Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1873-08-29
Unwrittcn Heroes.

AMID oil the horrors of the recent rail
road disaster near bemoht--snd We can
scarcely recall any catastrophe of SINH
laF nature where the details have been
more terrible-it is refreshing to read of
the noble humanity and heroic effort to
relieve suffering which were eharecterls-
tic of some Of the passengers OH the i'll
fated train. II does rot mitigate the suf-
ferlngs Of the poor victims; L cannot re-
store the dead to life or alleviate the sor-
row in so many households; IL 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 helghborhoOd
Inhabited by rough people, there was not
an tnseemly act committed, without feel
ing sense of thanhhilness and admira-
ton, and having 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 heartrendihg
slight, 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 m Ihstahcs notice in its 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 aud the escape
of the sceldinF steam Into 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 a 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 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 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 unhuTt 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 a time, was
of no more help than if he had been a
thousand miles away. Two men, howev-
| or, in addition to their humanity and SYM
| haH ,1 Nf 81
enough to realize the extent of the disas-
ter, to see the necessity of doing some
thing Immediately, anu 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. Is. r. Hawley. of Normal. and
the Texan, Magee, had all these qualities,
and when others stood terrified, or fled de-
moralzed, 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 a mans duty, in 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 hand;
of women aided these men and the other:
: who were ready to do when the way wa:
= shown them. Such occasions as these
/; demonstrate that all women are not doll;
; or faint hearts; but, on the other hand
that there are those who have nerve
enough for any situation-an almost su
perhuman strength with which to work
: and an intuitive knowledge how best t.
: administer those offices of consolation
! and mercy which belong only to ;
) woman's tender hands. The interview
) of our reporters have discovered tn,
f name of one of these ladies, Mrs. Rober
S McCart, of Bloomington, "a lady wh'
4 worked like an angel" Mr.. Burgess, th,
/ sleeping-car conductor, says. This littl
lady found her mission-somehow it i
almost always the little women WHO hav
the great hearts and strong nerves-ant
she performed it like a heroine, and tn
I angels of mercy above must have recog
i. nized one of their number in this ange
of mercy below. The deeds of thes
! men and women belong to the unwritte
/. history of heroes, and yet there mus
d come day when much that appear
@ great must be pronounced small, and o
/. that day these will be recognized and II
q ceive their reward. The record of tia
n deeds of heroism on that night would b
@ incomplete without reference to tn
s clear grit of Mr.. Lettle, of Springfield
n who, while in the agony of death, sci
II for the sleeping-car conductor, told hiI
;. his name, made his will and signed
q and handed over his watch and jewelry |
/. be sent to his wife and family, and the
g requested the conductor to leave him an
g help those to whom help would be
" avail. That man was made in the heroi
i mold. He was horribly scalded, boile
;. and mutilated, and yet he would not d
@ until he had performed his last duty lii
" man. In this terrible retrospect it
v gratifying to contemplate such instanc,
l. as we have cited. 1t proves once mo
s. that, in the presence of these great cata
ii trophies, as high a nobility of charact
/. and as chivalTous a degree of purpo
n may be developed as the worlds battl
r fields have ever shown, or the pages
N history have ever Tecorded.-Chicd
u Tribune.
, -