Waterbury Democrat., 1902-09-22
WOMAN SAVES TRAIN
Her Cool Nerve at Trying Moment
 Prevents Disaster.
Assisted in Her Heroic Effort by 8 Telephone and a Man with 8 BicycIe--Hovv She Found
 the Danger.

A San Rafael (Ca1.) correspondent writes that the cool nerve of plucky woman and the speed of man riding for life on bicycle was all that saved the Ukiah express, bound from Ulziah to Tiburon on the line of the Califor- mia Northwestern railway, from de struction late the other afternoon. Mrs. James Cochrane, wife of a we'll known San Rafael attorney, was the heroine of the incident, and to her courage scores of passengers on the endangered train owe their lives.
 On that afternoon storm of wind swept over San Rafael. Near the out skirts of town and close to the resi- dence of Mrs. Cochrane a huge euca- lyptus tree, fully 100 feet in height, and two feet in diameter in it's thickest part, was blown over so that the heavy portion of it's trunk lay squarely across the tracks of the California North western railway. Shortly after five o'clock Mrs. Cochrane, with a team of horses, started on a drive into the country. She passed close to the track in her carriage and saw the big tree lying across the rails. Suddenly the thought struck her that the Ul1iah ex- press was about due. She looked at her watch and it read 5:10 o'clock. A feeling of dread passed over her as she realized that the quick moving train with it's long string of passenger cars was due at 5: 15 o'clock.
 Hurriedly jumping from her car cro c11 n dOSxyYa Inc 4rooIx hnr1in O to flag the train. Then the full peril of the situation dawned upon her. The tree had fallen just at the end of curve, which wound itself about a tall hill. At the beginning of the curve the track emerged from a tunnel, and it was evident that the engineer in his cab would not be aware of his danger until he was right upon it.
 Mrs. Cochrane confesses that she grew sick with fear and the thought came to her that the engineer emerg- ing suddenly from the tunnel would not understand her signal till too late. Then she membered the telephone, and, turning back ran over the rough ground toward the house, where line was installed. Once she stumbled, but the distance was short and in less than two minutes she was ringing for the railway depot. Train Dispatcher : Force answered her message. All that he heard was: 'sTree across the track near the tunnel; hurry; train is com ing"
 Outside the station G. B. Gillbride, the baggage master. who is an expert bi- cicle rider, was standing. Force called to him the message, and with jump Gillbride had seized his bicycle and was off. Force threw him a signal flag as he started and yelled string of orders after him as he spurted down the street. The distance was only about a mile and the bicycIist rode like the wind. After he had gone block he heard the shrill whistle of the coming | train as it approached the tunnel. It | was a race of man against train with a hundred lives depending on the re- suit. Gillbride reached the fallen tree, jumped from his bicycle, ran down the | track away to the mouth of the tun- nel, and as the engine emerged from I the darkness flashed his red signal | flag before the startled engineer The whistles screa med Brakes down. 5 and with the engine shivering with the ex- ertion, the train came to stop with the nose of the locomotives cow | catcher scarcely two feet from the fallen tree. Engineer Lewis, his face white from the peril, jumped from the cab and hurried to the signalman.
 Tt was a close shave" he gasped, and as the questioning passengers and Conductor Crane pressed around him he could only repeat: "It was close l shave, close shaves'
 Pretty soon a half hysterical woman came down the track. It was Mrs. Cochrane and she told of the finding of the danger. The crew and passen- gers thanked her over and over again.