TIIK SUSDAY OREGOXIAZT, rORTXAXD, NOVEMBER 20, 191(X
o
DSWNG
HEUOKS tnl heroines are growing
mora plentiful, or else the hero
searchers of Andrew Carnele are
becoming more successful in search.
This was demonstrated by the great
number of tliem announced by the
Hero CommlMloD to Its mcetlnjj. There
are I nr names on th! Hut. and
mur of the tales of heroism unfolded
are thrilling.
Ktr years hare the, special agents of
jlr Carnegie been traveling from coast
to cat Invent liratlng acts of heroism
an! bravery, but they have never de
veloped a st'rjr which appeal more
strongly to the human feelings than
that of M.ry It. Prosn. a trained nurse
of Washington, D. who was fatally
shot 1 months ago trying to prevent
one of her patients from killing mem
bers of his family. Her patient. In
rraied d.lirlum. wuught the lives of
many, but got only hers. The Carnegie
Hero Commission after an exhaustive
InveetlKation of the case cave -to Agnes
Hrn n. mother of the dead nurse, a sll
ver medal and $30 per month for life.
or until further notice.
M.ss Uroj as attending Martin L,
St.rllng. of l C street. Southwest. In
arhuiKton. while he was suffering
fr.nn tihll fr-ver. Mr. Sterling's case
ws very sever, and Monday evening,
Nrrmbrr 20. lo.. found him delirious,
h m. illy he hnuiio quiet and Miss
llrnmn llucliU lllm IKlfU, Went tO
the kitchen to prepare some food for
hint
'n h.T ay back she met Merlin
w;ih tl.u I clit of madness In hli eye
and a revolver In his hnd. He shot her
as he .iiie on. the ball passing through
her breast and lodging In the muscles
f her back. Sterling then went on
toward the kiUhen a here his family
and members of the household were.
Mlsa Brun. though weak and stunned
from the bullet wound, cried to those
In the kitchen to shut the door, and It
was slammed In the f-M-e of Sterling,
who a as temporarily Insane.
Shut In the room with the madman
and cut off from help, the nurse began
a fight which she felt must be to the
death. Hurling herself on Sterling be
fore he could fully turn from the closed
door she pinioned his arms for an In
stant, but she was no match for the
crazed man. He threw her off and
raise! bis pistol one more. But Mary
Uroan was fighting for her life and.
without evrn a cry for help, she slid
under the pistol arm and renewed the
battle.
Three times she was thrown off. and
three times she closed with the mad
man In the struggle to disarm him.
Finally with her strength fast waning
he managed to get at his back and
grasp' him by the arms.
Inch by Inch she worked her hands
flown his arms toward the l.toL never
relaxing her hold, though the pair
writhed and struggled around the room
many time. She tried to trip him to
the floor but could not. finally aha
got her right hand on bla pistol hand
and grasping bis Index and middle fin
gers twisted them back so that he was
forced to drop the revolver to the floor.
She kicked the revolver some distance
away and then, hurling Sterling from
her. picked it up.
Then she railed to the Than servant
who waa holding the kitchen door ahut
from the other aide, the Sterling fam
ily having fled from the house by a
back door. He came In Just as Sterling
collapsed on the floor. Miss Brown
then went to the phone to summon
help, but while talking she fainted.
8n was taken to the hospital, where
aha seemed In a fair way to recover,
but had a relapse on January 4. and
died on the night of January .
Before death alias Brown stated that
she at all times realised her danger,
but when ahe called for the door to be
closed, leaving her with Mr. Sterling,
she thought only of his little children
In the kitchen and was satisfied that
In his delirium he Intended to shoot
thera down. She was ready to die. she
said, satisfied she had saved the Uvea
of the little ones. Sterling was exon
erated from all blame by the Coroner
Jury.
Five nurses In responsible positions)
In Washington gave It as their opinion
that Mary Brown, who had Juat been
graduated, bad done only what waa 'n
her line of duty, while one thought ahe
had exceeded her duty In grappling
with the madman when ahe could have
escaped after being shot. Washington
physicians also thought the deed of
M mis Brown was one of great heroism.
While the Carnegie Hero Commission
shows ao favoritism. It - soema plain
that It considers the case of Mary
Brown an exceptional one.
see
The Hero Commission has found that
It la one thing to be brave In the full
light of day. but Quite another thing
to go voluntarily Into darkness and
flood to aave life. This fact makes the
case of L Wood Miller, of Taylorsvlll.
