NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. - Late one night early this century, a man was put off a Michigan Central train for unruliness.

He had angered his fellow passengers by smoking a cigar in his sleeper compartment and smashing a glass case containing a fire ax.

The last straw was when he reached into another berth and tried to pull a female passenger out by her ankles.

The conductor, John Cole, got up a posse of trainmen who confronted the troublemaker. The train was stopped at Bridgeburg, Ontario, within sight of the lights of Buffalo, N.Y., and the man was gently forced off. He was warned not to make more trouble, especially since he was still in Canada.