Timber dealer Arthur "Coot" Harris of Water Valley was a boy in Abbeville when he first met Casey Jones. He told Bruce Gurner of going down to the depot to watch the trains pass through. "Occasionally two or three would meet at Abbeville and the boys would visit with the crews," Gurner says. "One of their favorites was Casey."
Jones would give the boys cuff links made from coins. "His method of polishing a coin to smoothness was to unscrew the grease plug off the main rod on the engine drivers. He would stick the coin on the bottom of the grease stick and screw it back in the hole. This would hold the coin against the main rod and rub it smooth."
Jones would smooth both sides and then have a jeweler at Water Valley or Jackson make the cuff links. "Mr. Harris said that he and several other Abbeville boys had link sets, favors from Casey."
Copyright © 2000 Jack Gurner