The Conquest: The Story of a Negro Pioneer — John Shaqi
The Conquest: The Story of a Negro PioneerMicheaux, Oscar
General
The Conquest: The Story of a Negro Pioneer
Micheaux, Oscar
African American pioneers -- Fiction; Autobiographical fiction; South Dakota -- Fiction; Western stories
Wright's method of stealing from the porter was not to turn over any
duplicates or receipts until arriving at the terminus. Then he would
choose a time when the porter was very busy brushing the passengers'
clothes and getting the tips, and would then have no time to count up or
tell just how many people had ridden. I had received information from
others concerning him and was cautioned to watch. So on our first trip I
quietly checked up all the passengers as they got on and where they got
off, as well as the berth or seat they occupied. Arriving at Granger
going east he gave me the wink and taking me into the smoking room he
proceeded to give me the duplicates and divide the spoils. He gave me
six dollars, saying he had cut such and such a passenger's fare and that
was my part. I summed up and the amount "knocked down" was thirty-one
dollars. I showed him my figures and at the same time told him to hand
over nine-fifty more. How he did rage and swear about the
responsibilities being all on him, that he did all the collecting and
the "dirty work" in connection therewith, that the company didn't fire
the porter. He said before he would concede to my demands he would turn
all the money in to the company and report me for insolence. I sat
calmly through it all and when he had exhausted his vituperations I
calmly said "nine-fifty, please." I had no fear of his doing any of the
things threatened for I had dealt with grafting conductors long enough
to know that when they determined on keeping a fare they weren't likely
to turn in their portion to spite the porter, and Wright was no
exception.
But getting back to the last trip. An old lady had given me a quart of
Old Crow Whiskey bottled in bond. There had been perhaps a half pint
taken out. I thanked her profusely and put it in the locker, and since
Wright found that he could not keep any of my share of the "knocked
down" fares he was running straight--that is with me, and we were quite
friendly, so I told him of the gift and where to find it if he wanted a
"smile." In one end of the P----n where the drawing room cuts off the
main portion of the car, and at the beginning of the curved aisle and
opposite to the drawing room, is the locker. When its door is open it
completely closes the aisle, thus hiding a person from view behind it.
Before long I saw Wright open the door and a little later could hear him
ease the bottle down after taking a drink.
When we got to Portland, Wright was feeling "about right" and the bottle
was empty. As he divided the money with me he cried: "Let her run on
three wheels." It was the last time he divided any of the company's
money with a porter. When he stepped into the office at the end of that
trip he was told that they "had a message from Ager" the assistant
general superintendent, concerning him. Every employee knew that a
message from this individual meant "off goes the bean." I never saw
Wright afterwards, for they "got" me too that trip.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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