V,
T
FAST TWO
EDITOEIAL
PACES 052 TO FODIUXT.
The
U
MAHA
bUNDAY Bee
- ' FAST TWO
SOCIETY ' ?
PAGES OSS TO TOWIUS.
VOL. XU-XO. ;;o.
OMAHA. srxi)AV MOUXINU J.WTAliY H, W12.
SINGLE COPY FIVE CENTS.
A 1
inay
" Traynor, Boss Baggageman, Goes on Retired List
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I .-j jVi " u" " "-' i i ii'' Jl i v'N ' Ilia ' ii - . .r . . Mil it-
J'acffic working for.e, but with the . V - . I Xf Mil !-' . Ill I "fyi f V llll-. .
I I . II N? II I llll . . :J','"' ,v . Till I
.k. .k. k.- .... 1 I J7, KSy.l I I i ."JlUi. X s -jf -y.- I'll I, S ''s (llr
door . dy or two after I entered. And I reel. , L, 7 1 J k V . W- 'AA
l-arturo therefrom Into the ranks of the atruggllng .1 ii I 1 1 1 1 f.f '" A ' fill Ii
L that vbitiiE Travnor vm movlnf Drettv fast, and ' ! , . 1'i ' ' . T"" .mj - . ' ?
V.v-.;- .
i (
of inc. Inion
oiienlDs of the new year be went onto the retired
lift. J. C. Htuuhp, the traffic manager, took hi
)lvce on (he pension roll the same day, with a very
cubsiantiHl retiring allowance.
'Andy" Traynor insist be has been busy dodg
ing the acquaintance of the sheriff all his life, and
does not want to talk about himself. Those who
know bim best saj that kind of talk Is just bluff, to
protect him from the probe of the lutervlewcr.
Traynor likewise Insists be Is a graduate of Notre
Dame university.
"I was one of the first graduates," be said, In a.
burst Ot confidence. "Sly father put me there to -
"fSltrn things when 1 was quite young, but not young
enough. Yc. I graduated fast through the back
door a day or two after I entered. And f recall
quite vividly tiiui ( never stopped running until I
got to Chicugo. Win n you hear about counting
ties, put me In thn counter class, for on that trip
I was tho real tally clerk."
Before taking up his entry into Chicago, or de
parture therefrom Into the ranks of the struggling
imiid, we v. Ill have to go back a bit and set down
why the youngster left Xotre Dame, and bow he
came to go there. Born at Rome, New York, he
grew up into a husky lad who hadn't any consum
ing love for school. The elder Traynor had an
Idea that education was to be cultivated for its
own sake, but "Andy" could not be convinced. So .
he' hiked a "ay from home to a neighboring town
and started In to learn to be a brewer first job
that offered. He had no suspicion at this time
.that he was born a niaU-r baggageman. Nor did he
realize this important fact, either, when he quit
brewing to go to work In a blacksmith shop. This
was batdening, muscle-making exereite, and strong
arms and a good grip came right handy when he
quit the smithy to drive stage. It will be noted
that young Traynor was moving pretty fast, 4nd
the stage driving stunt just suited his bent of
Blind. .
t "At first I bad only a pair ot plug horses." he
paid, "but later on I got a tour-horse team, and
drivers of four-horse stages would hardly sptak to
the two-horse men. A good mancy times since it
l as struck me that's the way all through life, more
or less. We used to get tips of a copper or two or
three coppers in those days from travelers, and
often we would make a copper or two for post
ing letters wrltteu by people along the stage
route. Hostage stamps, cost three cents, and
If we were, given a J-cent piece we were told to
Jieep.tUtf-change. - I let my wages accumulate for a
year almost, baring no particular use for money
beyond the tips that came my way."
It was when he drew his money aud went home
for a visit that bis father decided he ougbt to go to
Notre Dame, and after some argument the trip was
made. At that time the students used to devote
half the time to work and half to study. Whether
it was the study hours or the workshop tasks, that
disagreed witb his notions itr. Traynor does not
now remember. At any rate, to make sure he
would not be put back in school he left Chicago
very quickly after arrival, as ftresnan on a lake
steamer. At Buffalo he was paid off In Mlcbi-an
state currency, which was not popular in New York.
"That was the day of state banks," he said, "and
the old Irishman who kept the hotel where I put
up told me the Michigan money was no good. Ho
went to the steamboat office with me and had the
cashier give me New York shioplasters."
