Bisbee daily review., 1916-11-25
FAMOUS CHARACTER, ARIZONA CHARLIE,
 SENT TO ASYLUM
Walked Railroad Track for 20 Years in Search of Broken Rail Which Caused Death
 of His Wife and Daughter.

l Oi HID SNhS oitu bo0SitCis . In the Superior Court at Tomb stone Thursday there appeared before Judge Lockwood and the lunacy com mission, an old man. unshaven, bent and dressed as the ordinary tramp of the southwest. He had his trunk Ca gunny sack) with him, as had been his custom for many years, and after due examination he was adjudged in sane by the commission and was talk en to Phoenix by Sheriff Harry Wheel CT
 Twenty years ago James C. Drum gold was considered one of the best locomotive engineers of the Southern Pacific system, and was well liked by all of his fellow employees for his good disposition, always ready to help the needy and always had a good word for his fellow men, and was a com ! paniOnable associate with all. l It was while MT Drumeold was on his regular daily run one day. many l to learn that his wife and daughter had met death that day in a passen- ger train wreck between Bowie and ] Lordsburg, from a broken rail, and en by the loss of his family, his mind having become unbalanced. he lost his job, and in his harmless state of mind he began tramping the rails out of Bowie, both east aHd west for sev- eral hundred miles, looking from Yu- ma to Fl Paso for broken rails that might cause another accident such as the one in which he lost his loved ] ones.
 1 In his travels from one end of the division to the other, the employees soon came to know him by the nick name of Arizona Charlie" which he has carried all these long years until his true name was brought out at the | hearing.
 Not a railroad employe on the main line does not know Arizona Charlie"
  money and assistance from them for years. who always looked out for Arizona Charlie
 On his hikes, year in and year out, Arizona Charlie" would never ac- cept a ride proffered from the "cons" of the fastest express or the slowest old freight but always preferred to walk and look for the broken rail still lingering in his mind. He carried | with him a sack for his clothes. two l frying pans, two or three small lard buckets, for his food. and a coat if he was lucky enough to get one. He ! camped wherever night might over take him, always managing to make water tank by nightfall, and the next morning would resume his hike, re sardless of an offer of a ride to the next station or the end of the divis- 1 ion. whichever the case might be. Contented to walk the ties with his head bent low, and eyes to the rails | no one has ever been able to calculate
 
 Charlie" has inspected, but it is known they are many. And pecul- | far thing regarding his inspection | trips was that whenever he did find an irregularity in the track. be it the ties, the rails, or a bridge, he would walk to the nearest section boss and report his find.
 Many times the company offered to provide for the keep of, Arizona Char lie" as did a brother. in California, put the offers were steadfastly re- | fused, just as often as they were made while Arizona Charlie" unassisted. continued his walking career year af- ter year, over the division in search of the broken rail.
 Of late, however, it has often been noticed that the old man. now bent with age, was becoming weak and feeble from exposure, and he was brought to Tombstone from Bowie. and committed to the State Hospital al Phoenix, where he will no doubt spend the remainder of his days, well provided for.
 The closing chapter of the life of Arizona Charlie" probably will never be known to many of the railroad men along the road, and it will be regret ted by those who may learn of his feeble condition.
 He has taken his last railroad ride aud many will be the engineer, fire man, conductor and brakie who will 1 miss the sight of the familiar form Of Arizona Charlie" walking the main line, with bent head, searching for the broken rail.
 And who knows but what Arizona Charlie" has prevented many an acci- dent during his hundreds and thou sands miles of travel, seeking the broken rail?