Show Tri Triple Thrill HELLO EVERYBODY 1 1 This column has passed out a lot of free advice at atone atone atone one time or another It seems that everybody who ever has an adventure learns something from it that he wants to pass along to the rest of the world and this seems to be bethe bethe bethe the clearing house for that kind of information Ive I've issued warnings about everything from jumping off story 40 buildings buildings buildings build build- ings to getting friendly with the mother-in-law mother of a man- man eating tiger Today Ive I've got another warning for you I dont don't know if you'll ev ever r have occasion to use it but Ill I'll pass it along for what its it's worth If youre you're ever motoring to Niagara Falls FaHs at night dont don't go by the River road That comes from Jim McDermott McDermot of New York City Some of y you u fellows who have been to that address before may recognize e it as the Mens Men's Night Court Well that's where you'll find Jim Hes He's the fingerprint expert there But in 1926 Jim was a member of the Immigration Border Patrol stationed at Tonawanda N. N Y half way between Niagara Falls and Buffalo That's how he found out about River road River rO road ld was dangerous because of ot the way cars sped along it at night But speeding cars weren't the only danger folks said i lid It was the duty of Jim and another lad lad Roscoe Roscoe Doane to Doane-to to patrol that road in a aC C car lr Their duty was to prevent the smuggling of ot aliens and of ot contraband contraband contra contra- band goods the principal contraband in that repeal pre day being liquor Before I took the job says Jim people advised me against it They cl claimed limed the Ute bootleggers were desperate and would shoot on sight I found this to be untrue But I did face death In three violent forms I in about as many minutes on one particular night of ot my service I They Started Out in j a Small Roadster That night came In la the spring of 1926 Jim and Roscoe started out In a small roadster with the top down Roscoe was driving for Jim at that time tune didn't know how to operate a car FL Fix's s 's Ferry was their starting point They hung around there until about 1115 and then started to drive toward Tonawanda They had gone about two miles when they came to a point where the rO road ld narrowed down and the Erie canal ran alongside it for a distance An auto with gl glaring he headlights was approaching It W was lS J Their car seemed to soar in the road for a moment or two coming corning straight down the center of the road and it was coming plenty fast Jim yelled to Roscoe Give this fellow all the room you can or hell he'll hit us Roscoe W was lS already turning over on the grass at the side of the road But the headlights C came rushing on Then Then BANG BANG The car hit them Says Jim Our car seemed to soar in the air for a moment or two As we were hit Roscoe jumped to get out and landed In my lap The left front wheel of the big sedan had caught our front wheel It lifted our light car completely off the road and swung it around At the same time it turned over and landed bottom up diagonally across the narrow narrow nar nan row roadway Jim S says lYS that during the brief moment while they were turning over just one question presented itself to his mind That was Will I Ibe Ibe be de dead ld when we hit But down there trapped under the overturned car Jim found to his surprise that he wasn't dead The V Weight eight of the Car Seemed to Increase Momentarily l Roscoe was on top of me he says sas with his back on my face and he lie heas was as doing some struggling I couldn't move My shoulders and the back of my neck were on the road and I 1 was still on the scat seat albeit upside down My back ached and the weight of the car crushing down on me was increasing mo mo- He was in in th that lt position when suddenly he heard Roscoe let out an oath Heres a guy doing 50 and no lights he cried Hell hit us sure as hell Jim couldn't see a thing but it was true he knew Their car was lying right across the road A man going at th that lt speed with no lights could hardly help but hit them Says Jim For lor the second time I thought the end had bad come I could see sec only a few feet ahead through the wreckage but I could hear the roar of the approaching car I gritted my teeth and struggled to get out but I couldn't move Roscoe was making making mak mak- ing Lag my position more uncomfortable every second I shouted out Where Is he At the same time I heard the roar of the motor diminish and Roscoe yelled back Hes gone Two narrow escapes And a third still to come As the night grew quiet again Jim discovered that their he headlights were still burning and the motor was still running Suddenly He Felt Something Drip Down on His Face And then suddenly he felt something drip down on his face My first thought was that It was blood he says but that couldn't be This fluid was cold I struggled to get my hand to tomy tomy tomy my face but before I got it there I knew V It was gasoline It was coming from the tank just outside the dashboard over the engine I had faced death twice before before and and now I was facing it again in a more dreadful form Our engine was still running At any moment the car might burst Into flames It didn't occur to Jim to shut of off the switch He didn't know how bow to drive a car Momentarily he expected an ln explosion explosion fire fire agony and death And then all at once he heard voices So Someone eone was saying All on this side now The car W was lS' lS lifted lilted of off them and half halfa a dozen men were pulling him out A bunch of army officers returning from Buffalo to Fort Niagara had come along and found ou d them The car that hit them had run through a ditch and crashed into a tree It contained a suitcase full of counterfeit liquor lab labels cis but the driver was gone He lie had walked down the road and t telephoned tele ide- le- le phoned ahead for help The second car had just managed to get by them because a farmers farmer's wife who had seen the crash ran to the road with a lantern That second car got by with barely two inches to spare But it didn't stop Cars without lights along that road never did Jim was was laid up three weeks with a wrenched back but Roscoe Doane got of oft off with a few bruises But even so Jim doesn't think its it's particularly s safe at night on that River road Released by Western Newspaper Union |