Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1921-09-30

the side of the car and kill him be-
fore the fire got to him. Kirgan had
found an ak in the emergency box OF
our day-coach, and was chopping away
like mailman.
The minute he got hole big enough,
the big master-mechanic dropped his
ak and climbed down into the chok-
ing hell where the screams were COM
| ing FROM Our fireman picked up the
ak and ran around to the other SIDE
Of the wreck where Jones, the en-
gineer of the special, and his fireman
were trying to break into the crushed
| cab of the 416.
The old major, the boss, and stood
by to help Kirgan, and the minute
his head came up through the chopped
hole we saw that he needed help. He
had pried the screaming man loose,
somehow, and was trying to drag hirD
up out of the smoking furnace. 1t was
done, amongst us, some way or other.
Kirgan had wrapped the man up in d
Pullman blanket to keep the fire from
getting at him any worse than 1t al
ready had, and as we were taking him
out the blanket slipped aside from his
face and I saw who it was that the
for. 1t was Hatch, himself, and he
died in our arms, the majors and
mine, while we were carrying him out
to where Mrs. Sheila was tearing one
of the Pullman sheets that had got
hold of into strips to make bandages
for the wounded.
With the chance of saving maybe
another one or two, we couldn't stay to
help the brave little woman who was
trying to be doctor and nurse to half
a dozen poor wretches at once. But
she took time to ask me one single
breathless question:
slave they found him yet2-yOu
know the one mean, Jimmie?'
NO." / said. They're digging away
at that side now," and then ran back
to jump in again.
Though the fire was now licking at
! everything in sight, Kirgan, who had
! taken the ak from our fireman, had
| managed to cut some of the caz tim
bers out of the way so that we could
see down into the tangle of things
where the cab Of the 416 ought to have
been. There wasn't much left of the
cab. The water-gauge was broken,
along with everything else, but in
spite of the reek of smoke and steam
we could see that Hogan and his fire.
man were not there. But down under
the coal that had shifted forward al
the impact of the collision we could
make out the other mantle murder
maniac-lying on his back, black III
the face and gasping.
That was enough for the boss. II
looked like certain death for anybody
to crawl down into that kissing steam
bath, but he did it, wriggling through
the hole that Kirgan had chopped
while two or three of us ran to the
little creek that trickled down on the
far side of the "Y" and brought back
soaking Pullman blankets to try to de
lay the encroaching fire and smother
the steam-jets.
/ couldn't see very well what the
boss was doing; the smoke and steam
were so binding. But when did get
a glimpse l saw that he was digging
frantically with his bare hands at the
shifted COAL and that he had sue
ceeded in freeing the head and shout
ders of the buried man, who was still
alive enough to choke and gasp in the
furnace-like heat.
Kirgan stood it as long as he could
until the licking flames were about tt
drive us all away.
You'll be burnt alive-come up out
of that" he yelled to the boss; but
knew 1t wouldn't do any good. Will
Collingwood still buried down Their,
and still with the breath of life II
him, the boss was going to stay ant
keep on trying to dig him out even i,
he, himself, got burned to q crisp do
ing it. Loving Mrs. Sheila the way h,
did, he couldn't 30 any less.
1t was awful, those next two o.
three minutes We were all running
frantically back and forth, now, be
tween the wreck and the creek, soak
ing the blankets and doing our leve
best to beat the fire back and keep
from cutting off the only way Their
was for the boss to climb out. But w,
could only fight gaspingly on the sur
face of things, as you might say. Dow
underneath, the fire was workin;
around in front and behind in spite o
all we could do Some of it had go
to the coal, and the heavy sulphurou
smoke was oozing up to make US al
choke and strangle.
Honestly, you couldn't have toll
that the boss was a white man whel
he crawled up out of that pit of death
Juggling and lifting the crushed an'
broken body of the mailman, and max
ing us take it out before he woul'
come out himself. We got them bot
away from the fire as quickly as w
, could and around to the other side o
; things, Kirgan and Jones carrying
Collingwood.
. The poor little lady we had lef
| alone with the rescued ones had don
, all she could, and she was waitin