Kr. exceptional.
Miller, who Is a Kentucky livery
man. baa been given a silver medal and
11000 to be need In the purchase of a
farm In recognition of his saving John
1C Kggan, Jr.. February 13, 1909. from
drowning.
When thai water of Brashears Creek.
Ky, were at flood height and running
like nilllraf-ee through the streets of
the town. Kggan and other did good
work in helping families to places of
safety. It was about half-past 8 and
the flood-stricken town In durknesa
when Eggan's hone went down In the
flood and be waa swept from the saddle
Into the current- He was carried some
distance before he eausht hold of a
lamp post. Cramp seized his lege) as he
rlung there, with his body In the water,
so with great effort he climbed up the
lamp post, kicking off the useless lamp,
and eat In the crotch at the top.
Eggan's father located him and tried
to reach htm but was swept from his
feet several times and almost lost his
life. Two horsemen were swept from
their mounts trying to reach the lamp
post with a rope, and finally Miller
cam up in the dark nee on his horse
and. hearing that others had failed to
reach Esrgan with thalr mounts, he
slipped from hla hocse and started to
swim to the lamp poet which held
Fsnran.
He waa hurled asralnst a tree after
being carried about lis feet and
climbed into It branches to rest. Here
he tried to take off hi boots, which
were holding hla back while swim
ming, but could not do so. and after a
rest of 1 minutes he again plunxed
into the current and gained a point
within about If feet of Eggan's lamp
post, where he got aatrlde a picket
fence. He managed to pry loos sec
tions of the fence aided by the cur
rent, and finally succeeded In getting
on section to lodge against the lamp
post.
lie then showtad arroo the flood to
Eggaa specific Instructions. He roust
sot loe ha head now or both were
lost. At a gtven word Kggan dropped
from hla pen-b In the darkness on the
tastily constructed raft which floated
road wis on th current. Miller, mean
while clinging to the picket feno with
hla legs, held th raft wrth hi hand
DEEDS
S " S5T Ki
' r - J &mttHg
"DANIEL W. McGOWAN wii dozlne; on a rock when Mrs. McGowait I ' M1'W
r """' 7Tmmmmmmmm ;Ued to hira to r after tb sinking gWl-which he did.- 1
"ISAAC I TWIS. Jr., went down
and swung it off from th lamp post
and then Jumped on himself, balanc
ing It.
The pair floated off on the dark tor
rent, and with a board as a paddle
Miller managed to steer the life raft
against a tree. Into which they both
crawled. They were finally reached
with a rope. Miller' rescue of Ejomn
took one and a quarter hours. The
only light at any time waa mat irgm
the upper window of an abandoned
house.
e
Another hero of unusual tjrp was
Isaac Lewis. Jr, of Cherry. Ill, a liv
eryman who, at the awful Cherry Mine
disaster In last November, did more
than any other two men to rescue min
ers from the burning and smoke
choked mine.
Lewi had one been a miner, but
had not been engaged In that worK
for five years and wss altogether un
familiar with the great Cherry mine.
When this mine was set on fire by
the burning of six bales of hay which
had been sent down for the mules.
Lewis arrived late and went down into
the mine. He eeemed the coolest head
in the lot as he went about calling to
the men and helping them to the enges
by which they mnde their escape to
the ton. He did yeoman service In res
cuing men from the first and second
veins, and then volunteerea to lena a
party to the third or lowest rein. Here
Lewi died with th miner he had
come to rescue.
On several different occasions when
he came to the surface for air he
begged men In the curlou crowd that
gathered about the mouth of th mine
to come with him and help save all
the men before It was too late. About
n men had been rescued when the de
cision waa made to Invade the dan
geroua third vein. The engineer got
his Instructions a to th emergency
cages which were to be used In thi
descent, but something went wrong
and the cage waa permitted to remain
at the bottom for ten minutes before
the engineer hoisted It. and then he
hoisted it without a signal.
On top of the cage were found four
men. Including Lewis all dead. In
side the cage were eight others dead.
It waa evident that Lewi had gotten
th men Inaide th cage, had helped
three to the top of it. and then crawled
up himself, when th whole outfit was
overcome. The bodie were biasing
when the surface was reached.
