BEATING A DEAD-BEAT.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 341, 28 May 1877, Page 4

BEATING A DEAD-BEAT.

From the Detroit " Free Pres3.

For some time past an unknown female ha 3 been in the habit of making an afternoon trip on the Woodward Avsnue car 3, generally getting aboard at Jefferson Avenue and. riding up to Brady-street. The first two or three times she paid her fare promptly enough, but the next trip she wrote something on a card, handed it to a gentleman, and he paid her fare. The next time she waited until the driver rang the fare-bell, and when she saw him looking through the door she advanced and held up a card, on which was written : " I am deaf and dumb." The driver didn't want to create a scene, so she rode as a dead-head. Next day she went through the same performance, but when she boarded the car the third afternoon he was ready for her. He had every reason to believe her a fraud, as she had been heard to speak in a car coming down. When she entered the car she took a seat and began reading, seeming to have no earthly use in the fare question. There are no conductors on the route, and the driver controls both doors. Before Bradystreet was reached the unknown female was the only passenger. She rose and rang the bell at the street, but the driver paid not the least heed. She rang again, and he hurried up the horse. Then she tried to pull the bell off the car, but the man never turned his head. The woman rushed to the door, and pushed and tugged till she was red in the face, but not an inch would it budge. Bushing to the front door, she pounded the glass in a furious manner, and by-and-by the driver " accidentally " looked around. She gestured wildly, and as he shook his head in a stupid way, she held up her card, which said : "I am deaf and dumb/' The driver fumbled around for two or three minutes, and brought out a small placard, on which was printed : " So am I !" They were then about half a mile above Brady-street, and making excellent time, and the woman's indignation was so great that she shook her fist at the driver and screamed out: "I'll have you shot for this !" He held up his card, shook his head, and paid no further attention to her bloodcurdling threats. At the turn-table, a mile and a half above Brady-street, the door slid tack, and the woman jumped into the mud. She blessed that man from crown to sole, and she blessed all his relatives back to the Revolution, but he did not seem to hear her. As he started off she called out : " You are a monster, villain, sneak, and thief I" He gave the lines a shake, got the card from his pocket, and she was not too faraway to read the answer : "So am I!"