Cleveland County herald., 1921-04-07
SUlMS 6OO FEET
 TO WARN TRAIN
Section Foreman Braves Raging Icy Waters to Save 15Q
 Passengers.
SOUTH DAKOTA FLOOD HERO
After Setting the Danger Signals Foreman Remembers His NegIigee and Swims Back Across 600
 Feet of SWirIing Current.

Omaha.-1n the recent South Da- kota floods John Williams, a section foreman, swan swoAen creek at night in hailstorm to warn pas senger train that bridge had gone out. He stripped himself and tied the danger signals to his back. After he had set them he approached a nearby house. then remembered his negligee and swan back across the GOO feet of swirling current.
 The passenger train, 1t developed later. was stopped farther up the road at point where the railroad men had little hope of halting it. Williams her ofsm, however, was not overlooked by the railroad officials.
 The bridge was the Burlington's over Hat creek. near Ardmore, S. D. The Hat creek flood tied up traffic for eight days and cost seven lives and did $500,0O0 damage to the one road
 Several days after the food the sec ton foreman was looked up by news paper man from the city. He found him directing gang or laborers re- pairing the washout.
 Williams related how 1t had been raining through the previous week and the April blizzard had left the ground soaked, so that when the last storm came on 1t ran off as if from a ducks back "and old Hat creek start d on a rampage"
 Decided to Swim.
 "l kept watching the new bridge over the creek all afternoon" Will Hams told his visitor, "and the water sept comin' up and comin' up until it reached the ties. Then I got worried for fear that the bridge would go out md went back to town and reported z to the operator. He tOl6 the dis. 1atcher at Alliance about It. The teie- phone and telegraph wires runnn' l vest had all gone down and we couldn't get Edgemont or anyone west l If the creek Jack Welch. the dis l hatcher at Alliance, talked to me over | the railroad phone and asked me if | could get to the west end of the bridge across the creek, and put out red light and some stop signals so as 10 hold the night passenger train, No. 32 which was due at nine o'clock. l told him I'd try, and went back to the bridge.
 "When got there again the water was clear over the top of the bridge, and it looked to me like one of the steel spans had gone out. We tried to phone the government farm on the other side to ask them to go out and put out red light, but their phone was gone and we couldn't reach any body.
 "Weil, l just figgered the chances was probably against me gittin' across, but it was only my life against 15O raSsengeiS 0i and t4TTraS that the train would be running pretty fast when they came up to the bridge, and they might be into it before they saw it, so I walked up the creek half-mile. stripped off my clothes, tied my red lantern, red flag and torpedoes to my back. and swan across.
 Swan Back for clc4h-s.
 "There wasn't so many trees out there, and she was only aln GOO feet wide, but the water was full of hail. stones and cold as h.. Ii was rainin to beat the band and dark as bazes. sure felt good when hit that fence on the other side and drug myself on the bank.o
 How did you get back to Ard moro ?" Williams was asked after he had related how he placed the sig ! nals.
 Well l walked up to the govern nent house. but when 1 got close to the office and saw the bright lights there, l remembered I didn't have no clothes on and l thought I'd make a pretty lookin sight bustin' in on 'em like that so I walked back up the l stream and swum back"