Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1908-05-23

The Carnegie hero fund commission
here has just made 30 more awards
for acts of heroism. Perhaps the most
important case was that of Mrs. Thel-
ma McNee Gullland of Dayton, o.,
who was formerly Miss McNee of
Boston, and who has been awarded a
bronze medal for n heroic act while
she lived in Boston.
The official report Of the case as is
sued by the commissions is as fol-
lows:
"On May 80. 1905. about 0 a. m,
at Boston, Mass, Thelma McNee,
aged II. dentists assistant, saved
James ID. Cooney, aged Z. and Alice
Cooney, aged 3, from burning in
building at the southeast corner of
Chestnut and BrimmeT streets. This
building was of brick for two stores,
running from Chestnut south to By
ron street, and was used as an auto
mobile garage, AZ machines being on
the first floor at the time of the fire,
and a number of new ones stored on
the second floor. On the Chestnut
street corner there was frame third
story extending toward Byron street,
a distance of 100 feet.
1T was divided into two apart
ments, the corner one being occupied
by the McNee family and the other
by the Cooney family. An explosion
of gasolene in one of the machines
on the first floor caused fire, which
spread rapidly. The noise of the ex-
plosion and the volumes of smoke
pouring up in front of the windows
apprised Mrs. McNee of danger, and
recollecting that Mrs. Cooney had left
her apartment and that it was her
habit on such occasions to lock her
children in, she mentioned this to her
daughter, Thelma, and then went in
to another room to gather together
some of her effects before escaping
from the building.
Miss McNee realized the children's
danger and ascended to the roof of
their apartment, and climbing over a
low fence which separated their part
from that of their neighbors, she re-
moved the scuttle from the stairway
leading to the Cooney apartment and
descending to the hall secured the key
to the door of the room occupied by
the two children and entered.
"At this time the fire was burning
fiercely on the first andIsecond floors,
and there was much smoke and heat,
but no flame in the room where she
found the children. For a moment she
hesitated, undecided how best to take
both children out at once. She then
picked up the smaller, and pushed the
elder in front of her to the stairs
leading to the roof. and returned to
her own apartment and then to the
street, by stairs leading to the Chest
nut street side.
"In ten minutes the Cooney apart
ment was completely gutted by the
flames. The rescuer did not see any
flames during the entire rescue. but
went through dense smoke. She
feared explosions of gasolene, know
ing that supply was stored in tank
buried six feet deep beneath the eel
lar of the part of the building at the
Byron-street end. This end Of the
building was separated from the third
story part by solid brick wall run
ming from cellar to roof.
1.-The rescuer suffered from nervous
shock, which affected her eyes. She
received free treatment at the Massa-
chusetts eye and ear infirmary. She
has since married a machinist, by
whom her case has been reported to
the commission.
Awarded a bronze medal"
The Carnegie hero fund commits
sion at its last regular quarterly meet
ing passed upon 85 cases investigated
since its last meeting, granting me-
dal or medal and cash In 80 and re-
jecting SO applications as not coming
within the scope of the commissions
work. These awards include 10
bronze and Is silver medals, $13,950
in immediate cash payments and
monthly payments during life to four
persons
Since the organization of the COM
mission on April Is, 1904, 172 awards
have been made out of total of 2432
cases Investigated.