The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1931-04-17

steve Branniel climbed up into his
cabin,
Saying. pal. it's do or die"
He reversed his lever, threw his tnrot-
Saving watch Old Ninety seven fly"
Steve Branniel climbed up into his
cabin
At his throttle he made a grab.
And when he pulled over Johnson's
Junction
He was leaning way out Of the cab.
Steve Branniel turned to his brave lit
tie fireman
Saying Shovel in little more coal
There's three-mile grade round Whit
low Mountain;
You may watch my drivers roll"
Steve Branniel turned to his brave lit
tie fireman,
Said, Jack, throw in some more coal
And put your head out the window,
boy,
And watch my drive-wheels roll!'
It's a mighty bad road from Lynch
burg to Danville;
1t is a three-mile grade.
Twas on the grade Steve lost control
of his air-brakes,
So you see what jump he made.
He was falling down grade at ninety
miles an hour.
The whistle began to scream.
He was found in the wreck with MS
hand on the throttle
And his body all SCARED by steam
Did he ever pull in? No; he never
pulled in,
Though his train was due at ten,
And for hours ard hours the switch
men lay waiting
For the mail-train that never pulled
in.
The news ran over the telegraph wires
And this is what it said
That the brave engineer that left Mon
roe this morning
Is lying at North Danville dead.
Come. all you young ladies. and take
warning;
Take warning from this time.
Never speak rash words to your sweet
He may go and never return.
The song also has an aftermath of
a lawsuit, as shown by the following
dispatch to the New York World last
year:
camden, N. Am effort to estab-
fish the right of the author of folk
song to collect royalties, even though
he never put the song on paper, has
been made here by attorneys for Da-
vid Graves George, picturesque self
styled hill-billy, and former railroad
brakeman.
George is suing the Victor Talking
Machine company, which sold 5,OOO.-
600 photograph records Of the song.
THE Wreck of Old 97.' Through his
attorneys. Robert S. Nase of Flushing,
L. l., and Minatree ]. Fulton Of Rich
mond, Va. George declared he had
derived his inspiration for the song
on September 81, 1903, when the crack
mail train. No. 81, of the Southern
railway, sped past Franklin Junction,
Va. and jumped off 2O0-foot trestle.
Numerous fellow hill-billies, the at
torneys stated, are ready to testify
that George originated the song,
which later became favorite.
Nathan Burkan of New York and
Louis LIE Due Of Camden, attorneys
for the. company. asserted the Victor
company already has paid royalties
to one other company, and to three
other persons who have represented
themselves as authors Of the song.
1.-THE trouble, it appears, began in
1927, when the company announced
in Richmond paper, according to
George, that it was looking for the
author of the song in order to pay
him royalties. From far and wide in
the hills, the authors appeared.
an 1922, the company sets forth,
Prof. r. w. Gordon of Harvard set
out to collect American folk songs,
and found that both Frederick Lewey
of Lynchburg and Carl Noel of Dan
veil, Va, claimed authorship of The
Wreck The company compensated
both, and also Henry Whittier OF
Lynchburg, and the General Phono-
graph company, which had gotten out
records of the song before the first
Victor records appeared on August Is,
1924.
"Burkan asserted the plaintiff hill
billy had copied the song from phon-
ograph records between 1924 and 1927.
when he read of the offer.
Georges suit is not brought under
the copyright law, since he never
wrote down the song, but under the
common law dealing with property
rights"
Almost as famous as the foregoing
Is the combination hobo-railroad bal.
lad: "The Wabash Cannon-Ball,"
which has the following chorus:
We hear the merry Jingle,
The rumble and the roar
AS she dashes through the woodland
And comes creeping on the shore.
We hear the engines whistle
And the merry hoboes' call
AS we ride the rods and braxe-beam
On that Wabash Cannon-Ball.
o. 1881 Western Newspaper union.l