Omaha daily bee., 1910-08-07

Eyes. Wen trouble you to hand over that
stable. Weul send men to get It,"
Forthwith the stable" and the rusty
trucks were sent to the repair shop. There
the patent medicine paint was carefully
scraped away, revealing, sure enough, the
number Identifying the stable" as the
long-lost car.
IL the middle of the fifteenth month from
the time of it's disappearance. that car, now
shiny in a coat of real neutrality-suspicious.
paint, and otherwise renovated, was deliv-
cred to the Union Pacific. And with the re-
ceipt for the car in their possession the
Northern Pacific car service men danced
Jig TO the tune OF a comic opera ditty en-
titled And the Prodigal Came Back
A few days later, however, CONSERVATION
reigned in the Northern Pacific car service
office. A bill had been received from the
Union Pacific for the rent of that long
suffering cara bill for 25 cents a day for
the first thirty days, and 81 a day for each
day in the rest Of the fifteen and a half
months that the Northern Pacific was re-
sponsible for the car.
And Then the Bill Came.
For the per diem rules permitted the I'm
ion Pacific to put in just such a bill. and
1t amounted to $4425O
A Hartman man told me that in an eff
fort to get square the Hill men sent the
farmer who had taken possession of the
car for his mare bill for $4425O for "a
years rent of stable" And that Hartman
man had such a baby-blue eye, too!
Not only cars but entire trains, have been
lost. l know two stories of lost whole
trains. For the first of these stories l am
indebted to Mr.. Rivett Inspector of
the Union Pacific He and l, with Mr..
Cotton, a Union Pacific land agent, were
sitting together when he told about it.
farmer who had taken possession of the
car for his mare bill for $442.5O for "a
years rent of stable" And that Harri-
man man had such baby-blue eye, tool
Not only cars, but entire trains have been
lost. l know two stories of lost whole
trains. For the first Of these stories 1 am
Indebted to Mr. Rivett car inspector of
the Union Pacific. He and 1, with Mr.,
Cotton, a Union Pacific land agent were
sitting together when he told about it.
1t happened in October, 1906. a freight
train on the Burlington route left Omaha
at o'clock in the evening. with orders to
| go to Plattsmouth. Neb,, which is south OF
Omaha
/ The dispatcher responsible for the move
ment of that freight train sat at his desk
in Lincoln To him the train was reported
as arriving at Gilmore Junction, a station
little south of Omaha. A few minutes
later he received word that the train had
left Gilmore.
Ten minutes passed, and the dispatcher
should have received word that the train
had reached or passed the first way
station south of Gilmore. But no such
message came. Fifteen minutes passed
and the dearth of news from the train made
the dispatcher curious. He called up the
agent at the way-station and asked IL the
Plattsmouth freight had passed. The an
swer came back. mo-
Trying to Find Train.
Maybe he's let it get by without know
| ing it," thought the dispatcher.
| Forthwith he called up the second way
station south of Omaha, at which the train
was now due. BY that time twenty-five min
utes had passed since the train had been
swallowed up In silence. From this second
way-station the answer came: Know
nothing of Plattsmouth freight"
On hearing this the dispatcher was nc
longer curious; he was furious Thirty
mlnutesl Dead silence regarding that train.
Forty minutes! The dispatcher. now com
pletely nonplussed, and biting his pipe fu-
rlously, called up the telegraph operators
at all stations between Gilmore and Lin.
coin.
The answers were monotonously disheart
ening. Not one of the operators could give
an account Of the train.
Great Ccotti Where is that train. thenl
cried the now blasphemous and ashy-faceC