The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1910-02-23
Dluck and
"A Adventure
A HERO OF THE CAB.


his name famous among the railroad
men of the Canadian Pacific system,
and still keeps we'll kept the grave in
which he lies in the little cemetery at
| Chapleau, Ontario. Like many an
| other hero of the rail Big Dan es-
capped all the perils of his calling only
to die while comparatively young
from the sickness following an ordi-
nary cold. On the Chapleau division,
| which includes most of the stretch
| between Sudbury mines and Fort
| William on Lake Superior, there is
| perennial danger from forest fires.
The track runs through an unculti-
waited country of thick bush, and near
ly all the bridges are of wood, some
of them long outstanding trestle
spanning broad rivers or arms of
lakes. Frequently in late spring and
early summer the whole force of the
bridge and building inspector is de-
tailed for days at time to do nothing
| but watch these structures while the
fires are raging.
With the first of the warm weather
In 1887 the fires on this section of the
road became even more menacing
than usual, and the evening when
Fairbairn backed his engine to No. 1
! (the transcontinental maiD at Car
tier, a pail of smoke hid the sky.
Fifty-four miles from Cartier is Bis
cotasing, and about mile farther on
Is the long Disco trestle. From the
time of leaving the point at which en-
gines had been changed, the fire con-
ditions had been getting steadily
worse, and the pillar of cloud on the
track ahead of the engine blacker and
denser. The muffled roar of the con-
suming flames could be heard occa-
sionally. and from time to time the
glare of the conflagration could be
seen for a minute or two by the pas
sengers. Evidently the train was ap-
preaching nearer to a danger zone in
stead of leaving the fires behind.
The express had cleared Biscota-
sing and was heading for Ramsay,
when the fireman, Howard Gougeon,
thought he discerned a flicker of
flame apparently in the middle of the
track about half mile ahead.
Great Scott, DAM / believe the
long trestle is on fire." he said.
Fairbairn scanned the track from
his side of the cab, but could see
nothing of the light. "Nonsense!" he
replied. Between the bridge car
penters and the section men, we
should have heard of it long ago If
that was so. That is the one point
they'll both be watching just now"
At the same time he took in a
notch and continued to keep sharp
lookout. They were within two train
lengths of the trestle at the end of a
long down grade, when Gougeon
"There it is! Look now!" he cried.
No need to tell the engineer; he
had seen, understood and already
made up his mind. He had only a
second in which to act, and that small
squirt of fire told him that he was
within few yards of long wooden
bridge that had burned long since
and was now a smoldering ruin. To
attempt to stop within the short dis
tance was out of the question; it
would only mean a heavy dead weight
creeping on the charred woodwork
and death for all.
There was just time to jump, but
Dan was not considering that. Still
the young fireman must have his
chance; so the engineer threw curt
drop off" to him over his shoulder.
As he shouted the words, he yanked
the throttle wide open and put on
every limit of speed of which his en-
gine was capable. With roar and
a rumble the train took the bridge.
Instantly the rush of the wind crea-
ted by its great speed acted as gil
gantic fan on the smouldering wood;
the flames leaped high and enveloped
the whole train in mantle of fire.
Underneath the rails sunk as in a
quagmire; but with hair and eye
brows scorched and the big blond
beard actually on fire, Fairbairn
held tight to the wide open throttle,
and after an eternity of a few sec
onds the train was on the other side.
High above the whir of the wheels
on the ballasted roadbed sounded
crash after crash. The long Bisco-
tasing trestle had collapsed from end
to end!
When the frightened passengers
climbed out of cars, from which every
vestige of paint mad been licked, and
stumbled over the ties to the river
bank, they saw only long black
void. Not even a remnant of the su-
perstructure remained to show that
there had ever been {. bridge at that
point For minute they regarded
the scene in awestruck silence, then
with one accord they made for the
engine Clambering from the cab
was a blond giant of six feet five
inches. who wiped with piece of oil
soaked cotton waste face blistered
and scared by fire.
Dan summoned a very one-sided
grin. pretty close" he said
Close! Didn't they realize how
close 1t had been? Could they not
picture what might have been, had