Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1911-05-20
HAS ALSO DEFEATED
MEXICAAS IN HIS TIME
Capt. Burns, Of Hagerstown. Has Had
Some Thrilling Experience In
The Southern Republic.

The Southern Republic.
Among those envied mortals who
are equipped with a stock OF yarns
concerning personal experiences in
Mexico is Capt. Edward w. Burns, of
Hagerstown. the veteran travelling
passenger agent OF the Cumberland
Valley Railroad, aow serving his fif-
teenth year In that capacity and his
forty-second year as an employee Of
the railroad. There were rumors re-
Gently that Captain Burns would re-
tire, but he is still active in the dis
charge OF his duties, and there are few
railroad men more widely known in
this section than he. He Is he nestor
of the employees OF the road.
| AT no time when his duties took him
TO Mexico was the Captains life in
danger, but the pocketbock entrusted
| to his care was, for the Mexicans
have always had a habit OF regarding
| Americans as easy prey for all extor-
! TONERS, otherwise known as hotel
keepers, liverymen and others of that
country who live at the expense OF
! travellers.
1t 'as in 1893 that Capt Burns was
with party that went from Mexico
City to Chapultepec in a procession of
| vehicles that taxed the resources of
the jehu Of the capital All Captain
| Burns could get for himself and his
companions after others had been ac-
commodated was ramshackled con-
veyamce. Halfway on the road from
| the city to the heights made famous
| by SCOTS victory wheel came off,
and the vehicle was hopelessly out OF
commission. Fortunately an A-neri-
can resident in Mexico was cem-
panion, and he stopped the driver of
a private equipage and, by generous
i tip. induced the driver to take his
| friends ON the outing. After the tired
| excursiolists had returned to the he
tel the Hveryman appeared and de-
manded payment, threatening ven
geance with all the verbal ornament
! that prevails among the Latin-Ameri-
cans. Captain Turns says he made
/ two OF the longest speeches of his life
on that day. One was when On the
heights of Chapultepec he told an at
! tentive crowd of the battle OF Gettys-
burg; the other when he was talking
20 the jehu. Finally the Mexican was
told that he could go to the American
consul. CT anybody else that he pleas
ed, for the bill would not be paid The
Mexican went, whittier 1t is not known
and the bill has not been paid yet.
II Should like to have heard that
speech" said Col Thomas B. Kennedy
referring to the forensic description of
the battle OF Gettysburg.
| "If you had been there, would not
have made it." was the reply.
Captain Burns is son of the late ].
W. Burns, a newspaper editor Of Phil
adelphia, and his first employment
was as an amateur reported under the
direction CT his father. Then hs went
with hardware firm in Philadelphia.
and in the course of his employment
there he had an experience in rapid
transit that beat anything In his later
career. A report having spread that
bomb-throwers were among the crowd
that assembled to see the funeral
cortege CT President Lincoln. you1g
Burns was carried three blocks by the
terrific crowd, and for all that dis
| lance. he says, my feet never touched
the ground
1 sc rot sx,- II. tSf,s.
i to become railroad man about the
time THAT he went on the first one
! day excursion from Philadelphia to
Cape May. To be able to go to Cape
May and return within the same day
was then considered a wonderful
achievement 1T was when the rail-
road cars were hauled across the
bridge over the Schuylkill by mules,
because the bridge was not strong
enough to bear train with an engine.
| It was at Chambersburg, the home
of his mother, where the family had
suffered loss through the burning of
the town by the Confederates, that
| Captain Burns began his railroad ca
reer. He was willing to start in any
capacity, and was then II or IS years
Cid. His first job was to sell apples,
gum drops, ETC., on the trains CT the
Cumberland Valley road, but as apples
rotted sometimes before he could sell
them and he had to make good the
loss he grew discouraged. Then he
tried selling accidental insurance
tickets, and sold some. but not near
enough to avoid dependency.
mot making much money, Ned?"
said Col o. N. Lull, the superintend-
elt of the read, to him one day.
No, sir, and If you could find some
thing else for me to do | woud be
much obliged
"Come to- my Office, then"
Although Burns was at this time the
only subordinate in the office OF the
superintendent, he had little to do but
to arrange papers on the desk of his
employer On bitter cold day report
was made to the superintendent that
u a"