The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-03-06
BILLY HAYES CLOSE CALL.
THE NERVE OF AN ENGINEER IN
THE FACE OF DEATH.
A Song of Praise Instead of the
sound His Comrades Feared to
Hear-A Thrilling Incident of a
Nebraska RaiIrond Wreck.

There's a wreck up beyond on Yves
ton," shouted the doctor, awakening me
about half past in the morning by
pounding on the wall that separated his
room from mine. DO you want to go?''
Give me ten minutes and I'm with
you." replied. Fifteen minutes later We
went down together to partake of steam
ing black coffee and toast in the dining
room of the little Nebraska hotel.
The doctor was the railroad surgeon.
The wreck, he said was caused by
washout, and the wrecking train was
waiting TO, take us to the scene. Some
men were badly hurt, how many ne didn't
know: but it was a "hurry call" We
cleared his office of bandages and plasters
and cotton, gathered his instruments into
the cases, reused up the night man at the
drug store, got oil and anaesthetics and
went.
Three miles beyond Weston, where the
road straightens out on a long down grade
was the wreck The heavy through
about O'Clock that morning. The look
out, who had been riding on the engine,
had seen, in the glare of the headlight
above him, the CLEAN of the rails across
the little gully at the bottom OF the hill.
and the gully itself running half full
of water. He had seen the cross ties in
their places and he thought the track was
sound. What he did not see was that
the cribbing of ties on which the track
had been laid across the gully had been
washed out.
If he had been standing on the ground
he might have noticed the sag of the
track where the cribbing had gone; but
the rocking of the engine disturbed his VI
sion. The engineer and fireman in the cab
behind him, straining their eyes over the
track ahead, saw no more than he, and the
big train smashed into the gully. The en-
CINE got nearly across before the track
gave way Then the strain broke the
coupling and the first of the freight cars
dived under the engine and blocked up
the gully. The engine sank back on the
wreck, and the box cars damned them
selves into the locomotive in hopeless
tangle.
When the trainmen recovered from the
shock and ran forward to see what was
the matter they found Keefer, the look
out, lying on the bank of the gully with
broken leg. He never knew how he got
there; but he must have been pitched
backward as the engine went down near
end first. Costello, the fireman, was pinned
into the cab by the roof Of the box car.
Billy Hayes, the engineer, had been thrown
forward through his cab window and was
caught by the leg between the injector and
the drive wheel.
The trainmen got Costello out of the cab
and took him and Keefer back to Wes-
ton, where we found them Costello had
a broken arm and badly damaged shoul-
der. We Stayed long enough to make them
as comMrtable as possible and then went
on to see about Hayes.
1t was after 10 o'clock when we reach
ed the wreck, and Hayes had been suffer-
ing desperate agony for seven hours, but
he had not fiinched or shown a sign of
weakening, the men told me, in all that
time. And although he knew It must yet
be hours before he could be taken out, If
indeed he could ever be got out at all, he
kept stout heart.
The heavy guard over the rear drive
wheel had been twisted up and in toward
the injector. Hayes was caught by the
wreck, and for a few minutes after the
accident 1t had poured a stream of boiling
hot water on his back.
Turn and twist as he might he could not
get away He struggled so hard that he
broke ms leg, ana tHen, ueSpdlrknB OF get
ting free by his own efforts, he sank back
to endure.
He told his mates how he was caught,
but they could not help. They had no
tools for such work as must be done to
release him, and the best they could do
was to stand on the bank of the gully and
shout encouragement to him. They had
sent for help, and until the wreckers came
there was nothing to do but walt
While they waited a new peril rose,
which none had foreseen, and which prov
ed anew the courage of Billy Hayes. The
wreck had fallen in such a manner that
1t acted as wing-dam across the gully,
and the men watching on the bank MOTTO
ed that the water was rising rapidly.
Hayes saw it, too, and thought that If 1t
would only rise high enough, it would ease
a little the pain of his scalded back.
He watched the water bubbling and
rushing about him, and saw in the gray
light of the dawn how thick and yellow
with mud 1t was. Steadily and with
amazing swiftness the water rose. Then
one of the watchers on the bank saw what
made the hearts of them all beat more
quickly with the sudden realization of a
new dagger. The water was rising below
the wreck almost as rapidly as 1t rose
above 1t.
Then they understood. 1t was not the
do &c -~acPN thaf was swelling the
gully stream; 1t was the new flood from
the nights rain. The fields had been soak
ca fun Dy the heavy rainfall, and it seem
ed as IL all the water that had fallen that
night had TO be carried off by that gully.
The stream rose above Hayes waist, and
the grateful quenching of the fire In his
back made him forget how fast the water
advanced. A man on the bank was mark
ing its rapid oncoming by little pegs stuck
in the mud.
In August the day comes swiftly after
the dawn. In the full light of the morn
ing, Hayes saw the sullen clouds drifting
swiftly across the low hllltops. gathering
their forces for another downpour.
He had found q solid footing for his
good leg on piece Of wreckage, and now
that his back was eased a little, he made
shift 20 place himself more comfortably
The twisted sand pipe gave him a rest
for one arm, and as he settled back on it
the water crossed his breast and splashed
up in his face.
lie turned quick, anxious glance at the
men on the bank and looked down again
at the water. IL climbed over his breast
and touched his neck. IL seemed to fasci-
nate him. With almost unwinking gaze
he watched it. IL swirled about his throat
and still he looked down at It. His mates