February 17th, Pasty Central Day in History
The Marquette Mining Journal published an article about an incident that occurred on this day in 1888, but it requires a bit of background to understand. A rod is a unit of measurement equal to 5 and a half yards. A type of whiskey in those days was known as “40 Rod”, because when purchased that’s about as far it usually stays inside the jug. The DSS&A is the Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railroad. And finally, a cutter is a small sleigh, usually seating one person and drawn by a single horse.
Now, back to the article: “Dateline-Baraga, February 17th. Louie LaShapell, a French-Canadian under the influence of 40 Rod made a racehourse of the DSS&A track. He got along about a mile in grand style, when the passenger train overtook him, and before the train could be stopped, he found himself 40 feet in the air. He came down uninjured, but the poor horse was cut up in a horrible manner, and the cutter was knocked into first class kindling wood.”
Understanding the news, 127 years ago today. Pasty Central Day in History, February 17th.