N&W in 1912--Three items

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Bluefield Daily Telegraph
Tue., March 14, 1912

IN CITY AND COALFIELD
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Best Town He Ever Struck
    He wanted a ticket to New York and he wanted it by the shortest route with the longest possible sleep.  He was a star salesman for a New York firm and had money galore to pay the bill.  It appears the man who wanted this ticket had been doing a little champagne celebrating here and had received a sudden message from his firm requesting his return to New York at once.  The result was that he went to the ticket office and with all the smiles and blandishments which a man with a happy jug can bring into use, especially a man of education and polished manners, he talked his troubles over with Ticket Agent Wiley, while two policemen and two newspaper reporters stood by watching his difficulties.  After the ticket was purchased, and a plentiful supply of yellow backs produced to show his good intentions, he invited the police out to have a cigar, just because he said Bluefield was the best town he ever struck.
[The following info on "yellow backs" was found online, "Everyone has heard of green backs but what about yellow backs? Well gold notes used to exist as a paper currency redeemable for gold coin. These were issued until the early 1930's. They were called yellow backs as they were able to be exchanged into precious metal on demand."]
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Mountain Creeks Swollen.
    The rains of the past few days, coupled with the several falls of snow have swollen all the mountain creeks until they are raging over the banks. In some places some small damage has already been done by the torrential currents, and some fear of further damage is felt as a result of continued downfall of rain. In the Clinch Valley territory the Clinch river and tributaries are high and several small slides are reported from various points along the railroad lines. The usual slides of rock and dirt along the Radford division have been reported, while some slight trouble along the Pocahontas division has occurred. Yesterday a slide at Midway delayed the street cars for about an hour until the bridge which had been somewhat weakened could be reinforced and traffic resumed with safety.
[Midway, appropriately enough, was about mid way between Bluefield, WV, and Graham, VA.]
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Railroad Officials Here.
    N. D. Maher, vice president and general manager of the Norfolk and Western, and Superintendent Cook, of the, Radford division, were in the city last night. Mr. Maher went west over the road, and Mr. Cook returned home on No. 10.  Ed. Maher, a brother of the vice president, was in the city yesterday. He is a traveling salesman and sells oil. Prosperous in appearance and suave of disposition he mixed among local railroad men, many of whom he knows, and spent the day here.

Gordon Hamilton
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