The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1921-07-28

I sfstrs ssd th~ crsekifar q the saz-s.
scTsar1inE and bszE1g % 70 break IN
The ste q The CIR ard XII hirz be-
fore fhe FIRE got % hin- Kirrsn had
| fOgnd an AZ In the s1osrE-1cy box %
Cur e&y-coaeh. aas vas chCyying zEAy
| Ike e zzdnaan-
Tie minute be got hoie zig e,o-zh.
tie tlz nszs.sg-loeck2nie droppec his
az AID ciir1b~1 cOEn fato the eAok-
Ing bell where the screams EsTe coD-
Ing from Oar fireman pleked - TIE
az tad ran srognd 70 TIE other tcs
q the wreck where Joosz. the sn-
glneer q the specisi. and bis fireman
were tryinx 10 break iato TIE crushed
cab % the s16.
The Cd msJoy. the boss. sne stood
by 20 help KirEzn, snd the niauis
his had cane ~ throgzh the chopped
hoie ne saw that be nee-Jed hcip. he
had pried the screaming man Iooee.
s011eh0E. and vas tryinz % drag hirr
~ cut % the smoking furnace. Il vas
c0ne. amOagst "a. some wsy o. other.
Kirrsn had wrapped the man % Ia
Pullman blanket 70 keep the IRE from
getting a. him any worse than ii- sl-
ready had. and a. We were taking him
out the blanket slipped aside from his
face and ! saw WTiO Il was that the
H1sstgr-mechanlc had risEed his life
for. II was Hatch. himself. and he
died IN our arms. the majors and
mine. while We were carrying him out
10 whore Mrs Sheila was tearing one
Of the Pullman sheets that had got
hold 81 Into strips 20 make bsndBges
for the wounded.
With the chance OF saving maybe
another one or two. We couldn't stay 10
help the brave little woman who was
trying 70 be doctor and nurse to half
a dozen poor wTetches al once. But
she took time TO ask me one single
breathless question:
Have they found him yetf-you
know the one mean. Jimnief
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 az from our fireman, had
managed 10 cut some OF the car tim
bers out Of the way 80 that we could
see down into the tangle Of things
where the cab Of the 4lB ought 20 have
been. There wasn't much left Of the
cab. The water-gauge was broken,
along with everything lelse, but in
/ spite ~ 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 at
the impact OF the collision we could
make out the other man-the murder
manlnc--iying on his back, black In
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 Klrgan 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 encroachlng fire and smother
the stenm-jets.
couldn't see very well what the
boss was doing. the smoke and steam
were so binding. But when did get
a glimpse | saw that he was digging
frnntically with his bare hands at the
shifted coal, and that he had sue
ceeded In freeing the head and shoul-
ders OF the buried man, who was still
alive enough to choke and gasp In the
furnace-llke heat.
Kirgnn stood II as long as he could
until the licking flames were about TO
drive us all away.
you'll be burnt nlive--cOme up out
OF thatl" he yelled 20 the boss; but
knew II wouldn't do any good. With
Colllngwood stlll buried down there
and still with the breath OF life In
him, the boss was going 10 stny and
keep on trying to dig him out, even II
he, himself. got burned to n crisp do
ing II. Loving Mrs. Sheila the way he
did, he couldn't do any less.
II was awful, those next two or
three minutes. We were all running
frantcally back and forth, now. be-
tween the wreck and the creek, soak
ing the blankets and doing our level
best to beat the fire back and keep Il
from cutting OF the only way there
was for the boss TO climb out. But we
could only fight gaspingly on the sur
face OF things, as you might say. Down
underneath, the fire was working
around In front and behind In spite of
all we could do. Some OF It sad got
to the coal, and the heavy sulphurous
smoke was oozing up 10 make US all
choke and strangle.
Honestly, you couldn't have told
that the boss was a white man when
he crawled up out OF that pit of death,
Juggling and lifting the crushed and
broken body OF the mailman, and max
Ing us take II out before he would
come out himself. We got them both
away from the fire as quickly as we