1906 



GLEANINGS IN BEE CULTURE. 



159 



HERMAN HOLMES. 



The Freckled-faced Boy who has Held a Re- 

 sponsible Position with a Big Trunk Line 

 Railroad for 33 Years. 



BY A. I. ROOT. 



Between forty and fifty years ago, before 

 there was any railroad within fifteen or 

 twenty miles of Medina, every thing had to 

 be hauled into our town by teams; and with 

 the " Medina mud," such as we have every 

 spring more or less, there were some terri- 

 ble times about getting things, or, for that 

 matter, getting anywhere. There were 

 stage coaches running in different directions, 

 or some sort of substitute for a stage coach, 

 but a good many times it was pretty nearly 

 an all-day's job to get to the station, eight- 

 een miles away. During one of these slow 

 and wearisome trips I noticed a bright young 

 freckled faced boy who was driver of the 

 coach. About the first I recollect of him, 

 some ladies were getting into his vehicle. 

 He turned the wheels so as to give them the 

 best chance possible to get in, kept their cloth- 

 ing away from the muddy wheels, then pro- 

 ceeded to tuck them up warm and comforta- 

 ble. If I recollect rightly it was a cool 

 March day. There was a little "skim" of 

 ice on the puddles, and he remarked to the 

 boy who was helping that they needed some 

 more robes and blankets to make the pas- 

 sengers comfortable. Finally he put off on 

 a run himself after the needed things. Some- 

 body said he would be late about getting 

 started; but he remarked that he wanted to 

 have his passengers in good shape and com- 

 fortable, adding that the roads were so bad 



lm^ 



HERMAN HOLMES AT 25. 



MR, HERMAN HOLMES, TRAVELING PASSEN- 

 GER AGENT OF THE L. & N. R. R. 



they were going to be a good while out in 

 that March wind. He was not very well 

 clad himself, but he did not seem to mind 

 that nor think any thing about it. His spe- 

 cial care was for the passengers that he was 

 to pilot safely to their destination; and he 

 was so good-natured about it that his vivac- 

 ity and cheerfulness almost made his load 

 of people forget the mud and the piercing 

 wind. 



I used to see him occasionally after that. 

 His anxiety to do every thing well, and his 

 enthusiam in combating obstacles in the 

 way of weather and bad roads attracted my 

 attention. 



By and by, when a railroad got into Medi- 

 na he was one of the first to get a position. 

 His peculiar trait in life seemed to be a de- 

 sire to help anybody who was traveling; and 

 with his assistance the passengers almost al- 

 ways "got there," to use a familiar slang 

 phrase. In order to advise intelligently 

 everybody who wanted to go anywhere, he 

 began to make a study of railroads, railroad 

 guides, maps, and railroading in general. 

 About thirty-three years ago he got a berth 

 as passenger agent on the Louisville & Nash- 

 ville Railroad, and he is there yet. When I 

 want to go anywhere I tell him just what 

 my wishes are, and in a twinkling the rail 

 road guides and maps are spread out on a 

 table before him, and in a brief time he 

 gives me a written schedule telling exactly 

 what points I shall reach at such a time, and 

 advising me what to do in case the trains 

 are late, or if I miss a train, etc. One re- 

 markable thing about it is he almost never 

 makes a mistake. I remember once while 

 in Cincinnati my route got tangled up a lit- 



