Belt Valley times. [volume] (Armington, Mont.) 1894-1977, 1921-12-29


dilemma 10 choose. the end came
4There xaS-tAa-na sh-ef another head
light on the curve. another whist,
shrek. and l turned to help the majoI
take Mrs. SheIla Off our car and run
with her. against the horrible chance
that we might get II instead of tn.
special.
But we didn't get 1t. Ten seconds
later the chasing engine had crashed
headlong into the standing train. bury
Ing Itself clear up TO the tender In the
heart of the old wooden sleeper, roll
ing the whole business over on Its side
in the ditch, and setting the wreck
age afre as suddenly as IL the old
Pullman had been a fag0t OF pItch-pine
kindlIngs and only waiting for the
match.
II | could write down any real de-
scription OF the way things stacked up
there In that lonesome valley for the
Title bunch OF us who stood aghast at
the awful horror. / guess | wouldn't
need to be hammering the keys of a
typewriter I'm a railroad Office. But
neve mind no soldier sees any more
of a battle than the part he Is In.
There were seven OF us men, lnclud-
ing the engineer and fireman OF the
special. who We're able TO jump In and
try TO do something. and. looking back
at It now. II seem as II we all did
what we could.
That wasn't much. About half of
the people in the sleeping-car-sIx by
actual count. as we learned after
ward-were@k killed outright In the
crash or so badly hurt that they died
pretty soon a%fterward; and the fire
81 quick and so hot that after
we had got the wounded ones out we
couldn't get all OF the bodies OF the
others.
As you'd Imagine. the boss was the
head and front OF hat fierce rescue
fight. He had stripped Off his coat,
and he kept IN diving Into the burn
ing wreck after another and yet an
Dther OF the. victims until IL seemed as
4 he couldn't possibly do 1t one more
lime and come out alive. He didn't
seem 10 remember that these very men
we're the n who had been trying to
'uin him-that at least once they had
set trap for him and tried to kill
him. He was TOO big for that.
After we had got ont all the victims
could reach, there wa stu one
left who wasn't dead we could
him above the kissing OF the
and the cracking Of the flames.
'creaming and begging US to break in
he side Of the car and XIII him be-
ore the fire=get to- him. Kirgah had
ound an ax In the emergency box OF
F~day-eoach.- and WAS choppfng away
Ike o madmnn.
h minute he got a hole big enough,
he big master-meehnnic dropped his
x and climbed down into the chok-
ng hell where the screams were COM
ne from. Our fireman picked up the
K and ran around 10 the other side
I the wreck where Jones. the en-
OF the special. and his fireman
ERE trying TO break into the crushed
alb OF the 416.
The ofd major. the boss, and | stood
y to help kirgan. and the minute
Is head came up through the chopped
ole we saw that he needed help. He
ad pried the screaming man loose,
'mehow, and was trying to drag him
p out of the smoking furnace. It WIS
one, amongst us, some way or other.
irgan had wrapped the man up In a
ullman blanket to keep the fire from
citing at him any worse thaQ 1T al
.ady had, and as we were taking him |
1t the blanket slipped aside from his {
Ice and / saw who II was that the J
aster-mechanic had risked his life {