HEROIC TELEPHONE GIRL.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXVIII, Issue 7957, 7 February 1906, Page 7

HEROIC TELEPHONE GIRL.

Once again a woman has proved ber courage in sudden emergency and peril. Miss Hattie Cheeseman, telephone operator at Haeorstown, Indiana, ia the horoino this time. While a gang of ton bold and daring robbers were breaking into the First National Batik buildiug at Hagerstowu, Miss Oboesemau seated at the telephone excbi&ge ia her room, immediately above the bank, pluckilv stuck to her post while seven explosioua of nitro-alyceriao shook the floor beneath her foet. She was the first to give the alarm. If her efforts had been rewarded the robber gang would never have escaped with nearly a thousand pounds. As it was, bar conduct was so admirable as to win the praise of the entire community. Not for a single moment wore her thoughts turned towards herself. She wa9 thinking only of the safety of others and of the disaster that would follow the looting of the safe in the bank below. She was thinking of the people that would be made penniless if the burglars succeeded. As these thoughts passed through ber mind the plucky girl made heroic efforts to arouse the slumbering oitizens'and spread the alarm. It was shortly before 1 o'clock that Miss Cheeseman, all alone, was seated at the telephone switchboard. Suddenly she was startled by hearing strange voices below. Investigating, she discovered that robbers were at work in the bank. Whispers and, the noise of breaking glass greeted her ears presenting a fine opportunity for her to faint or go into hysterics. But she did neither. Although the dread and anxiety which she felt beggars description, ehe coolly and calmly went back to ber switchboard and began to call up the local subscribers. Her conversation ran something like this: "Hello, it this Mr B?" "Yes." ''The bank is being robbed by about a dozen armed men. lam calling np all the subscribers. They do not anow that the alarm is being spread, and you can catch them if you harry." With that Miss Cheeseman would disconnect Mr B. and immediately call up another subscriber. Her duty accomplished, the brave girl, almost in a frenzy, peered through the office windows, and breathlessly listened at the cracks in the door to ascertain if the citizens were doming to the rescue. Just as breathlessly she waited to bear the welcome sound of tiring in the street, the signil that the citizens of the sleeping village had rallied to the support of their property. But no sound indicated that her warning had been heeded or her ex- " hortation obeyed. How long she waited Miss Cheeseman does not know. Minutes dragged slowly under such suspense as she was waiting. It was but a few moments later that she felt the floor beneath her feet shake, and then a roai like thunder bu,ras upon- the midnight air. The first charge of bad been fired. Then for a moment all was still. She still remained at ber post, hoping that the citizens whom she bad awakened would come to the rescue. In another moment a second explosion followed. This was stronger than the first, and seemed even to abase', the building from its foundations. Evidently the safe was proving stubborn. But more nitroglycerine was used and more explosions followed, nntil a total of seven bad torn a rath into the inner vault where the money was storeJ. The citizens did not beed ber warning, however, and the robbers were successful in their work. Al- , thuagh some of those whom she notified did hurriedly dress and come into town, they were too frightened to get. together and put up a desperate fight. Besides, they evidently thought that the issue of ai assault on desperate and well-armed robbers would be exceedingly doubtful. After looting the safe the robbers made good their escape, carrying with them more than a thousand pounds of the people's hard-earned money—which could have been saved for them if every one in the little town had displayed the bravery and dauntless courage that Miss Cheeseman did. Even after the escape had been made and before* Miss Cheeseman ba been relieved from her perilous «nd nerve-racking duty to her telephone company, she had succeeded in calling up other towns in the neighbourhood, notifying the offices at these places of the bold robbery at Hagerstown and telling them to be on the look-out for the bandits.