Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1873-08-29
UnWritten Heroes.

more terrible-it is refreshing to read of
the noble humanity and heroic effort to
relieve suffering which were characters
! tic of some of the passengers on the i'll
fated train. 1t does not mitigate the suf-
ferings of the poor victims; it cannot re-
store the dead to life or alleviate the sor-
row in so many households; it does not
palliate the criminal foolhardiness and
recklessness of the conductor of the
freight train-and yet one cannot read Of
the noble work Of these men and women
and of the remarkable fact that, although
this disaster occurred in a neighborhood
inhabited by rough people, there was not
an unseemly act committed, without feel
ing sense of thankfulness and admira-
ton, and having a more abiding faith in
the nobilityof humanity. 1t is no dis
credit to the majority of those who were
witnesses to this disaster that they were
SO paralyzed with horror as to be utterly
demoralized, and that their very first i'm
pulse was to fly from the dreadful scene,
to turn their eyes from the heart-rending
sight, and close their ears to the walls and
groans Of agony. Nearly all the passen-
gers had retired or were retiring for the
night. This sudden and terrible change,
this unexpected summons to meet death
at an instant's notice in it's most terrible
form, was sufficient to appall the stoutest
heart. The darkness Of the night, the
sudden crash, the rending of the ponder
Gus engines, the splitting and crushing of
cars piled together in promiscuous ruin
the bursting of the boiler and the escape
of the scalding steam into a car full of
human beings, some of them unable to
eXtricate themselves, others hurled many
feet away, and still others to whom death
was more merciful and came instantly,
make picture of absolute terror which
must forever haunt the memories of those
who have survived it.
Dark and terrible as this picture is,
however, it is relieved by the noble con-
duct of a few who rose superior to it, and
showed themselves to be the masters of
the situation. To master such a situation,
and to master ones self at such a time,
require mental and physical qualities Of
the highest order. Humanity and sympa-
thy are not the only elements necessary.
They only suggest that something must be
done, and in such a terrible emergency
as this, the person who does not feel these
prOmptings is a little lower than the
brute. Probably every person on the train
who escaped unhurt felt as if he must do
something, and yet it is evident that but
two out of the large number were not
wholly overcome and demeralized. Even
the conductor himself, upon whom pas
sengers place reliance at such time, was
of no more help than if he had been a
thousand miles away. Two men, howev-
er, in addition to their humanity and SYM
pathy, had GOODNESS and presence of mind
enough to realize the extent Of the disas-
ter, to see the necessity of doing some
thing Immediately, and to determine what
must be done. There were others who
may also have been equal thus far to the
emergency; but there is still another
quality of physical character, which is
absolutely necessary to the achievement
of any result in such cases, and that is
nerve. There are few, very few, people
who can look upon such terrible slaugh-
ter and such agonies of suffering without
quailing and being paralyzed, however
humane and sympathetic and anxious to
do something they may be- These two
men, Mr.. B. R. Hawley, of Normal, and
and when others stood terrified, or fed de-
moralized, or waited for some one to take
the lead, they bent all their energies to the
work of rescue, directed others, and
worked like heroes themselves until all
the victims in the smoking car were taken
out from their prisOn-house of torture,
and tenderly cared for until help arrived
from Lemont and Chicago. Such men as
these never want reward, for their reward
consists in the consciousness that they
have done mans duty, in a manly way;
but to this will be added the fervent graft
tude of those who survive, and the fearful
blessings of the friends of the dead.
There were other instances of heroism
on this sad occasion. The tender care,
the sympathetic heart, the loving hands
of women aided these men and the others
who were ready to do when the way was
shown them Such occasions as these
demonstrate that all women are not dolls
or faint hearts; but, on the other hand,
that there are those who have nerve
enough for any situation-an almost SUI
perhuman strength with which to work,
and an intuitive knowledge how best to
administer those offices of consolation
and mercy which belong only to a |
woman's tender hands. The interviews
of our reporters have discovered the
name of one of these ladies, Mrs. Robert
Mozart, of Bloomington, "a lady who
worked like an angel" Mr.. Burgess, the
sleeping-car conductor, says. This little
lady found her INSTRUMENTATION it is
almost always the little women who have
the great hearts and strong nerves-and
she performed it like a heroine, and the
angels of mercy above must have recog-
nized one Of their number in this angel
of mercy below. The deeds of these
men and women belong to the unwritten
history of heroes, and yet there must
come a day when much that appears
great must be pronounced small, and on
that day these will be RECOGNIZED and re- |
ceive their reward The record of the |
deeds of heroism on that night would be
incomplete without reference to the |
clear grit of Mr. Lettle, of Springfield. |
who, while in the agony of death, sent |
for the sleeping-car conductor, told him |
his name, made his will and signed it. |
and handed over his watch and iewelry to |
be sent to his wife and family, and then |
requested the conductor to leave him and |
help those to whom help would be of
avail. That man was made in the heroic
mold. He was horribly scalded, boiled
and mutilated, and yet he would not die
until he had performed his last duty like
a man. In this terrible retrospect it is
gratifying to contemplate such instances
as we have cited. 1t proves once more
that, in the presence of these great catas-
trophies, as high nobility of character
and as chivalrous degree of purpose
may be developed as the worlds battle
fields have ever shown, or the pages of
history have ever recorded.-Chicdgo
Tribune.
THE New York customs officers recent
y discovered that the crews of the Havana
steamers are in the habit of smuggling
cigars and cigarettes by concealing them