The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1895-04-03
BRlGHTYS PRESENCE OF MIND.
It Saves Many Lives in the Trainload OF
Sleeping Passengers. -

Si6SDlEX faSSSuSc1Ss
Harry j. Brightly, night yardmaster
of the Big -Four railroad, has we'll earn
ed a place in the galaxy OF heroes. 10
him are due credit, honor and praise
for saving the lives of a score and per-
haps a hundred passengers last night.
At the anne place and under similar
circumstances an accident occurred a
little more than a year ago that result
ed in the death Of several persons. In
that instance, as in this, a runaway
train was the cause Of the horror. De-
structive as was the frightfol wreck IN
May, 1893, it is apparent to every n
familiar with the circumstances that 1t
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 a o that may be
lkened to the approach Of a raging cy-
clone. From the southeast it approached
with almost lightninglike rapidly, the
ominous rumble filing the sleeping val
lev with tumult and awakening thun-
derous reverberations on the frowning
bluffs beyond. The grim men with Ian
terms fitting about the yard We're not
slow at divining the cause. The human
night owls-hackmen, policemen and
hotel runners-were quick to grasp the
ominous significance of the o that
was awakening the echoes and lncreas-
ing in fury as it came nearer and near
er, like q 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 We're quick to re-
call the fate of companions whose lives
had been crushed out or 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 am the thun-
dering noise. Behind the painting en-
CINE was a long train Of coaches, III
which 200 II more passengers were
peacefully sleeping, unconscious that
they were even then almost IN the very
laws Of death. The night owls, keenly
sensitive Of their danger, fed In wild
confusion, all but one escaping. The Sit
uation at that moment WIS awful to
contemplate. But one man stood be-
tween the hundreds Of sleeping passen-
gers and eternity. They were in a 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 velocl-
ty Of a whirlwind and. gathering mo-
mentum at every rail length as it sped
down from the hillsops. 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 a switch.
Before q watch could have licked a doz-
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 frenzied, he threw the
switch Just in the nick of time A sec
oud 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 a passageway through the ma
sonry from roof to foundation, cut as
with a 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 a veritable slaughter house