A few days ago (1845), a gentleman left Glasgow in one of the day trains,
with a large sum of money about his person. On the train arriving at the
Edinburgh terminus, the gentleman left it, along with the other
passengers, on foot for some distance. It was not long, however, before
he discovered that his pocket book, containing £700, in bank notes was
missing. He immediately returned to the terminus, where the first person
he happened to find was the stoker of the train that had brought him to
Edinburgh, who, on being spoken to, remembered seeing the gentleman
leaving the terminus, and another person following close behind him, whom
he supposed to be his servant; he further stated, that the supposed
servant had started to return with the train which had just left for
Glasgow. The gentleman immediately ordered an express train, but as some
time elapsed before the steam could be got up, it was feared the
gentleman and the stoker would not reach Glasgow in time to secure the
culprit. However, having gone the distance in about an hour, they had
the satisfaction of seeing the train before them close to the Cowlairs
station, just about to descend the inclined plane and tunnel, and thus
within a mile and a half of the end of their journey. The stoker
immediately sounded his whistle, which induced the conductor of the
passenger train to conclude that some danger was in the way, who had his
train removed to the other line of rails, which left the road then quite
clear for the express train, which drove past the other with great speed,
and arrived at the terminus in sufficient time to get everything ready
for the apprehension of the robber. The stoker, who thought he could
identify the robber, assisted the police in searching the passenger
train, when the person whom he had taken for the gentleman’s servant was
found with the pocket book and also the £700 safe and untouched. The
gentleman then offered a handsome reward to the stoker, who refused it on
the plea that he had only done his duty; not satisfied, however, with
this answer, he left £100 with the manager, requesting him to pay the
expenses of the express train, and particularly to reward the stoker for
his activity, and to remit the remainder to his address. Shortly after
he received the whole £100, accompanied with a polite note, declining any
payment for the express train, and stating that it was the duty of the
company to reward the stoker, which they would not omit to do.
—_Stirling Journal_.