For his heroic work of rescue Lewi
ha been named a bore, and th Hero
Commission has given hla widow, Mary
Lewis, a 1rver medal and $40 Pr
month during life or until ah remar
ries. Fiv dollars per month 1 also
allowed for each child under 1 year
of ag until that child becomes 1
years of age. Tweive other are given
medals In connection with thi mine
explosion.
s
The first deaf urate to be recognised
by tn commission la Edmund M- Price,
of Lo Aogole, CaU who ha been giv
en a bronxe medal and 11000 to be ap
plied to the purchase of a home, be
cause of his rescue of little Hasel
Owens In Seal Park, Los Angeles. JX
May :. 10".
It was Sunday, and with hi wife,
also a deaf mute, Prlo bad been en
joying an outing. The Owena child,
running away from her parent, ran on
the tracks of the PacUlo Electrlo Com
pany a on of the fast limited inter-
urban car waa approaching at the rat
of ID mile an hour. It waa too near
the child to stop.
Price was ten feet from the trade,
opposite the child, and with the car
not more than 20 feet away the deaf
mute, who Is an athlete, took one long
Jump forward and touching the ground
with both feet firmly propelled him
self In a headlong dive which carried
him over th track with the child. The
car was ao clos that It hit the heel
of Price as he cleared the track a Thos
who saw th cllv could scarcely real
ise that he had not been ground to blta
under th car.
There Is a man at Areata. CaX. who
cannot understand what all th fas Is
about. He la a hero, but won't admit
It certainly he will not accept any
money for such a trifling thing as sav
ing the life of a nice-looking young
lady especially when hla own wife
called on him to do it. This hero Is
Daniel W. MiGo wan. a sturdy butcher
who live by th water of Willow
Creek.
On August 7. 190f. Mis Llssle F.
Flee kens teln. a mallcarrler of that dis
trict, having finished her week' la
bor, donned her bathing suit and
started for a swim In the creek. Mc
Uowan was dosing on a rock by the
stream, while Mrs. McUowan and some
friends were on the bank watching
Mis Fleckensteln and other im
mlng. The mallcarrler was not a con
fident swimmer, and she began to alnk.
Mrs. UcOowan called to her husband
to go after her. and when he opened
his eyes he didn't hesitate a moment,
but plunged in. Miss Fleckensteln
grasped him by the leg. and both went
under together.
McOown waa almost drowned bof ore he
could free himself, and Mia Flecken
OF HEROISM
Stories of. Bravery in Face oDeath That.Brought
Recognition to.theChief
into the mine wttb faaHara."
steln was unconscious. He finally towed
her to where his wife and some other
women took car of her, and he got out
of the water himself wns great diffi
culty. Ho has declared that he will sc
ccpt no mone-y reward for doing whnt
he considers his duty, so the Hero Com
mission voted him a bmnxe modid.
s
Little Justin McCarthy, a Washington,
I. C. schoolboy, will have an education
on which the Carnegie Hero Commission
will expend $2000 or as much of it as
mav be needed. Justin will also have a
bronze hero medal for saving Gladys M. .
Lowd. a schoolgirl of 13. from drowning
August 31. lS'OS. '
McCarthy hnd been enjoying himself
propelling the girl and two boys about
on a plank In a pool of water IB feet
deep when the girl fell off. McCarthy
was ao frightened that lie dropptd the
pole which he might have extended to
the drowning girl, and another boy who
had a pole forpot to extend It. while the
third boy Jumped off the plank and swam
as 1 wire.
Justin, who was 11 Tears of age and
weighed pounds, dived off the plank
to the girl's aid. coming up in front of
her. She at once threw her arms about
him and they sank together. Under the
water Justin manased to break her bold
and they came to the surface. The girl
was able to grasp the plsnk on which
one boy was yet perched In terror and.
boosted by McCarthy from the water she
managed to scramble on and waa poled
to shore. McCarthy Was too exhausted
f to reach shore, and had to be assisted.
The boy snys he wants to te an aram
tect. and his parents have turned over to
the Hero Commission the details of hla
education.
Rare presence of mind was exercised
by John H. Thompson, a railroad fireman
of Ashtabula, O., In rescuing from
drowning his engineer, James Ray. who
weighed Z30 pounds. Their train had gone
Into the Beaver Klver, near Rock Potnt.
