Show oiw adventurers club juggernaut 0 ernaut on tracks by FLOYD GIBBONS famous headline hunter ASK A SK a cop the first thing we all think of 0 when we L i X want to know something about the town well if its the towns adventure that youre interested in you cant go wrong the cops know about all the excitement that goes on and ten c chances to one the cop you ask will have been in it himself 1 the boys that get the thrills and so were asking a cop today joe lovett of brooklyn N Y joe the biggest adventure you ever had in your life 1 I was attached to the old precinct at lawrence avenue brooklyn joe begins 1 I was a patrolman doing a tour of duty from 4 p m to 12 midnight on may 21 1924 and off we go on as firring tir ring a tale of adventure and danger and heroism as any cop ever had in his life in brooklyn or anywhere it was about seven in the evening and still daylight joe had been sent by his lieutenant to deliver a message and he was on his way back to his post to report that it had been delivered the message had taken him quite a distance he had gone out on a trolley car and on a trolley car he was going back he boarded a church avenue car bound east toward fort hamilton parkway and took his place on the front platform beside the motorman I 1 dont know whether or not it was a department rule that policemen riding on trolley cars while on duty had to ride beside the motorman if it was well it turned out to be a darned smart rule in this instance for it saved a life even if it did come close to costing joe his own the car rolled along down thirty ninth street it had gone about feet past the intersection of fort hamilton parkway when suddenly a small child a little girl about three years old toddled off the sidewalk into the street and STRAIGHT TOWARD THE TRACKS motorman lost his head the car was about fifty feet away but it was moving fast joe looked at the motorman expecting to see him throw on his brakes but the motorman move he even throw off the power suddenly it occurred to joe that the fellow had lost his head and capable of doing anything at all the little girl toddled to th thi i tracks and stopped right in the middle of them by that time the car was no more than eig eight it feet away and tc IV 41 ile he P pushed her off the tracks to safety still going at its original speed too late to try to stop it now its own momentum would carry it right over the babas body it looked like sure death for the poor kid at that instant joe lovett started moving the car was one of the old fashioned kind with an open front platform joe leaped for the side of the car grabbed hold of an iron upright at the right of the motor man and then getting a good purchase with his foot on the right hand step flung himself forward his hurtling body got there in time to save the child with a shove of one arm he pushed it off the tracks to safety but he have iiii tim timi i to get out of the way himself car was bearing down on him As a matter of fact joe even have time to THINK about it no sooner had he pushed the child out of the way than he felt something hit him a smashing blow on the back that dazed him for just the smallest fraction of a second when next he got his bearings he was lying in the roadway halfway half way down the side of the car one leg lay sprawled across the track and the car was still in motion ten feet away the rear wheel was bearing down on it certain to cut it off if he move it in a hurry joe started to move that leg and then the awful truth dawned on him he was still half dazed by that first bump the car had given himi he could see he be could feel BUT HE MOVE he was doomed to lie there in the street and watch his leg being severed from his body i lie he tried again to move almost but not quite fear sent the blood racing through his bis body and that cleared the cobwebs from his brain joe thinks providence had bad something to dewith do with it too and maybe hes right anyway that grinding wheel a scant six inches from him he suddenly regained the power of motion with a frenzied heave he lifted his leg ie off the track just as the rear truck rolled up to and over the spot where it had lain girl was safe but joe suffered joe was still dazed and badly shaken up when he rose painfully to his feet the little girl fanny anny cecere of brooklyn was safe and sound but joe get off that easily A bystander took him to the nor begian hospital and there they treated him for a sprained back a sprained thumb and lacerations of the face knees and hands joe was on sick leave for a week after that before he was again able to resume his duties the records of the new york police department will show you that on february joe was called before the honor board and awarded honorable mention the second highest distinction the department can confer for valorous conduct in having saved a life at great risk of his big own but joe says that was only the third biggest thrill he got out of the incident the first of course was seeing his leg safe and unhurt as the car wheels went rumbling by and the second was being able to save that baby from those same wheels and finding her unhurt afterward C service |