The free press. (Poplarville, Miss.) 1890-19??, 1922-11-09
Trainmaster McCants
Honored by Southern
He and Many Other Officials
Given Distinguished Service
Medals for Faithfulness
HAS BEEN RAILROADING 56
YEARS AND Still AT IT.

Major L. w. McCants. Train
master of the southern end of the
Northeastern Division of the South
ern Railway System, was called to
Chattanooga last week by COM
munication from Fairfax Harri-
son, President of the Southern Sys-
TEN, and upon his arrival there
found about three hundred other
officials of the Road gathered in
response to a like summons.
1t developed that President Har-
rison, and other high officials of the
Southern, had summoned them to
meet at banquet at the Patton
Hotel. During the course of the
banquet President Harrison made a
speech expressing the deep apprecia-
ton of the Railways high officials
for the faithfulness, splendid work
and personal sacrifices on the part
of the men during the recent strike
of the Shopmen, and he stated that
it was due altogether to their super
human efforts that the System was
enabled to maintain it's traits dur
ing the dark days and trying weeks
of the strike. Mr.. Harrison then
called every man out by name and
presented each with Distinguished
Service Button.
When Major McCants was called
his fellow workers greeted him with
thunderous applause, knowing, as
they did, that it was largely due to
his personal efforts that the south
ern end of the Northwestern Divis-
ion was kept open.
After much bantering back and
forth Mr.. Harrison succeeded in
eliciting the information that Ma
jor McCants will have reached his
seventeen mile post of life on the
twenty-fifth of December, and that
he has been railroading for fifty-six
years consecutively, never "been on
the carpet and still alert and
strictly con the job"
Mr.. McCants is a native of Wa
terboro, South Carolina, his father,
who bore the same initials, was
Circuit Judge, of the District, and
the family lived in Charleston. The
Judge was killed early in the civil
war, and young L. w., with his
widowed mother, was living in
Charleston when the infamous Dan
Sickles was Provost Marshal of the |
place, just after the close of hos
tilities.
For some fancied violation of the
law young McCants, then only four
teen years old, was thrown into
prison. He succeeded in making
his escape and made his way to
Baltimore and on through West
Virginia and Ohio and finally reach
ed Cheyenne, Wyoming, where he
obtained a position as water boy
on the construction force of the
Union Pacific Road, then under con-
struction. Afterward he was brake
man on the Road between Sacra-
mento and San Francisco, and at
nineteen he had charge of train.
Later he was for some time with the
Dakota Central, with headquarters
at Bismark.
Under the lure Of inconsistencies
young McCants returned to South |
Carolina but found that all of his
people had gone over Ito the silent
and he went to Louisville
where he became valued employee
of the Louisville and Nashville Road,
serving them for a number of years.
In 1900 he accepted the position
of Trainmaster on the New Orleans
Meridian Division of the North
eastern Railroad, now the Southern,
vile. During all the twenty-five
and he made his home at Poplar
years he has served the Company
steadily, ftiahmully and efficiently,
no man among the employees more
so, and the officials thoroughly ap-
preciate his splendid and self sac
rificing labors in behalf of their
interests.
Like many other men of indomi-
table purpose, unflagging spirits
r.. r
er expects to be 1aid on the SHELF"
but hopes to continue actively en-
ployed until some day he shall at
once "cease both to labor and to
live."
Major McCants has not only
served his Company well and faith
fully, but has been an honored
citizen and useful official of the