Evening star., 1933-05-11
Boys Who Averted Disaster
Linked With Ancient Fiction

Confirming the truthful nature Of
the most extravagant writer's Of juve.
nile fiction Of all time, the success Of
several young wards of the Passaic Or
phan Asylum, who tagged a train un-
der difficulties, are nominated by the
public for the common hall Of fame
The six boys, with ages ranging from
II to IA, observed a washout on the
line of the Erie Railroad, knew that q
train carrying several hundred COM
mUters was headed for disaster, rushed
down the track with their raiucoats for
signals. and stopped the engine within
short distance Of the danger point.
Lucky orphans, and pluck, tool" ex-
claims the Cleveland Plain Dealer. May
many more Of life's dreams tumble over
each other to come true" That paper
also remarks: There are certain disad-
vantages In spending ones boyhood in
an orphanage, but there is hardly boy
in America who would not gladly swap
places with any of the six. Their ex-
plot assays virtually 100 per cent Ho-
ratio Alger. The only thing missing 80
far Is the distinguished future which
always awaited an Alger hero. These
six young men are not yet railroad pres
idents. But who wants to be a railroad
president these days when the Recon-
struction Finance Corporation may scale
500, 900 salaries down to $17,500? The
six win one reward which even the
story book heroes were denied, Each of
them has a base ball autographed by
Babe Ruth"
Now that they have tasted the glory"
says the Jersey City Journal, 1T Is to
be hoped the rewards that come to
them will serve to make them valued
and happy citizens Of the land they
have served 50 early In their lives" The
Journal comments further: "They have
achieved q feat which has probably
been the dream wish Of most Of the
male citizens Of this land. For what
boy has not pictured himself as rush
ing down the track waving a flaming
torch or hastily doffed coat and saving
the limited from plunging from . burn
ing bridge or into an obstruction reared
by desperate train robbers? At a certain
age, naturally, the one and only had to
be aboard the train to reward the hero
suitably, but the mere saving of train
from destruction and the consequent
acclaim by passengers and train crew
was a dream generally in the mind OF
every Schoolboy. Some may believe
that the chance that came to these
orphan boys to achieve fame and glory
in such q spectacular manner was a
case of pure luck, but the more thought
full will realize that the boys won ac-
claim through ability to make deci-
sion quickly and to act upon IT,"
THE boys" explains the Philadelphia
Evening Bulletin, had seen the en-
bankment, struck by the flood of a
cloudburst, carried away for q distance
Of 20 yards and they knew the express
was pounding down the line in the
storm. They ran through the downpour
for quarter mile and stopped the ex-
press carrying 500 passengers. When
the train came to q halt the washout
was but so feet away. A curve around
which 1t travels at high speed cut OF
an early view of the danger and but for
the boys who did the heroic thing boys
dream Of doing, there would have been
wreck. It required the combined
waving Of raincoats by the six to i'm
press the engineman, and the method
| Of their deed proves these orphans not
| only real heroes, but lads able to think
fast enough and smart enough TO do q
| good deed when they have q chance"
They must have been the envy Of all
red-blooded youngsters. They were
heroes In q jiny," declares the New
York Herald Tribune, reviewing the de-
tails Of the incident with the statement:
1.-THE engineer thought fast, too. The
train stopped with q jolt, and 500 pas
sengers were safe. The whole thing