The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1911-11-29

the door. Pr~ovtdentially the express
messenger withheld his fire until he
could see his assailant.
Recognizing the engineer. he lower
ed his revolver and allowed him to
enter.
Shull had just enough strength left
to climb ove the piles of freight to
the conductors valve and apply the
brakes.
Shull spent the next month In a hos
pital recovering from his burns. Not
long afterward President Marvin
Hughitt at an official banquet arrang-
ed in his honor. made a laudatory
speech and presented him a gold
watch bearing an inscriptions:
TO L. H. SKULL,
For His Fidelity to Duty
January 5. 1907.
Without an instant's hesitation. John
Riley. an engineer on h Pennsylvania
railroad ventured his life against tre-
mendous odds merely to save the COM
pany's property.
Riley was sitting in the cab Of his
engine which was standing on the
main line at Altoona on May 9. 1901,
when a highly excited operator rushed
up waving his arms.
Get in on a siding. Get in on a sid
ing quick" he shouted. There's
81 dS SOlitllIS uOM IL Iuc mountain,
tifty-eight cars. Hurry"
Riley grasped the throttle.
Get off," he said to his fireman.
The fireman made no move to obey,
Get out Of here OF I'll break your
fool head" roared Riley, menacing his
mate with a hammer.
The fireman turned quickly and
leaped from the gangway as the en-
CINE gathered speed.
Riley spe d up the mountain, keep
ing a sharp lookout for the runaway
train. When he saw it coming he
stopped and started back.
BY skillful j%ockeytng he allowed
his engine apd the runaway to come
together while going at nearly the
same speed. Then he reversed and
applied the air brakes.
His big locomotive ground her
wheels and held the train back with all
her power.
Riley did not expect to stop the
runaway. He vas trying to mitigate
not to prevent a disaster.
The train rushed into Altoona at
high speed. pushing the stubborn To-
connective before It. Two other en-
gines We're in the way. These engines
and Riley's We're partly wrecked. The
damage was slight compared with
what 1t would have been.
Such conspicuous bravery was not
permitted to pass unnoticed. The
board of directors sen Riley a gold
watch worth $1,000 bearing an in
scription reciting that it was present.
ed In recognition Of his courage,
Accompanying the watch was a check
for $500.
A strongly grounded superstition Of
the railroad man is that accidents
always goes In threes. It must be
confessed that this belief is fulfilled
by events with remarkable freQuen.
cy. 1t is no less remarkable that no
matter how strange and unusual an
accident may be 1t is often follow
ed by two others of the same charac.
ter.
On the day that Riley received his
reward for devotion to duty the board
OF directors also sent to Engineer Will
liam Black and Conductor James Lun-
dy two checks for 5000 each in recog-
milton of an act Of bravery perform.
ed two months before. They had vol
unfairly started in pursuit of a run
away train, had overtaken it while
running at a terrific speed. had cou-
pied to it and gradually brought It
to a stop.
Some time before this incident an
engineer and fireman left their engine
to look at a wreck. While they were
gone their engine a away and DASH
ed into Altoona at twenty-five miles
an hour.
Henry Cresswell, a switchman, saw
1t coming and resolved to capture it..
only an expert can board a caboose
running at half the speed at which
the runaway was travelling. Owing
to the arrangement Of steps and hand
holds. 1t is much more difficult to
board an engine in motion than a
caboose. A false step would have
meant almost certain death under the
wheel.
Warily watching his chance, Cress-
we'll made a leap as the engine sped
past.
He succeeded in grasping the hand
holds though his arms were almost
wrenched from their sockets. His body
swung back sharply and his heels
cracked together. His arms were be-
numbed and for a moment they were
useless.
He was dragged some distance be-
fore he could place his feet upon the
steps I'M pull himself up.
Once in the cab he was soon able to
stop the runaway and prevent what
wreck. 1t was such a notable feat
n a General Superintendent Sheppard
sen him a complimentary letter with
which he enclosed a check for $50.
When an accident occurs on a rail-
road there is usually a clamerous
demand to know who made the mis-.
take. Mishaps frequently happen
through no human error.
A string OF twelve cars broke loose
from an engine on December "a, 1908
and started down a steep grade on the
Buffalo and S~usquehanna. They up-
proached Addison, N. Y, at such a
higlr speed that they left the rails al
II curve and dashed into the vsmall
station, reducing it to ruins. Then
they heaDed themselves upon a cream.
cry, demolishinK 1t. A fire soon broke
out n not only We're the remains OF
the buildings and cars burned, but
several coaches standing on a siding
We're also consumed.
Courage will sometimes point tho
way out Of Il difficulty but when the
unexpected arises heroism alone 10 moi
sufficient; quick wit must play q prom.
inent part.
Many persons undoubtedly owe
their lives to Engineer Pierce u
Marsh's ready resourcefulness. Marsh's
engine was pulling n Chesapeake &
Ohio passenger train up a heav,
grade near Jane Lew. West Virginia
on June 25. 1907, when he saw a
string Of runaway ruru copo{o- ao-,.,