From Buffalo young Traynor took another boat
to Detroit, shipping on as cabin boy. Krom there
he went to a new railroad building from Owasso to
Lansing, and it was from Michigan he enlisted for
' the war. During the war, he maintains, be had
about as little trouble as any man, although he ex
perienced all the dangers and aggravations Inci
dent to a Bold'er a life.
la I Hi Traynor begaa srk for tho Union fa
cine. In tfc eld depot on what la now the shop
grounds wrestled baggage strenuously, and from
there went to what was known as" "the cattle
sheds," near where the I!er distillery stands. Here
lie had more money troubles, since as baggbge
agent he took in a good deal of cash, much of It
late in the day and at night. To keep it safe he
was In the habit of hiding the coin at different
Places In the freight shed, and he often had to carry
home large sums, but none of It ever got away.
"I got -o tired of fuc&iug with that money," said
Mr. Traynor, "that I finally insisted the company
make different arrangements, and a cashier was
provided." His anxiety ran easily be understood
when some facts are set out. In those days a good
deal of excess baggage was carried and payment
therefor was made in cash at the baggage room,
llr. Traynor says Lawrence Barrett, the actor, was
the man who always carried the most excess bag
gage. One time he paid Traynor $.i,Q30 for his ex
cess trunks, scenery and other paraphernalia.
"Nobody was exempt in those days," says the
veteran. "Collls P. Huntington came through one
trip, returning from Europe, and it cost him 1500
to get by our depot with bis traps. Ben Holllday,
the famous stage route man, had to pay $250 on
one trip, and Chief Justice Field, of the United
States supreme court, gave up 1150 on a trip to
the coast John McCollougb, the tragedian, car
ried with him on one trip exces weight that called
for 12,500, and Joe Murphy, the Irish comedian,
had to out up $3,000 In one bunch. One Chinese
ambassador came through with oceans of presents
for the big chaps in Washington, and paid $i.00o
to get his Muff cleared at Omaha. D. O. Mills,
General Thomas and a good many other prominent
men of those days contributed very substantial
sums for excess baggage. To care for the money
sometimes gave me much worry until a definite
system was adopted."
In the days before the old Transfer depot at
Council Bluffs was built and occupied the general
baggage agent rometlmea went on trips with Im
portant trains. Mr. Traynor tells a story of one
tuch trip that is worth repeating. In4he winter
of 1ST! he was with a train that sul twenty-three
days making the trip to Ogden. Thirteen days of
this time the train was anchored in a snowbank
some miles fro Lookout. Wyo. Anticipating
trouble, because of the state of weather, six en
gine. were hitched to the truinon leaving Laramie.
"One engine would have been as good aa twenty
under the circumstances," said Mr. Traynor. "The
itnow in the cut in which we were stalled was
parked like sand on the seashore. One time when
the engines were bucking Into a small drift ahead
the wheels ran up on the snow, and only the flanges
made a mark on the packed surface. In anticipa
tion of ust such a contingency as arose, we had a
car of supplies on the train aud a car of coal. In
the supplies were halibut, ham, bologna sausage,
tea, crackers, ginger snaps, coffee, condensed milk,
fresh beef, and most everything to make a meal.
When we came to feeding the 101 passengers and
crew we found rups hail not been provided, so as
fnst as we opened canneil stud we hammered down
the edges and made dnnKuig cups of the cans. We
found six new coal sc uuli'i on board, and In these
we made the coffee and carried It through the train.
The scuttles were also u?d for carrying coal from
the car ahead, and I'm scing to tell you aometbrhg
I don't want much said awut. We had to do con
siderable washing of clo nes In those scuttles in
the baggage car at nigh': but of course we cleaned
them out gsod befote used them for coffee
again, and no one was I Our supply of water
gave out, and we had " inelt snow. This water
made many of tha passu eers sick at first, but they
all got used to It after s '!:' or two.
"It was necessary to r ut all of the pas
sengers into two cars 'o e coal, and let me tell
7u they were a merry Towd In spite of the des
perate situation In wh'b 'he' found themselves.
