Old papers are filled with little gems that the editors used a lot to fill up an odd space in a page. Today’s bit of history comes from a Ridgeway Journal in 1912 and I have to quote this because it just can’t be reworded without losing the humor.
A North Missouri farmer, whose hog was killed by a train, wrote to the company’s claim agent for a settlement, thusly:
“Dear Sir—My razor back strolled down your track a week ago today. Your twenty-nine came down the line and snuffed his life away. You can’t blame me, the hog you see slipped through a cattle grate; so kindly pen a check for ten, the debt to liquidate.”
He received the following reply: “Old twenty-nine came down the line and killed your hog we now, but razor backs and railroad tracks quite often meet with woe. Therefore my friend we cannot send the check for which you pine. Just plant the dead, plant o’er his head: Here lies a foolish swine.”
This little piece appeared in several newspapers at that time, including the Journal, and I suppose it was a humorous reminder that the railroads were not going to take responsibility if livestock was killed by a train.
