Re: LIttle Mudhen

I enjoyed reading the books by the Lathrops.

Many a good "fire-side" story teller have and will place themselves into the stories they told. I have an example of that from the Pacific Electric (s.g. electric interurban in the Los Angeles area):

Mr. G___ a former motorman/conductor with the line told the story of working as a relief conductor and charging the President of the company a parlor car seat fare because there was no exemption in the tariff. More to the story that is not necessary here.

A few years later I ran into a former motorman who talked of the same incident. I said that I had heard about it from Mr. G____. The motorman gave a scoffing laugh and asked if I knew if Mr. G____ was telling the truth. The motorman proceeded to say that he was motorman that day and the conductor was not Mr. G.___.

I am sure that many a story get repeated and gets personalized in the process.

Brian Norden