Evening star., 1954-11-25
Casey Jones Could
Sing Ballads, Too,
Widow, "a, Says


JACKSON. Tenn. Nov. Is
NANA).-Mrs. Casey Jones,
widow Of the engineer who
gained immortality in q train
wreck 81 years ago, would like
10 correct the impression Of mil
lions Of Americans who believe
Casey Jones is the figment Of o
ballard-writer's imagination.
Miss JAMIE" as neighbors
refer to spry and sprightly l05-
pound woman. says: MY hus-
band was very real, full of vital
ity and fun. and practical Jokes.
He sang lively baritone. too.
If he were alive today, he'd show
these ballad singers the right
way to do this Casey Jones'
song-with lot Of bounce!"
Mrs. Jones, who recently cele-
brated her 84th birthday, has
in the last half century made
many public appearances on ra-
dio, television and public plat
forms. speaking to audiences on
the subject Of Casey Jones'"
Yet. rarely has she referred to
him in such a way. Customarily,
the reference has been to my
husband" IT never called him
Casey" she said. "Only the rail-
road men did that. I called him
j. L., after his name. John
Luther"
Nicknamed by Railr0aders.
The man of the legend, though
is Casey" Casey Jones was
the FOUNDERS name: on a high
rightwheeler he rode to game"
The nickname is from his birth
play, Cayce, KY. and was given
to him by other railroaders.
Casey was acknowledged as the
best engineer the Illinois Central
had and In January, 1900, they
gave him the toughest and most
dangerous run the railroad OPP
erated--a 188-niile section OF
the trip Of the '.Cannonal Ex-
press" from Chicago to New Or
leans. The run was noted for its
frequent accidents.
Casey's wreck occurred on the
night of April 30, 1900, just out
side Vaughn, Miss. A freight
train schedule d to clear the
track for the crack passenger
express failed to do so. Casey
was barreling along at go miles
an hour, trying to make up lost
time. He had no inkling that
anything was wrong until he
saw the lights of q caboose sud-
denly appear out Of the darkness
ahead. He saw he could never
stop his train in time and or
dered his fireman to save his
own life by jumping to the road
bed. The heroic engineer then
stayed aboard to slow the train
as much as possible to save his
passengers lives.
His locomotive splintered the
caboose like matchwood and
smashed through three freight
cars before it halted. When they
found Casey, he still had one
hand on the brake lever and
one on his famous whippoorw
whistle. His bravery was not In
vain for he was the only per-
son killed.
Bell Still Working.
The bell Of Casey's locomotive
is now in a Mississippi church
tower and his whistle, still work.
ing, Is owned by a railroad
lover.
Life was not easy without my
husband" admitted Mrs. Jones.
"but I had learned from my be-
loved mother the art Of running
q rooming house. That was how
I was able to raise my three
children"
She received a small settle
ment from the railroad on Casey's
death, she said, but never a pen
sion.
Casey Jones left two sons. one
stiIl living, and a daughter. The
son is Charles Jones, now 81, q
sheet-metal worker on Diesel en-
gines for the Illinois Central in
jackson. The daughter is Mrs.
D. G.. Mckenzie of Mobile, Ala.
eve have eight grandchildren, !"
said Mrs. Jones, "and 13 great
grandchildren, scattered from
Savannah, Ca, to Denver, Colo.
No, not one, she declared has
even been named or nicknamed
"Casey."
Next to Casey Jones himself.
few people have ever loved rail-
roads and rail tfavel as much as
Mrs. Jones. In her lifetime she
has made only one ''long" trip
by automobile-to Memphis, 80
miles away, one bus trip Ito
Chattanooga, and taken one
plane ride-an excursion flight
over the gulf of Mexico. The
rest, more than 80 cross-country
trips, has been by train. and she
wouldn't estimate the miles"
"I've never owned an automo-
bile" she says with pride. II did
drive a horse and buggy in Jack
son, a long time ago, until the
horse died. Since then, I've
had no place to 60 that I couldn't
go by city bus, by train, or by
hoofing."