In article , axolotl says...

During the '30s my wife's grandfather (the man who gave me my lathe) was
a fireman on the Central Railroad of NJ. He told me they would pull out
larger chunks of coal(that wouldn't fit through the firebox door)during
the trip, line them up on the edge of the engine, and kick them off when
they got into the right sections of town. The kids would be waiting for
them. Fifty years later, he was still happy he had been able to have
helped someone out during hard times.

My point was though that giving the RR company's coal away to the
poor folks is stealing, basically. It's the same kind of dishonestly
that setting the fork truck brakes is, or telling your SO 'no it doesn't
make ya look chunky.'

You could sort of imagine that the engineers and firemen on those trains
had a kind of command presence - like the captain on a ship on the high
seas. He has more authority than might otherwise be assumed. Same with
a salvage diver underwater or the chief at the scene of a fire.

Was it wrong to give the coal away? I think that question is a litums
test for posters here. Those who would clamor for prosecution are
identified for what they are.

Jim


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