The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1894-09-06

/ THE ENGIN EEL A HERO.
STORY OF THE ENGINEER ON THE
MINNESOTA RsCUE TRAIN.
His Train reese ues Four Hundred
People Mt Hinck1ey, Running
Through a Wall Of Fire In Leav-
ing the TOwn-The Last Despair
ing norts OF Mothers TO Save Their
Helpless Babes-A Race With the
Fire Fiend. Isl
West Superior, Wis, Sept. 5.--Engi--
neer William Best, OF the Great North
ern, has redeemed himself now at any
rate. Tt will be remembered that DUR
ling the Great Northern strike Best was
accused OF DESERVING his train on an
open track and leaving train load Of
passengers exposed to danger, instead
of taking his train to a place Of safety,
before leaving the service Of the COM
pany, as he should have done. The
| splendid service he rendered Saturday
! night in connection with the rescue Of
| people in the burned town Of Hinckley
has not yet been told, but it stamps
! Best as q brave man in the face Of
danger and affords an exhibition Of
courage and devotion to duty that can
not be too highly commended. Best
tells the story Of that fearful ride in
very graphic words. He says:
I'VE were brought face to face with
DEATH he said IF man could keep
his head in that dreadful holocaust, he
need not fear for his self control OF
courage under any circumstances.
"Soon after leaving Superior, at lib
I p. M, had to light the headlight, ow
ing to dense smoke, which turned day
into night. The smoke and heat in
creased as we reached Hinckley. ex-
pected that when we reached that
point we would get into the open and
escape from the smoke. My surprise
was great, therefore, when we found
the fire right upon the town. It took but
4 a glance to Gee that the town was
doomed. The wind blew with great
violence and the flames fairly leaped
through the air. The people were
taken by surprise and were terrorized
and helpless. The coming of the fire
seemed like strokje of lightning. Al
most in an instant the town was swept
by pillows Of flames We could not
pass Hinckley, and there was no use
to look for orders, for telegraphic COM
muEicatioE was cut off, 1t was one OF
those cases where men have to make
up their minds in an instant and act
without hesitation. Here were hun
dreds Of panic-stricken people who
We're doomed if they were not instantly
rescued. On the other hand safety
for the train and its passengers lay in
prompt retreat To stay and rescue as
many as we could was our duty, Of
course, but the great question, and
upon it hung the lives of many hun
dreds, was-sHow long dare we waltz
ed Barry was there in charge Of
the engine Of No. % and w. D. Camp
bell, the conductor, as plucky and brave
fellows as ever passed a mile post We
knew we We're safe in making time
for we could return on No. 23's time,
and as this train had the right of way,
we knew that no other train would
dare to stay on the main line without
orders if moving south. We hastily
coupled portion of Campbells freight
train, with engine ahead, onto the rear
Of our train. The fame pursued peo-
pie rushed toward our train and piled
into the cars Some of them were
aged, and there were the helpless wo-
men and children who had to be helped
aboard. We had to shift the position
Of the train several times to prevent
it taking fire. We were almost breath
: ing fire, as it was.
1--WE saw many sights that wauld
! ho1, ], - =: 6
der other circumstances. We saw peo-
pie fall down, overcome by the heat
and smoke; I saw mothers with their
babes make last despairing effort to
shelter their helpless charges. 1t was a
sight to make men weep. We saw
people surrounded by fire, but there is
no use trying to describe it to you It
is indescribable. If Victor Hugo could
have seen that seething hell of fame
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 We got about 400 Hinckley people
aboard, may be more, and stopped to
take others who had run up the track.
At last we realized that the critical
moment had come to go. We could not
leSCue& oil VI VIC people. 41Or Iney could
not get t. the train. AS many as came
to us were taken. A very large per.
,, centage Of those who remained per,
ished.
Away we went through the blazing
woods. 1t was a race with death
There was death behind, and SO far as
we knew, maybe ahead Of us. too. The
telegraph posts and ties were on fire
and q stream OF flame passed under the
train. The people were packed so close.
~ in the train that it was impossible
, to move move We passed several bridges
that were on fire, the fire having al
ready reached them.
AT Partridge we stopped and bro
cured water for the passengers. The
fire was roaring behind us then. The
people at Partridge thought they. were
safe, but it appears that within hall
an hour the fire had reached them
! Ihis fact gives an idea OF how fast tl1e
flames lanes Travelled. At Hinckley and All
along the line the wind blew 4 temnest
r "a