The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1906-09-07
A BRAVE ACT.
How Brave Fireman POeIl Saved
, the Life of a
TWO YEAR OLD BOY

But Slipped Under the Wheels of the
Locomotive and is Badly Grip.
pied for Life. fie Is Given
Medal of
Honor.
All tho multitude every nan, wo.
man and child-that read In this
newspaper year ago Che exact date
of tho issue was July 80, 1906) how
FIreman George Poel snatched baby
Paul Ussary from death upder the
wheels Of his flying locomotive, very
yearly at the cost of his own life, Will
be glad to loArn that the Unite d
States Government has recognized
she exceptional heroiSm CT the &C,
With medal for the brave fireman,
who is crippled for life.
This Is the first medal to be award
I'D by the Government 'for conspiou.
GUS bravery and self sacrifice In the
saving of life In private cmployments,
\ and particularly in the land
comUerce Of the nations" where &
railway employe was tho hero.
The President himself selected the
design Of the medal from several cub
mittcd In competition Of ARTISTS,
and sent 1t to the mint for repr .duc-
tion In gold. and has notifad Mr.
Poell OF Ills action In the following
letter:
My Dear Mr.. Pcell: You have
oeen awarded a adsl Of honor, pro,
vided under the Act OF Congress- ap-
proved February 23 1905. You
have, by extreme daring. endaugeriDR
and almost losing your own life, saved
the life Of q child, at the cost Of Grip
oliDg yourself permanently. The IN
>losed state ment OF facts sets forth
ahat you did. No man could have
'hown greater ccolness, greater skill
and daring or moro heroic Indifference
20 big own safety. 1t is not In my
power to make you any materiai
amends for the crippli G Injuries you
received when In saving the llfa of q
helpless child you 80 nearly lost your
own, but trust that the medal will
IT least be proof to you that your
ocuntrymen real,z, that you haYe per
formed a deed which will serve aS
an inspiration to every American who
nears or reads of 1t, and which lifts
by justso much the standard of the
cit OF sss ,ve,Fxs lev, y,
With earliest hopes for your welfare
bellevo me, sincerely yours.
THEODORE ROOSEVELT.
The statement Of iActs upon mn:ch
the medal was awarded is esser italy
thet made FOR this newspaper by the
aero himself while he lay In the hos
plGal st ST. Joseph, Mo-, recovering
from his frightful Injured, including
the amputation Of one leg.
G gorge Poell, residing at No. ZIG
East Eighlh street, Grand lsland,
Neb,, On juno %, 1906. was fireman
on engine No. SO, hauling freight
arain No. 10 FROM Grand Island tt,
aanov,r, Kan. The train was o
heavy one uf thirty loaded cars At
6.b5 p. M, 1t was approaching p >weil
Station, N5b. at speed % .nirty
miles an hour, having no stop there,
when Engineer O. II. Bishop suddenly
sounded the whistle, applied the en-.
ergency brakes and reversed his en-.
CINE.
Looking from his cab window, FIRE
man Poell saw ohjld between the
rails so short distance ahead that he
knew the train could not be stopped
n t;mo to save It's life, and 1t was
plain that the little follow vas un
conscious Of his danger. All his
thoughts were upon a pet kitten In hi,
arms.
Instantly, without s wori to the
engineer, Poell was out through his
cab window, along the swaying foot
BOARD and on to the o0wcatcher. HI
nad q little brother ID ckie at home
and the baby on the tracks was tht
living image Of him. What followed
is told In the ireman's own language
There's not much to hang on t.
jown at the point Of an engines pilot
aud the 70 >ting is i1S' about 50 SAT-
as that aboard gre ed pole. R'gh
down on the point % Cle pilot sm
med my boot nee, a between th
bars and with loft hand got q
good grip a. could farther up
This left my hight hand free TO gra
that kid with.
Then to mako the job all tn
more difii3ult, what did tnat blcs; o.
Kid do but to sit down suddenly t.
pet the cat
"All at once 1 saw that 1t would b
impossible to lift the baby from Gh
track we were still going 500 fast
The beat l could do was TO make on
sWipe with my hand at tue right me
ment and try and brush him Off be
yond the rails.
And that's what l did. The wa
I'd got 1t mixed In my head Ahlt XII
and brother Dickie were one ana In
same made me extra anxious abou
that swipe. Perhaps put NOR
steam into IT than | thought, &c
that blessed baby rose In the air an
shot off over the ditch like goif bal
Another thing about the sHlpe
gave that kid; It threw me OFF m
balance and my leftfoot caught undt
the CATTLE guard.
" p and | knew was minus or
foot and how muoh leg oouldn
tell"
Fireman Poell was conscious wlle
picked up, although he had bee
dragged more than hundr6d fa,
over the rough ends Of the ties. II
left foot was torn from tile leg, bot
' | hsnDnn