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Interesting People
CC'V7'OU'LL never unload that Y stock while I live, unless you pay for it first!?
Thus John A. Green, youthful agent at Bay St. Louis, Miss., some 40 years ago, met the overbearing threats of the local blacksmith. And he meant it !^i A carload of stock had arrived af Bay St. Louis billed collect to the blacksmith. The consignee wanted the stock, but paying the freight on it was another matter so he decided that the stock was billed prepaid and belonged to him without any further argument. A few drinks firmly convinced him that he was being wrongfully deprived of his property. Hieing him-i self over to the station, the bullying blacksmith announced that he was going to unload his stock and no
d---------d station agent	was	going	to
keep	him from it.
Then Agent Green coolly deliv-v?'; ered	the ultimatum,	which opens
. this	article. Seeing	the	light	of
determination in the agent?s eye, the blacksmith decided he was in need of a few more drinks, and hurried away in search of them, leaving behind a string of terrible oaths to mark his departure.
*$?*' Several hours elapsed peaceably at the station until the barber sent word to Agent Green that the blacksmith was on his way to the station with a shot gun and had been making threats in the barber shop.
??' " Young Green secured a pistol and -j?? went out to meet the now thor-'g. oughly ?pickled? blacksmith. For the second time that day the black-smith, village bully that he was, was unable to face the grim determina-tion of the youthful agent, and slunk away> his gun still cold. Later he returned and paid the charges on ??& his car of stock. .
That incident took place nearly
thalf a century ago, but John A. Green is still on the job at Bay St. Louis. Time has transformed him from ?the young agent? to a vet-'$1 eran with 53 years of service be-hind him and the senior agent on -Sj-r. the N. O. & M. Division.
When I drooped off the ?Mary Jkr:?Jane? at Bay St. Louis to have a talk w'ith Mr. Green a few days ago, l?' I found a man who looked about 50 years of age, scurrying about a
t'*"';.cut of cars at the freight station platforms with the activity of a jjSL.man about 40. It .was hard for me
By J. L. James
to realize that the man was 67 years old.
After keeping me waiting about an hour, Mr. Green came to me with an apology for his seeming
JOHN A. GREEN
rudeness ??but those cars had to be attended to first.? Right then I understood w'hat Superintendent Bose of the N. O. & M. meant, when he said to me, ?Mr. Green always puts the Company?s interests above his own.?
John A. Green is the true type of southern gentleman?the kind you have read about?kindly, courteous and hospitable. And he is interesting ! He told me many things that I would like to repeat here but for lack of space. He has an unusually clear recollection of events that happened more than 60 years ago.
?My father,? related Mr. Green, ?had a boat with which he used to run the Yankee blockade in the bay
and I remember one time when I was four years old that he was fired on by a Yankee gunboat that had run aground. Mother and I were hiding in some bushes to see whether he got safely by. He did get by the blockade but was captured in New Orleans and held a prisoner there until the war was over. Of course, that wasn't so terribly long because it was just a matter of a few months until the war was ended. But it was an experience that I have never forgotten and never will if I live to be a thousand years old.?
Mr. Hreen, as a small boy helped his father haul the iron for the first bridge across St. Louis Bay. The bridge was set on piles, but some form of sea life ate away the wood and two vents in the bridge soon gave way. The piles were then charred to protect them, but in vain. Next, a sheathing of copper was put around them, blit the worms got inside the copper and ate right on. Finally, someone hit upon the idea of creosoting the piles, and the gluttonous worms finding that creosoted wood gave them indigestion, had to look for another meal ticket.
I was curious to hear of more thrilling episodes in Mr. Green?s life similar to the encounter with the blacksmith, and questioned him along that line.
?That,? replied the kindly old man. as a pleasant smile stole over his features, ?was my first, and I hope, my last altercation of any kind. I find that by treating people with kindliness, I ca:: practically always expect the same treatment from them.?
\ ? C V*
Orleans, is popular the year round.