Show T- T J j ADVENTURERS ADVENTURERS' CLUB HEADLINES FROM THE LIVES OF PEOPLE LIKE YOURSELF Leap for lor Life Lile By FLOYD GIBBONS Famous Headline Deadline Hunter ELLO EVERYBODY HELLO Well sir we all know that firemen run into lots of adv n- n tures That's all an part of a firemans fireman's job When the gong starts tapping out a signal well signal well there's theres darned well likely to be an adventure at the end of the trip trip for for somebody And ten chances to one that adventure falls to the lot of some smoke-eater smoke who goes in with a hose and stays there long after alter everyone else is out ont But today od y Im I'm telling you a firemans fireman's story of an adventure that didn't happen at a fire William McQueen of Valley Stream Long Island is the lad this adventure adventure adventure ad ad- venture happened to Up to a certain point this story is just like any other firemans fireman's adventure yarn It started in with the usual alarm and the truck rolling out to respond to it But as a rule the truck gets to the fire before the adv adventure starts In Bill McQueens McQueen's case Old Lady Adventure Adventure Adventure Ad Ad- venture swung her haymaker a few minutes earlier than is her custom and Bill had his adventure on the way to the blaze Bill is a member of the volunteer fire department out in Valle Valley Stream Ills His dad is also a member of th the same outfit outfit outfit- and the way things turned out that is a lucky break for Bill They are arc both attached to the Engine Company Number 2 and the date of Bills Bill's adventure ad is one he doesn't think hell he'll ever forget It was December 29 1931 The alarm came from somewhere out on the north side of the town The men of Company 2 began a scramble for the fire house In no time at all twenty men had gathered and the truck rolled out of the engine house bouse with all of them aboard It Happened on a Busy Highway The truck ran down the street and made a turn It was necessary for lor them to go through a side street in order to reach the neighborhood of t the fire And half haU way down the side street they had to cross Merrick Merrick Merrick Mer Mer- rick road a main traffic artery that ran through the town and one of the busiest highways on Long Island The truck plunged on down that street with its siren screaming The driver was trying to beat the whole doggone world to that fire But q rte r b T ti s Headfirst Over Oyer the Top of the Car He lie Went Vent no matter how hard bard a fellow tries there always comes a n time when he has to fail and this was one of those times Truck Number 2 didn't beat anybody to that fire on that December day As a matter of fact it didn't get there at nt all The truck was approaching Merrick road and the driver began slowing slowing slowing slow slow- ing down He had to make a left hand turn on Merrick and he began throttling down his motor so he could make it on all four wheels The engine came to the intersection And it was at this point says Bill McQueen that I got my first glimpse of the thing that was likely to be the cause of my death Down Merrick road about a hundred feet to the left was a railroad crossing and beyond that was a speeding car hurtling along toward vard the fire truck at a speed of forty or fifty miles an hour Bill got a quick glance at that car and it didn't take him any time at atall atall atall all to figure out that that car couldn't possibly stop in time to avoid hitting the truck It was just a question of where it hit the truck truck and and Bill had his qualms about that too How lIow Bill Figured His Jump Bill was standing on the running board on the left side of the truck Next to him was a large battery box and behind him between the battery battery battery bat bat- tery box and the large rubber suction hose that is carried on all fire engines engin engines en en- gin gines stood Bills Bill's dad Bill gauged the s speed ed with which the two vehicles vehicles vehicles ve ve- were going with another lightning glance and as he did he came to another terrifying conclusion As near noar as he could figure out that oncoming car was going to hit the truck just about at the spot where be he was standing I IThe The human mind works with the speed of lightning and it didn't take Bill more than a couple of seconds at most to come to that conclusion conclusion conclusion con con- I but that speeding car was moving almost as fast as a mans man's mind can think and a hundred feet or so is no great grent distance The Thc car was Vias almost on top of him now and there was neither the time nor the opportunity to get off that running board and out of the way And it was then that Bills Bill's mind did some more fast and furious thinking There I r was he says directly in the path of certain death I jump off the truck and take my chances on being able to dodge that car or stay where I was and trust to luck that I might come out alive Either way I couldn't see myself having much of a chance But there was Vias a third course of action I could take It was more daring than the other two but I decided to try it Dads Dad's Shove Helped a LotAs LotAs LotAs Lot As the car ear roared onward I braced myself on the running board and began timing the speed of its approach When it was about three feet away I leaped reaped for my life Straight ahead Bill jumped right jumped right over the top of the car As he took ok of off into the air he felt a violent shove His dad had reached out with his hand to give him a little extra impetus Head first over the top of that car he went L and Bill had reason then to thank his lucky star that cars m in this day are built low and close to the ground For he just did clear It Behind him he heard the crash as he tumbled over the car and landed in the road on the other side He picked himself up dazed and with a bruised knee but otherwise unhurt and md looked back at nt the ruins of the fire truck The part where he had been standing was smashed to bits When I 1 looked at that mass of twisted and bent metal Bill says II I I couldn't help thinking what would have happened to me if Id I'd remained there O p Service |