| Show HORSE BECAME SPEEDY Ho WTado n Swift Journey While I Hitched to n Train The Fossil Coterie as an organization of baldhcadB In West End avenue calls Itself bad L resurrection party the other oth-er night and ono of them dragged out the origin of the expression As big a fool as Thompsons colt The offset to that story said one of the Fossils was As sure as Scrogginss boss Never heard of Itl Well It was still running in northwest Missouri I when I left l there in 1S7C A railroad had been constructed between i be-tween St Joo and Savanah In the early days I covered a distance of about twentylive miles There was one train a day each way and It was made up of I combination caboose a freight car and of course an engine There was no roundhouse at Savannah Savan-nah nothing but a turntable a switch and a station When the train arrived iheru the engine was turned around run down on the switch and backed up to the caboOse and freight car The train did not leave until afternoon so that the crew frequently went to town about a mile distant enjoyed themselves them-selves and returned in lime to take out the train Railroads were 0 novelty In that section sec-tion A farmer named Scrogglns lived near town One day he drove to the station with some produce to ship to St Joe When he got to the station no one was about to take his stuff and he hitched his horse to the end of the freight car while he went to town to hunt for the conductor He did not know or If he did he forgot when the train left When he failed lo find the conductor he returned to the slalion but the train had gone Dlllo Scrogglnss boss and wagon and produce When the train pulled out It took Scrogglnss outfit with it That was what C man who saw the Incident told Scrogglns The old farmer Said nothing but started down Iho track He picked up here and there a wagon spoke a hub a lire and occasionally a busted pumpkin r smashed cabbage head and the scatlcrmcnls of eggs and butter But no signs of the hose except ex-cept here and there a bit of harness The old farmer txirned off somewhere some-where and walked home When lie arrived ar-rived at his farmhouse he found his boss standing at the gate safe and sound The hoss could not talk so Scrogglns never knew where the train and the animal parted company But he sued the coninany for his scattered produce and thalNwas the first lawsuit In that part of the State against a railroad company He got judgment of course for the jury was composed of farmers I was that Incident gentlemen attorney for which caused Gen Craig the company and afterward president of the Hannibal St Joseph Railroad company TO recommend to the company that It shift the cowcatcher from the locomotive lo-comotive to the rear end 0 the train although Artcmus Ward I believe got credit for saying that BUt from that time on whenever a man spoke of anything any-thing as being dead certain he said i I Its as certain as Scrogginss hoes And It was passed down to succeeding succeed-ing generations New York Sun |
