The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1894-09-08
A Race With Fire.
HEKOISn OF TRAIN CREW.
Thrilling Account of the Rescue OF
several Hundred Peopie III
Hin.f&icy. NIinu.


Minnesota says that he felt in as serious
frame Of mind last Saturday afternoon
at Hinckley as it would be possible I'M
der any circumstances. " We were
brought face to face with DEATH" be
said, and that is all there was to it.
| If a man could keep his head under
the trying circumstances of that dread
ful holocaust he need not fear for his
, self-contrOl or courage. Soon after
leaving Superior at ID =. IN. | had to
light the headlight, owing to dense
smoke which turned day into night.
The smoke and heat increased as We
/ approached IIinckley. | expected that
when we reached that point we would
get into the open and escape from the
smoke. My surprise was great, there
! fore, when we found the fire right upon
| the town. 1t took but glance to see
| that the place was doomed The wind
blew with great velocity and the flames
fairly leaped through the air. The peo-
pie were taken by surprise and were
tcrrorized and helpless. The coming
of the fire seemed more like a stroke OF
| lightning. Almost in an instant the
town was swept by pillows Of flames.
! I'VE could not pass Hinckley and
! there was no use TO look for orders, for
! Geographic communication was cut off.
| 1t was one of those cases where a man
! has to make up bis mind in an instant
what is best to be done and do it with
! out tiinching or hesitation. Here were
/ hundreds of panic-stricken people who
were doomed if they We're not instantly
rescued. On the other hand, safety for
! the train and its passengers lay in
! prompt retreat. To stay and rescue "a
! many as possible was our duty OF
course, but the great question, and upon
it hung the lives Of many hundreds,
was How long dare we waite Ed.
/ Barry was there with No. % in charge
of the engine, and W. ID. Campbell as
conductor, as plucky and brave fellows
as ever passed mile post We knew
we We're safe III making time, for We
could return on No. DIS time, and as
this train had the right of way. We
knew that no other train would dare tC
stay on the main line without orders
if moving south. We hastily coupled {
portion of Campbcll's freight train ontt
the rear of our train. The fiame-pur.
sued people rushed toward our train
and piled into the cars. Some of then
were aged, and then there was the
helpless women and children who haG
to be helped aboard. We had to shift
the position of the train several times
to prevent it taking fe. We were al
breathing fire as it was.
I'VE saw many sights that would
have filled us With horror if seen undel
other circumstances but there was hor
ror everywhere. We saw people fal
down, overcome by the heat auG
smoke; 1 saw mothers with their babes
make last .despairing effort to shelter
their helpless charges. 1t was a sigh
to make men weep, let alone angels
We saw people surrounded 10y fire
but there Is no use III my trying to de
scribe it to you. An eye witness know.
what he saw, but it was positively in
have Seen Zee that seeethiffE nell Ct flame.
he might have described it, but it would
take gifted tongue to tell it.
"A few of our passengers became
panic-stricken and wanted me to pull
out regardless of the sufferers at Hinck-
ley, but OfcOurse none OF us thought OF
doing such a cowardly and selfish act
We got about 100 HinckIey people
aboard, maybe more, and stopped to
take others who had run up the track.
At last we realized that the critical
moment had come to 90. We could
not rescue all the people, for they could
not get to the train. As many as came
to us were taken. \ very large per
centage of those who remained have
persisted. Away we went through the
blazing woods, and maybe We didn't
fly. 1t was race with death. There
was death behind, and SO far as We
| knew maybe ahead of us, too. The
fire and stream of fame passed under
the train. The people We're packed So
closely in the train that it was impos.
slble to move. We passed several
bridges that were on fire, the fire hay
ing already reached them. vt Part
ridge we stopped and procured water
for the passengers. The fire was roar
ing behind us then. The people al
Partridge thought they were safe, but il
appears that within half an hour the
fire had reached them. This fact gives
an idea Of how fast the flames travelled.
At EIinckley and all along the line the
wind blew tempest. We all drew 8
sigh of relief when we reached the
limits of Superior and knew that our
precious freight was safe
Engineer Best now appears IN a diff
ferent roll from that he played during
the Great Northern strike Best aband-
oned his engine and train in It. Pau
where the Eastern Minnesota was tied
up III such a way as TO block the yards
At least this was the charge Of the Great
Northern, and when the strike was set
tied the road refused to re-employ Best
The \. Il. I. officials threatened an
other strike, but the difficulty was re-
ferred to the arbtrators and they de-
cided in favor of Bests restoration. He
seems by his heroism to have demon
strated his fitness for permanent place
in the cab.