New-York tribune., 1900-12-30
THE ENGINEER STUCK TO HIS POST.
HE WENT INTO THE OHIO RIVER WITH Rg
TRAIN AND SWAMI ASHORE WITH
CRUSHED FOOT.
From The Cleveland Leader.

From The Cleveland Leader.
As the details Of the wreck of the northbOund
passenger train on the Cleveland and Pittsburg
Railroad early yesterday morning are learned.
the act OF one man stands out conspicuous as
the most remarkable incident OF a most
markable accident
That an entire passenger train running at a
rate Of speed better than forty-five miles an
hour should suddenly sink into the Ohio River.
which is at flood height, and that fifty passen-
gers. most of whom were asleep, should escape
without a scratch, the injuries being confined
entirely to the of the train, is taken al
most without precedent, but the action Of Al.
bert CoughanOur speaks Of cool nerve that has
a parallel nowhere outside Of the history Of
The train was running at a lively speed and =
Coughanour. one Of the best engineers on thea
Pennsylvania system, cool headed Of
steady nerves, was sitting on his bench watch
ing the track ahead. 1t was a straight piece
of road, and the throttle of the locomotive had
been pulled wide open. Suddenly, without a
waver of the track to give warning, without a
shudder of the engine. any signs of disas-
ter. the track dropped from under the wheels
and the enSine with the train behind it slipped
into the Ohio River. The mad rush OF the loco
motive drove it's pilot and half it's boiler into
the mud The fireman jumped one way to safe
ty and scarcely received a scratch but Engineer
Coughanour, scrambling from his box, saw from
his side only the liver before him and hesitated-
1t was but an instant. and the next step he took
his foot was caught between the engine and the
tender the running board having lifted
/ lurch of the machine freed him, and with one
/ foot mangled so that ampUtatiOn was necessary
he was thrown into the midst Of the food.
current of the river. and the waters surged In
around the and through the trucks, but was
not strong enough there to carry them away
with it When COughanOur found himself in the
river he in the embrace of the current and
was being borne rapidly with it, His crushed
ankle and foot panied him severely, making his
! leg numb to the hip, but with the other foot
and his hands which had not been injured al
/ though encunbeTed with his heavy clothing and
his overaG. he struck out for the shore leaving
| a trace of blood behind him in the food. He
was carried about two hundred yards before he
began to make any headway. but at last he
seemed To be master of the situation and sue
ceeded in reaching the bank. BY the aid of
derbrush and a few strong weeds he pulled HIM
self out on the hank and. with the cOOlness and
steady nerve which only stOical engineer pos
/ sesses, he tore off his dripping Jumper" tore
away his shirt and bound his wounds. The
blood was flowing and he knew at that to
save his life he must Stanch its flow How to do
/ that was the question, there near to
help him. and he was not aware whether any
other person ON the train had been saved. Re-
sorting to a method well known in surgery, he
took a stick Of wood and twisted the bandages
so securely around his foot that he completely
stopped the flow of blood Then he fell on his
/ face in a dead faint.
| As soon as the passengers were released those
who kept their heads began to look after the
crew. MIR Chaplin. of Cleveland. searching along
1 the shore, came upon the PROSTATE body of En-
SineeF COuShanOur. TIe revived him by strenU-
Gus efforts and in a half fainting. half CON
sciOus condition the engineer rolled on his
back and asked: x
/ Are the passengers safe?''