Wc had two or three m -:ans along, and it was a
common thing for a crc-'t to climb up on the
snowbsnk and have a AW Two oaatern editors
were the life of the party, and the experience gave
them subjects for itories :" butcher from Sac
ramento kicked on his f. 009 da. an"1 he
forced to leave the trs :n to eoaitrvc
tion train ahead and va- 'here. We cooked the
teaka en shovels pnsi. .1 trough the stove door,
and natnrsriT. It was v'- " Set tTrrJ ta Jart
right. That butcher 1
didn't win anything h
Wheu the Union l'
. -oo particular, but he
f.lDg."
i took possession of the
Transfer station at Council' Bluffs In 1STS the days
of glory began' for General Baggage Agent Trayuor
and his men. :'Andy" took so much prido in that
bullding.'the-grentest of its day. in the west, that
whn any 'subordinate let a trunk fall wlh too
much force on the floor he whs severely repri
manded. If not dismissed, "for damaging the com
pany a property." That was utn; thin Tr.!nor
would not stand for. Ho believed trunks were
made to carry things In. not to smash bags-sc
room floors.
"I saw' the settlement of the west beyond tbe
Missouri '.pasa through that old Transfer building. "
he fald. "And I also aw the United States mall
going through our haudi Increase from ii imunds
a day, when .we were on this side of the river In
the early days, to the point where over 100 tons
went out on one train."
Mr. Traynor is not exaggerating about the great
flow of people through' the ol'd Transfer building
to the' lands farther r est. Only recently Harper's
Weekly printed a special article devoted to this
building, which was spoken of aa "the gatenay of
the west." Discussing Omaha, St. Paul, Minneap
olis and Kansas City as gateways, the writer In
Harper's said:
"Of all these busy gateways, Omaha was the
first to attain a pre-eminence that she has sever
really yleldad- In other days men talked of 'St.
Jo, Missouri, and of Atchison and Leavenworth
in Kanaas, but when the miracle of a railroad
across the high plains had been worked Omaha was
made the terminus. In course of time other roads
came to Join it, spinning steel strand after steel
strand across the face of the land and back to auch
great traffic centers as St. Louis and Chicago; for
ward up to the base of the eternal fastnesses,
and, finally, through the .Infinite genius and
patieoee of tnea, over them aad oa to the masier
of all seas the Pacific. ' "
"Council Bluffs Is the terminus of Omaha, ;ou
might say the beginning of the beginning. A fa- -mous
supreme court dOclsion of 175 majje it both -
the legal and actuar terminus of the Uniotrracltio
railroad. .This decision aas'the result of a lawsuit
that became historic by virtue of'tho tacf that this
was the first time. the-;overnnient had ever sought
to direct ' Ibe operation of a. railroad although it
tame to pais that It was bv no mean the last time,
lint the 1'nli'i Pacific accepted the situatlon'grace
tully. buildii.-j nl Council Bluffs the great Transfer
depot that "..is considered one of the architectural
triumphs of Ibal day. The people of Council Bluffs
and of Omaha drove ocro'a the Ice-bound Missouri
on a winter's day .and eUl a love feast lu telebra
lion on -an Island in midstream. Aud as for the
railroad. It has been compensated abundantly for
Its graceful acquiescence in the fact that It today
possesses in JUe three miles from Council Bluffs
to Omaha one of the most prontauW stretches of.
track' in tbe laid. Its tolls from the Missouri
bridge, as they roll In from the coffer of tenant
roads, amounts to almost a million dollars a year." .
"Andy" Traynor, since the days v.hcu he threw
. )sggage in the old rheds nsar the ferry landing,
has seen the pioneer road grow to proportions com
mensurate with the vast coontiy it serves; has wit--ned
tens of thousands of wen-inoving settlers,
investors and visitors paas through its .tcccssive
tepots; has seen the real headqujrtcrs of the big
railroad permanently established in Om&Ua. He
has gone with it through good years aad bad, ever
active and faithful, and worked his way up the
line until, when he quit,' his otSce fc.it e was a large
company In Itself and his office was palatial in ap
pointment as compared with the days wten he be
gan his service. He goes ou the petifioa roil, of
the road honored sad remembered In substantial
form, with troops of friends ard a reputation at
man and citizen that must recompense him tn full'
measure for the struggle and striving of.the years
after he graduated ttom Notr Hiite la s's cars
sek-your-fortune fashion. . ,
This week Mr. Traynor and fcis. wife-leave for Cal
ifornia to spend the winter months, but Omaha will
continue to be their permanent home. ' '
