Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 57, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 March 1912 — “Bumming” at 20 Below Not a Picnic [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

“Bumming” at 20 Below Not a Picnic

ST. LOUIS.—John Vail, a postofflce robber who escaped Jail at Macon me night early in January in an effort to escape a 8-year term in the penitentiary, was arrested at St Charles. Vail, who is some 59 years old and tairly well educated, chose a bitter sold night to leave the'jail and came near freezing to death while riding mi the fender of a fast Kansas CityghtMgft train. He told shoot his trip die other day. "The night I escaped the temperature wes about 20 degrees below zero,” kg said. "I west to the depot and when the passenger train from Kansas 31ty to Chicago came in I climbed up m Pie tender. I didn’t know how far tt would run tin it stopped, but supposed maybe ten or twelve miles. "When we began to shoot down the grade east of town 1 realized I was ap against it The wind tore at mfa from four directions, it seemed, and my overcoat was thin and my gloves bad holes in I didn’t know whether I was going to he shaken off the tank and scattered along the right rs way or frozen into a chunk of ice, "Every time we bit> curve or Jostled over a switch I would ding like

death to my from bed, and X knew ts my fingera got stiff on me I was gone.' Town after towaivrwept by aßd I knew I could never stand it to the Missis-, sippi river. Iked to keep my hgadi down so the cold wind, wouldn’t caß my face off- I’d read about mens tramping tnoragn Arctic mam how they suffered, but where I wa* roosting that night would hQgtatd* Cook or Perry 4h«r hack. JjCjr eyebrows and mqzfach* yc«tjs6sted sei you might have knocked $Sf off with; a stick "At last I saw>r down^fraA ZTl 1 in P aste T r°drift;ug down.” | ■ - ■ ■ 'jin