Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1921-02-23
RAILROAD PASSES
Bloomington Man Exchanged Wit and
Wisdom with Minister.

WISDOM Win Minister.
The following from Western
| newspaper Will be of interest to many
readers, since Mr.. Strong was a ma
| tive OF Bloomington and died only a
few years ago.
The December number Of the
Locomotive Engineering" a valua-
BILE journal devoted to railway motive
| power and rolling stock, publishes
the following incident in the railway
life of our esteemed fellow citizen,
VIM. b. Strong, ex-presldent OF the
I great Atchison Topeka & Santa Fe
| railway system:
"Quite a long time ago minister
Of the gospel wrote Mr.. William B;
Strong, who was then high official
of the Michigan Central Railroad, re-
queSting an annual pass over that syS-
tenn. The minister was duly sup
piled with a half-fare permit. This
did not appease his desire, however,
and he Immediately instituted more
diligent pursuit of the coveted annual
by writing Mr.. Strong as follows:
Dear Sir-You sent me few days
since half-fare permit, which please,
fully permit me to thank you for. AS
a proof that I should be given the
annual pass I requested, respectfully
call your attention to the following
passages of scripture:
Exodus 61O-sWith strong hand
shalt thou let them 60.
I'll Chronicles 16:9-sStrong in be-
half of Them (Half in this case
means, not the half l now have, but
the other half of the permit, so that
l shall have a full free pass for the
year,
81 Kings 2:2- "Be strong and show
thyself man.
Jeremiah 15:14-T will cause thee
to pass
ezekiel 37:2-'And caused me to
pass
Joshua 22:19-'Then pass over
eff the above passages do not find
or reach some responsive chord in
your bosom, other language will, of
course, utterly fail to impress YOU"
Mr.. Strong replied as follows:
cit is an odd experience that the
scriptures can be made to sustain any
doctrine or dogma if it be ingeniously
applied. I thought l was complying
strictly with the most liberal offers of
transportation to be found in the BIZ
BILE.
early in the history of the Jews
3
ton from Egypt, and certainly going
in such numbers they would be entitl-
ed to as low a rate Of fare as could
consistently be asked or granted by
anyone, yet in the 18th verse of the
Both chapter of Exodus / find the fol-
lowing: This they shall give-every
one that passeth-a half If this
does not cover the case, know not
where to look for authorities.
GIN one of your citations you refer
to what you are pleased to call other
half of the permit which 1 sent you.
l fear it would be of little service,
since our conductors, being better
versed in mathematics than theology,
would be sure to collect full fare from
anyone travelling on two haf-fare
permits.
"But to convince you that look to
Holy Writ as an authority for de-
Ginning free passes, permit me to
quote a few precepts on the subject
of passenger transportation which l
find in it's pages, beginning with such
as seem especially addressed to the
passeger:
sI Kings 20:39-'Thou shalt pay
"II Kings 49, Go and pay
"Ecclesiastes $50 Defer not to
pay,
Exodus 21:26-'He Shall surely
pay
"Jonah 1:3-'So he paid the fare
and went
"In addition to these precepts to the
passenger I find the following injunc-
tions to the railroad manager:
Judges 3:28-'Suffer not man to
pass
Nahum 1:15-'The wicked shall no
more pass
'Tsiah 24:1O-'None shall ever
pass
Jeremiah 2:42-'Though they roar,
yet shall thew not pass
perhaps after this array of scrip
ture authority l shall not be justified
IN sending you the annual desired vet
find my sympathies stronger than
my theology, and take pleasure in
sending you herewith the pass re-