Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1910-04-08

err" Then see hat 1t Is done says L.
About three o'clock in the mornin.
my train rolled out of the yards a,
y jamestown and 1 was on the way t
Fargo and Minneapolis.
At the Minnesota Transfer Yards
near Minneapolis all immigrant cars
\ were held for inspection, and arrange
ments were made for their transfer tc
other roads, according to-their desti
S nation. The delay at this place was
| somewhere between t~wenty-four anG
5 thirty hours. There we're so many
f long stops at different division termi.
nails and other stations that l have
forgotten as to the length of time at
t the different ones. | lost track OF
the days of the week time and again.
AS for sleep, l am a very light sleeper
under the most favorable conditions,
and you a readily imagine what the
chances were for sleep In my abode.
My bed was a mattress on the top of a
lot of baled hay near the end of the
car where the stock was tied. I had
plenty of good covering and blankets
and a soft pillow. There was a man
ger fixed up along the side Of the car
in which l put the hay for the cattle's
feed. This was the hallway along
which | gained entrance to my bed
room. After the first three or four
nights l became accustomed to the
noises made by the rumbling Of the
oar yuhrco f;p,Lnr, oron1,ol o~L
groaned as it swayed from side to
side, and the squaking Of the chick
ems, ducks and geese, and l would
sleep fairly we'll for an hour or two at
a time, or until the train pulled into
a station and the switching and bump
ing would commence. One of the
COWS had been separated from her
calf when she was taken to Bowdon
and loaded into the ar. At times
during the night she would start up
bawling and keep it up and keep at it
until at times l thought she never
would quit.
At any time whether it was day or
might, when We would pull into a di-
vision terminal it was my business to
be on the alert and hunt up the yard
master to see about the time of de-
parture of the train into which my
car would be taken, and also to see
about getting my stock of water re-
plenished If 1T as needed. l had
found out that it was the yardmaster's
duty, If notified, to arrange so that
stock on outgoing trains was supplied
with water, and after l had ''got on
to the ropes" as the saying goes, l
did not take any pains to mince my
words in giving him to understand
what was what if he was inclined
to act cute or short. AT one divis-
ion point in Tennessee, l had
the satisfaction Of having the switch
crew carry water in buckets from a
hydrant several rods away from where
my a stood, and fill my water barrel
while 1 stood cody by smoking.
l was constantly bothered by hoboes
who wanted to steal a ride, and If
that had been all they wanted to
steal, | might not at times have rails
ed much objection, but most of them
looked so tough and v%illianous that l
am afraid that if 1 had permitted
them to enter the car they would not
have hesitated to lay me u and
search me and the car for valuables.
1 did not have anything but a gold
watch worth taking, but l did not
care to have one of these fellows pat
me on the head with a club anyway,
in his endeavor to find out what I did
have. At many places l had no
alternative but to leave the car, the
doors open and unlocked, and 20
hunting about for railroad officials to
obtain what l wanted. At such
times there "a plenty of opportunity
for hoboes to enter my car and hide
in among the machinery, crates and
boxes. One night while passing
thru the Southern part of Illinois,
after we had just left a station where
my car was given such a severe bump
during the switching that l was
y pitched headlong from my bed On top
of the hay bales and down among
the cattle, l discovered a couple of
hoboes lying in the haymanger. l
was in no mood for gentle speech just
then and the language 1 employed in
in addressing those fellows, was
certainly effective If not conventional
because the way those buns lit out
and departed was not slow. I had a
pocket gun with me but never had
much thot Of using that, but l had a
hammer in a CONVENIENT place neal
my station between the two doors
! and it would not have been just the
! wisest kind OF a move for one those
buns to have attempted to board
/ the car against my wishes.
After leaving Southern Illinois and
while passing thru Kentucky, Ten
nessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana
1 had to leave the car doors wide open
in order that it might not be toe
%sufflcatingly hot for the stock and
poultry. And the way the inquisitive
} darkies would crowd around the cal
at every station at which we stopped
. - Dyy-