the eastern end
of the Santa Fe it is rumored that at
the June election Morton will be elected
president.
H. r. Judah. assistant general pas
senger agent of the Southern Pacific.
who has been i'll for the last few
weeks, has sufficiently recovered to be
about. He has about closed the nego-
tiations for the sale of his country
place. Aldercroft. in the Santa Cruz
mountains, to Richard Tully. who mar
ried Eleanor Gates. The Tullys have
already one place in the Santa Cruz
mountains.
The association OF traffic agents held
the first of its series OF dances at
Golden Gate hall last night. which was
a decided success. About 500 couples
were In the hall and at midnight the
party adjourned to neighboring cafe.
where there was an informal jinks.
The chief engineers office of the
Western Pacific reports that the track
is now 49 miles from Oakland and the
gap between Marysville and Sacramento