The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-12-06
STORIES OF SOME
 NARROW ESCAPES
Fall From Roof To Top Of Mov-
 ing Express Train
CLOSE CALL FOR A CYCLlST
Thrown Over Parapet of Mountain Bridge, He Hangs From Grder Chain Until Rescued From
 Certain Death.
From the Strand Magazine.

From the Strand Magazine.
 | Narrow escapes from death are always interesting to read about or to see on the stage. They are not so satisfactory to the persons who experience them, espe- ciay, it Is said because they happen too quickly Dramatic art assigns a suit able period of suspense, which enables the spectator to develop and enjoy all the thrills due to a situation, but reality is generally abrupt and hurls the fated in- divdual into catastrophe before he can arouse his emotions. Of course, this view is opposed to the theory of old-fashioned fiction, that one instant in a crisis unrolls the map of an extensive career and per forms a bleaching operation on the hair that would keep coiffeuse busy for an hour.
 Swiss workman was busy repairing the roof of small railway station, when the cleat against which he was resting gave way, and he began to slide over tho edge of the roof. To avoid a spiked iron railing below, he made a desperate jump into space. An express train was rush ing by, and the man landed on the roof of car. His outhung hands found and clutched ventilator chimney. He was carried on four miles to the next station and descended unhurt.
 The Only Safe Place.
 More tragic was the occurrence on a Rocky Mountain railroad. Four employees of the Great Northern were speeding down a precipitous grade on a hand car at 30 miles an hour, when a special train confronted them around curve. There was no avoidance of a collision. Two of the men jumped to death on the rocks below. The others stuck to the car, and | vancing engine, but the other man was tossed uninjured into clump of bushes which grew on projecting rock 20 feet below the edge of the cliff. It was the only safe place where he could have fallen.
 A Dr. Bach was cycling, down the pass near Goschenen, in Switzerland, when his brake snapped and the machine darted forward at terrific speed At the foot of the mountain is bridge spanning a deep river forge. The physician tried to guide ! his flying machine onto the bridge, but the front wheel struck a side wall and he was flung over the parapet. While falling through the air he caught chain gaming | from a girder The momentum of his body suddenly arrested nearly wrenched his 1 grip loose, but he was a strong man and | kept his hold.
 Swinging in Mdar
 While swinging in midair suspended over the raging river and unable to im- prove his perilous position an automobile ! came chugging down the pass. The hap less man shouted for help, but he could 1 not be seen from the bridge, and his cries were drowned by the noise of the motor and the sound of the river. A few min utes after the automobile had passed carriage drove across the bridge. Again | he cried out for help, but in vain. The awfulsstrain on arms and fingers was be- coming intolerable, and the doctor was about to drop into the torrent to an n- evitable death when two peasants came by and saw him. They flung a moose over him and pulled him up. He tainted and was i'll for long time.
 | father travelling with his young son | on an English railroad last year had narrowing five minutes. The child was leaning against the apartment door when the door flew open and the younster dis l appeared. The father fantically jerlxed the safety rope, whichs topped the train, and jumped out. He was astonished and delighted to see the boy on his feet and running up the track. But at that mo- l ment an express on the other track came roaring by and the engine knocked the boy down and passed over him. The | father groaned with horror. He could not believe his eyes when the train passed on l diu lilC lilliO ltllOW JulIpcu up anu came pluckily toddling back. The boy had no | injuries except a few cuts.
 Extraordinary Escape.
 | About two years ago a small steam yacht with pleasure party aboard was | off the outer harbor of New York when it was run down and capsized by a string of garbage scows Of the eight aboard the yacht, four chung to the keel of their vessel and were picked up; the others l sank and vanished from sight. Among 1 the latter was a young woman, Miss Fan ny Day. She was reported drowned and her family was mourning the tragic event when she walked in very much alive and we'll Her escape was extraordinary When the yacht turned over the girl was drawn by suction under a barge, and came up in a dark space. A chain struck against her face. She grasped it, and as soon as she could get breath screamed for help A lid above was lifted and two men pulled her up into daylight. It hap pened that a load of garbage had been dumped through the bottom of the barge at the moment of the collision, and the young woman fortunately rose through the trap into the chamber The trap i'm mediately closed again, leaving her in the hold of the scow, imprisoned in darkness and filth, but safe