JOSEPH MICA

Joseph Mica was good engineer,
Tole his fireman not to fear.
All he want is water'n coal,
Poke his head out, see drivers roll.

Early one mornin look like rain,
'Round de curve come passenger train.
On powers lie ole Jim Jones,
Good ole engineer, but daid an' gone.

Left Atlanta hour behin',
Tole his fireman to make up the time.
All he want is boiler hot,
Run in there 'bout four o'clock.

"No engineer of this name is known.
All three stanzas of this ballad are found in the song Casey Jones.
The mention of Jim Jones in stanza 2 is arresting for a lost ballad
about a certain Jimmie Jones seems to have been the core of Saunders'
"Casey Jones." Casey left Memphis an hour and a half behind time on
his fatal run; he told his fireman he would make up the time if the
boiler was kept hot; he was on at Canton at four o'clock. The
correspondences with stanza 3 may be coincidental."[AF]

DT #791
Laws I16
@train
From A. Friedman, Penguin Book of Folk Ballads of the Enbglish Speaking
World.
filename[ JOEMICA
SOF
oct96
mudcat.org

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