Evening star., 1934-07-12
Casey Jones Vas Speed Demon,
And End Vas "PrOmised Land"
Bob" Gates, Assistant
to Attorney General,
Tells Intimate Details.
Knew Famed Rdiludy
Hero and Declares He
Deserves All HOnOrs.

90 white haired assistant 10
Attorney General Cum
~ mings. whose duty it is to
aid the press in getting
facts straight at the Department OF
Justice. today issued statement in
tended to separate truth from legend
in connection with the immortal ca
reer OF an old friend and fellow
Tennesseean, Casey Jones
Casey. as nearly everybody knows,
was the hero Of the roundhouse classic
which bears his name and which, with
its captivating locomotive tempo. mas
become a favorite chant Of railroad
men and railroad lovers the world
over.
Col" Gates-his title is OF the
Southern variety-was prompted to
deliver himself Of few pertinent COM
ments anent Mr.. Jones and old 63S
by press dispatches telling Of rail-
road celebration at Fulton, KY, a few
days ago. when the widow Of the dare
devil Illinois Central engineer was
feted BY railroad officials.
AS one who grew up in the same
town with Casey Jones-back IN jack
son. Tenn. Gates said, i Would Ike
TO get the public Strengthened out
on Casey and his railroad fests.
Long a Railroad Hero.
I'm the first place, Casey was a
railroad hero long before the song
commemorating his fatal trip became
popular. l can remember hearing
round house Negroes chanting some
sort of a ditty about Casey years oe-
fore he rode to his death with MS
hand on the throttle of the old Cam
nonban Express The song, as we
know it today. undoubtedly grew out
of those incoherent lines mumoleo
and hummed by road hands in time
with their work.
mo. sir. it was not the song that
made Casey Jones hero-it was the
crazy chances he took-the speeos
he risked to make it on time with
the South bound mail In those days
I was a cub reporter down in Ten
nessee and many's the time helped
TO add TO Casey's fame by riding with
him in his cab from Memphis South
ward and then writing glowing lea
ture story of the speedy run.
Son of School Teacher.
Casey was the son of a school
teacher. The Jones were a large
family-all the boys turned out to
be railroad men and all the girls mar
ried railroad men Casey was tall,
lanky man, fully 8 feet 4 inches high
and he had to duck his head and
bend his frame to get into his seat
in the cab. Most of the upper half
of his body stuck out OF the cab
window-except the hand on the
throttle
Casey, like all engineers, broke in
by driving freight engines. His steady
nerve and his craving for speed soon
led to his promotion to what were
then known as the banana specials
fast freights which hurried perishable
fruits from New Orleans to Chicago.
The fast freights were too slow for
Casey however, and eventually he
reached the top of the locomotive lad
der-as engineer on the crack can
nonball of the l. c. which ran from
Chicago to New Orleans by way of
Memphis.
'Cannonbalr Often Late.
THE Cannonball' sometimes was
as much as half an hour late when
Casey took charge, but he usually
made it up by extra speed south OF
Memphis It was in an attempt to
make up for lost time that Casey rode
to his death 80 years ago. The song
says the train was eight hours late,
due 10 flooded tracks, when Casey
kissed his wife at the station door.
climbed to the cab with the orders in
his hand and announced; This is
my trip to the promised land
They say it is fact that Casey
actually voiced some such premoni-
ton as he left Memphis that day.
He pushed the speed up until the
old Cannonball must have been doing
nearly 80. There was a freight ahead
The freight was supposed to take a
siding and clear the tracks for the
Cannonball, but the slow-movlng
train was not quite fast enough TO
get entirely clear of Casey's racing
locomotive. There was a side-Swip-
ing collision and the rest is history.
Luckily. only Casey and his celebrated
fireman we're killed"
Col" Gates said the wreck oc-
CURED near Vaughn. Miss. where the
late John Sharpe Williams frequently
caught Casey's train. The picturesque
MiSSiSsippian lived at nearby Yazoo
City
Everybody of any Importance up
and down the l. C line knew Casey
Jones personally" Gates declared
He deserved to be remembered as a
hero, and ! was glad to read about
the honors paid his widow recently"