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Show ADVENTURERS' CLUB f A V HEADLINES FROM THE LIVES OF PEOPLE LIKE YOURSELFI SgJ P.'z "The Closest Call" By FLOYD GIBBONS Famous Headline Hunter HELLO, everybody: Well, sir, for a long time rve bee -' warning young fellows to stay off of side door Pullmans ; I've seen so many adventure yarns about lads who havj come to grief beating their way on freight trains that I'ri A pretty well convinced it's a dangerous pastime. But here' ''"r-: a lad I can't very well warn to stop riding freight trains. 5 '' In the first place, that was his Job. In the second place, le's -A-formed and isn't working on the railroad any more. And in'the th""'-': place, he knows all about the hazards of railroading. He probably ' a doggone sight more about it than I do. Wl ; A If those aren't enough reasons, I could probably think up !om -' ' more. But here comes today's distinguished adventurer Edwin F E k -' " -dahl, of Young, Saskatchewan, Canada another fellow who has'com '' C a long, long way to join our club. And here's the story: '' " Ed started railroad work in the early part of the century A' braking on the Pennsylvania. His run was out of Logansport' Ind., and those were the days when the men had to contend with '- the old style link-and-pin drawbar and when air brakes were few A and far between. There might be a few air-braked cars on every train, but most freights consisted principally of "jacks" or hand- """ braked cars. Ed says every brakeman tried to get a few air-braked cars up al ' ' the head of the train, where they'd help a lot in holding back the othei cars, but some of the old die-hard conductors wouldn't allow that "Therj are brakes on top," they used to say, "and the brakeman Is getting pajj Al-for Al-for braking them. Let him work for his money." It was one of thosi ' "' conductors that Ed was working for and it came near costing him " his life. c Proving That It Pays to Be Careful. A It was one day early In 1906 that that happened. Ed's train pullej r " out of Chicago about 10:30 on a cold winter night with a light train d meat and merchandise. "We had a nice string of air-braked cars," hj says, "but they were behind about ten or twelve 'jacks' and the' con. ductor said "nothing doing' when the rear-end man and I wanted to switch them. It had rained in Chicago and the tops of the cars were " -covered with a coating of thin ice, and my first job was to go over the tops - - His feet shot out from under him. and chip that ice from the running boards on the ten or twelve cars I was to use for braking." Ed had ice clips on his shoes to keep him from slipping. They : were pretty dull, but he thought they'd last him one more trip. He worked his way alonj until he was about ten cars back of the engine and then, near the I. C. crossing at Rivcrdale, the train hit a slight curve. Ed was unprepared for it. He lost his bal-ance bal-ance and was forced to step off the flat running board onto the sloping, ice-covered top of the car. : The instant he did his feet shot out from under him. Ee startel ' "' sliding oft the top. "I was cn my back." he says, "but when my legs were ". '- over the side I managed to turn over cn my stomach and, as luck would : r-have r-have it, a nail that had worked up from a board in the car top caught in -: my coat. I was so far over the side that there was more of rr.e in the open than on the roof. I was just able to keep part cf my chest ar.d arms cn . : the car. And there I hung. -. : There Wasn't Any Prospect of Aid. "I knew If I slid cfl I wouldn't have much cf a chance. A'.l I could do was hang on and get back on top if that was possible. It was cc'.d . .. weather and the position I was in was tiring me out. The longer I- I.. stayed there the worse it would be." Ed knew he couldn't look for any help. .The engineer would think he was in the caboose and the conductor would think he was In the engine. His lantern had shattered and gone over the side when he fell and lie couldn't signal with that. He tried pulling himself forward with the flat of his hands against the car top, but they slipped on the smooth ice. "I tell you it kept me busy," he says. "I didn't know how long that ; nail would hold me, or how long the cloth cf my coat would stand the - '; strain. But believe me, I stuck tight with all the strength I had." Ed Rims Into Unexpected Difficulties. But now Ed noticed something that was working in his favor. The heat of his palms as they pressed against the top of the car was meliir-g the thin coating of ice. In one spot his hands were beginning to take hold. He began to move his palms forward to molt the ice up ahead. It was a long, slow process. "By wriggling my body as a sr.a! . would," he says, "I was able to bring it forward's little. I had to melt .' quite a bit of Ice to got myself in a fairly safe position and even then the wind and the swaying of tine car threatened to throw me c:T at n-v' - ..' minute. And then I ran into another obstruction." It was that nail which had caught In his clothing. In the bf-gliining bf-gliining It saved his life. Now it was holding him back, keeping him from moving any farther forward. Ild didn't dare move ' hand to free It. And there he was, fastened to the car, nnaMf to move any farther and not knowing when a low spot or curve ' In the track would shake him ofT. He began to get a bit panic stricken then. He clawed at the top of the car with futile hands. And suddenly his groping palms struck on another nail worked up out of the boards like the first one. ' "I caught hold of it by a thumb and finger." Ed says, "and only t1'1-" did I dare to move the other hand down and loosen the nail that w. caught in my coat. I wriggled back on the top and when I reached the running board I was covered with sweat and my hands and face full of slivers. All I did was lie Hat on my face and pant" Tho train was pulling Into a station and the engineer whistled for brakes, but I'.d didn't move. "Of course tho train ran rsl 11,0 station," Mil says, "and I was In line for n bawling out. Put v,un I told tho Migiiu-er what had happened he had to iuale his excuses for not seeing my lantern disappear. I've had lots l,t close calls In railroading, but that was the closest one." e-WNU Si-rvl.-. |
