The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1895-01-16
A SENSIBLE FIR TREE.

She only softly nurmrred
AS she rearranged her clothes,
s1'm glad my friends don't leave me
With every wind that blows"
"A +. Caldwell in Christian Nation
BRleHTYs PRESENCE OF MIND.
It Saves Many Lives In the T-ainload Of
Sleeping Passengers.
Harry J. Brightly, night yardmaster
of the Big -Four railroad, has well earn
ed place in the galaxy Of heroes. To
him are due credit, honor and praise
for saving the lives Of score and per
haps hundred passengers last night.
At the same place and under similar
circumstances an accident occurred a
little more than year ago that result
ed in the death of. several persons. In
that instance, as in this, runaway
train was the cause of the horror. De-
s.ructive as was the frightful wreck in
May, 1898, it IS apparent to every one
familiar with the circumstances that it
would have been rendered Insignificant
in comparison with that of last night
but for the promptness Of one man.
The stiffness Of the night was sud-
denly disturbed by roar that may be
hkened to the approach. Of raging cy-
clone. From the southeast it approached
with almost ightninglike rapidity, the
osainous rumble filing the sleeping val
ley with tumult and awakening thun-
derous reverberations on the frowning
bluffs beyond. The grim men with Ian
terms fitting about the yard were not
slow at divining the cause. The human
night owis-hackmen policemen and
hotel runners-were quick to grasp the
ominous significance Of the roar that
was awakening the echoes and lncreas-
ing in fury as it came nearer and near
er, like mighty monster mad and bent
on destruction. They appreciated the
fact that the horrible rumble was the
warning Of a runaway train Most Of
them had passed through one experience
Of the kind, and they were quick to re-
call the fate of companions whose lives
had been crushed out on the spot where
they then stood
A monster locomotive stood just out
side the station building, the glare of
its headlight penetrating the gloom to
the south, from whence came the thun-
dering noise. Behind the painting en-
CINE was a long train of coaches, in
which 200 or more passengers were
peacefully sleeping, unconscious that
they were even then almost in the very
jaws of death. The night owls, keenly
sensitive of their danger, fed in wild
confusion, all but one escaping. The sit
uation at that moment was awful to
contemplate. But one man stood be-
tween the hundreds of sleeping passen-
gers and eternity. They were in YER
table deathtrap. But a few PAGES to
the rear was the yawning river. In
front and dangerously near was the run
away train, rushing on with the veloci-
t. of whirlwind and gathering mo-
mentum at every rail length as it sped
down from the hilltops. No human
agency was powerful enough to check
the velocity of the swiftly turning
wheels. The men about the station who
appreciated the situation were almost
palsied with fear. The passenger train
seemed to be inevitably doomed to de-
struction.
But there was one man there with a
cool head and with nerves of steel. That
man was Harry Brightly. There was not
a moment to be lost. Thoroughly famil-
lar with the intricate system of tracks
in the yards, he rushed to switch
Before watch could have ticked a dcz-
en- times the runaway train would be
upon the sleeping passengers. That
would have meant death to all Of them
In his anxiety to reach the switch Har-
~ Brightly fell. The accident was al
most fatal But rolling over, bruised
and almost henzied, he threw the
switch just in the nick Of time. A Sec
ond later the runaway train passed with
a mighty roar. A high embankment Of
earth at the end Of the switch offered
but little resistance. The heavily laden
cars sped on, cutting through the stone
and brick walls of the station building,
passing through and across the street,
leaving passageway through the ma
sonry from roof to foundation, cut as
with knife. A most disastrous wreck
it was, but it is almost providential
that it was not worse. But for Harry
Brighty's thoughtfuless and promptness
the deathtrap would have been convert
ed into ,veritable slaughter house.
Lafayette Courier.
8A