Omaha daily bee., 1910-07-23

cidents are blunt fact told just as they
have happened.
Midway from front to rear of a freight
car, and underneath are two parallel rods
of iron, a foot and a half apart and con-
nected at one point by a narrow board.
The whole is but foot from the ground.
A man may lie upon these but never with
comfort. When the train Is in motion he
is safe from his arch enemy, the brakeman,
and sure of ride to the next stop. The
rods are the last resort of the man who
is anxious to get over the road and can find
no other place to ride. He swings under
after the train is in motion.
A California fruit train was eastbound
and passing through Arizona. dozen
boy tramps were making a special effort
to ride the train for IL was on schedule
equal to that of a passenger. All the cars
were iced and sealed and there was nc
chance of getting inside. The only show
for a ride was on 'the bumpers" between
the cars, on top and easily accessible &c
the brakeman. or underneath on the rods
Most of the boys rode underneath. Wher
the train stopped the brakeman chased the
youngsters from their hiding places an6
tried to keep them from getting on as IL
pulled out. The result was an all day
battle and hard riding underneath.
One of the lads had never gone under be.
fore 1t was great sport but hard work.
The train was due at Albuquerque at {
O'Clock, but was two hours late. The raw
lad underneath got desperately tired. The
dust and CRIME was something frightful
The great freight train hammering over
the joints of the rails at a speed OF fifty
miles an hour made a fearful din. All was
a 1,.VN bot havaa .
sped by like a fast-running stream. The
retaliation that a mere fall from a tralr
moving so rapidly meant death was made
more vivid by a mental picture of the re-
suit of all the cars behind passing over
ones body.
More Luck Than Sense.
Yet so heavily did the fatigue Of It weigh
upon the amateur hobo that-he went to
sleep on his insecure resting place He
never knew how long he slept. When he
awoke It was to that frenzy Of fear that
overpowers one when coming out of slum-
Der In strange surroundings and not being
able to realize where he is. He gripped
the rods in a frenzy OF fright. In which
his memory CROPPED in the chaos of the din
about him 10 find something familiar that
would make him understand. Finally mem
DRY came back to the normal and he real
lied where he was. Likewise he appreci-
ated the danger he had been in while sleep
ing on the rods beneath the train, and q
greater fright came to him than he had
ever felt before. Being game however, and
the danger past, his spirits were in nowis'
dampened, and, he rode on to other expert
enees.
cross-eontinent express stopped at
O'Clock in the evening at town in Colo
RADIO. This town seemed TO nave accumu
lated a superabundance of tramps, and al
were anxious to get out. for the bulls
! railroad yard detectives) were unfriendly
and the rock pile threatened. When IN,
passenger train steamed out and gathereC
speed the trsmps swarmed from behind tn
other cars in the yard from back OF tn
water tank, from along the right-of-way
Most of them aimed for the blind bag
gage" a platform in front OF the -baggag
car which Is just behind the engine Of
these trains Some few who missed thi
boldly chose a car step which bristled n
brakeman. swung aboard and scramble
up the little ladder which leads to the to-