RAILWAY DISASTERS NARROWLY AVERTED.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 215, 16 October 1909, Page 3

RAILWAY DISASTERS NARROWLY AVERTED.

TATTERED HEROES WHO HAVE SAVED TRAINS. lie may deserve all the "ilium cast i upon him* by rca-uii 01 the siuMe.-.s, idle < lite he leads, but there have been limes when (lie tramp lias proved himself a ; man and a hero "for a' that" (says a Houic paper). A hlun't time ago a \\cslcountry excursion train might have been derailed and probably wrecked had not a tramp, who came across a couple ..I teioraph-poles lvinjj across the linesblown down by the storm—ran for three-quarters, of a mile to tne nearest signal-box and given the warning. Two minutes later an excursion tram would have dashed into the obstruction. Similar promptitude and presencc_ of mind on the part of a "Weary Willie, who was resting on a railway embankment in May last year, enabled aim to .-ave a mail' train from probable disao ler. Glancing idly down the line, c suddenly nolieed that the heavy rains i had washed a large quantity or carta jonto a portion of ihe lines—quite sufficient to derail the express, which he noticed was already signalled. IJmckly I siripping oil' his tattered coat, he rushed Idowu tie line toward* the oncoming I train, frantically waving his coat abo..; i his head. Uae express came dashing o.> ! the driver not noticing the tramp, owing I lo a curve in the line, until the tram ' «as almost on top of Him. Luckily he saw uim just as the, tramp sprang fivm the track to escape being Killed, and tin:; train was brought to a standstill withm a short distance of the obstruction. "SPRINGFIELD .MIKE." It was in the same month, as reporViS in an American paper,, that a crowded express train on tlie Newhaveii Railway was saved from disaster by a tramp, who, walking along the track, sudden.y discovered that several feet of rail had either been cut or broken. Almost at iLc. same moment he heard the whistle of an engine. It was an express excursion, and, running on towards the curve, lie saw the train only a short distance, oil'. I'lilling out hie red bandanna, he r.i-lied forward, waving it above his ii.-ad an.l shouting with all tile strength of his lungs, 'the driver saw hiin and aopwd ihe train, which in a few seconls more have plunged down the embankment. "Needles to say, the passengers, when I .Uev realised how' near they had been to eath, showered thanks and rewards on

ae tramp, who gave his name as. { Springfield Mike." The driver wished ... take him i.o the trrmmus, m order hat he might he further rewarded bj i iie company, but Mike would have nono ■if it. "Kenan!," lie fried; ' wllj, I owe the railway lor a good many rides, and I guess this makes it square." THE WRECKERS FOILED. ■Five years ago, almost to the day, a dastardiv aueuipt was made to wreck me Bosfoe. express by tutting a portion of the rail at night-time and laying it across liie. track. A lialf-sUricd tram;) named Bioby, who was walking along Jic Hack i" the next town, sunn'obil .iver c«e instruction. Feeling rutin t aim, he n> horrified to had a gap u. Jh rails, rind in a Hash he recognised .a work of wreckers. in spile of weakness and fatigue, he m.-lied aluiig the track and managed t" reach the next station, half a mile away, jU6t as the express was approaching til-' station. Rushing into the night operator's box, Bibby shouted, "Stop the train; there's a-going to be a wreck if you don't!" The operator immediate,y sprang for a red lantern, rushed out on to the" track, and gave the signal just in lime. When the important part the tramp had played in saving the tram became known'to the passengers they c-ontribiit-d enough money to keep bun irom starving for months, and ultimate' ly the company provided him with a job for life. NEVER FOUND THE HERO.

It was in the same year that a tattered old tramp, walking along the traok on his way to Watorbnry, Connecticut, came upon a washout. The water-mnui supplying the. city of Waternary na;l burst", and the rushing water had cut a bole through fifty feet of the roadbed. He had no sooner made l lie discovery

than he heard the whistle of a locomotive far away round the curve, fusing oil' his ragged c6at, he dashed up the track in the diriftibn of the sound. Reaching the curve, he came face to face with the train, which was running at high speed. Standing between tho rails, he waved his coat frantically above his "head, anil jumped aside ju-t in time to escape the wheels of the <■■: gme. The train shot by him wita .i loar. and he believed his warning na<, not been seen, and'that it wan rushing on to 'disaster.

But the engineer had seen him, and tlic next moment the lorce of the airbrakes threw the passengers from their seats. As soon as ne «nw the train was sate, tlm old tramp turut'd and disappeared into the woods; and though the railway company made a vigorous search" for him they Were unable to trace the vagrant who was the hero vf tnat dav. ONLY WANTED A DRINK.

A disappointing tramp hero was fie one who saved a train from certain disaster in August, VMS, on the Cincinnati, Hamilton, and Day ton Kailroai. ;'As in the previous instance, several yards of the track had been swept away in a washout, and when the tramp, who rushed along the track ami warned the driver bv waving his eoat above his head, wa*s asked by the grateful pa* sengers for his name ohd address, Hi order that he might be further rewarded, after they had raised a purse of more than a hundred dollars for him, lie replied, ".My address is the United Stal.-s, and it ain't never been more definite, find T guess it never will he so long as whisky's sold in more than one place. I've got money enough now to keep me alive for six'months, at live cents a drink, and I guess you've done yo>.i duty by me. But the nearest saloon's at Hamilton, and that's a long wayfoa man who's been dry since morning. Give me a ride to Hamilton and we')? cry quits." And to Hamilton he went, and when the passengers last saw this tattered hero he was rushing into a saloon, where he entertained crowds of loiterers with the story of hofc he saved the Train, ana then treated them to drinks.