I's on the night of March 1. 1910. Born
engineer and firemen managed to Jump
clear of their engine a the wreck went
down, but Thompson's left wrist was
caught and o badly hurt that he could
scarcely swim.
He had almost reached the bank when
he heard a-call for help from Ray who
was not a good swimmer, and who was
badly handicapped by his weight In the
swift nine-mile current. Thompson
turned hack for him. extending his in
jured left wrist, keeping hi good right
In Love With His Work
A $25,000 Expert on Engravings, Eta, Stays With $5500 Job.
"ft
$25,000 man in a $5500 Job," I
the admiring comment of hi
associates In the Treasury Department
upon Joseph E- Ralph, director of th
United State Bureau of Engraving
and Printing. Washington, D C That
this estimate is not an exaggerated
one, but might be demonstrated by
figures, could easily be shown If the
tribute were questioned. In fact. It Is
known, although not so stated by him,
that within a few months Mr. Ralph
has refused th offer of New Tork
capitalists to en tor their employ at
$10,000 a year, say the Washington,
D. C, correspondent of the Boston
Transcript.
This action should not be taken to
Indicate that the able chief of the
largest Government factory in the
country Intend always to remain In
th service of th United States. On
th contrary, no on would be sur
prised to see htm resign at some date
in the near future, although Mr. Ralph
himself baa given no warrant for this
assumption. But the director is like
many other able and almost unheard-of
executors In the Government service.
In that not only Is he In love with his
work, but his bureau la adopting im
provement of far-reaching Import
ance and la virtually In process of re
organization. It la fair to presume,
therefore, that his ambition is to re
main in the service until the bureau
occupies Its new building and la de
veloped to such a high state of effi
ciency and mechanical equipment that
little mora will remain to be done by
an executive of his caliber.
In 1897 Mr. Ralph was given the po
sition of custodian of dies, rolls and
plates of the Bureau of Engraving and
Printing, an office which must be
filled at all time by a man whose life
record Is known to his superiors and
who enjoys the complete confidence of
the Administration. He had first gone
Into the machine shops of the bureau,
where he learned the technique of the
work thoroughly: and It Is th testi
mony of his associates that never in
their recollection had th position of
. i Sti &LV I
I yf-. l 1
"JESSE DUN LAP reached from the
a child of two
hand to use In case Ray should try a
clinch with him. The pain was too se
vere, however, and finding Ray cool
headed, Thompson told him of his broken
hand and asked him . to change hands.
Doing this in the water is more difficult
than It sounds, and the pair went clear
under wator while making the change.
Then using only his badly injured hand
he swam to shore with his engineer.
Thompson demurs at being called a
hero, confessing that when he and Ray
went under water in making that change
In hand holds, the thought came to him.
"What a fool a man is to drown and
leave a family just to save another man."
custodian been filled with such com
plete efficiency.
He reorganized th work of his of
fice while custodian and In 190$. when
Captain William H. Meredith retired a
chief of the bureau, Mr. Ralph was ap
pointed assistant director. Director T.
J. Sullivan died two years later and in
the Spring of 1908 Mr. Ralph became
director, during the incumbency of
Louis A. Coolldge, of Boston, as Assist
ant Secretary of the Treasury, during
whicli period also' many of the pro
gressive plans for the reorganization of
the work of th Treasury Department
were given a start. Messrs. Coolldge
and Ralph worked hand in hand in the
days of their association, the Ingenious
and progressive director receiving the
hearty support and co-operation of his
superior in all the new schemes for Im
provement which his experience and
ability suggested.
As director. Mr. Ralph has even bet
tered hi record of previous years. The
field, of course, has been larger and
conditions in th Treasury Department
been peculiarly encouraging, owing to
the united ambitions of the group of
young men whom Secretary MacVeagh
ha called to his aid In the administra
tion of the department. Director
Ralph's most noteworthy triumph, to
be followed no doubt by others, has
been the perfection and Installation of
a machine of his own invention which
performs at one process the functions
of numbering, sealing, cutting: and ac
curately counting United States notes.
This machine has resulted in a great
saving to the Government of time and
money, yet the introduction of this and
other improved processes has been ac
complished by Mr. Ralph without sacri
ficing the positions of any employes,
the departments having adopted the
policy of transfer and reinstatement
instead of diKcharge. Besides, the busi
ness of the bureau grows continually,
like that of a great commercial estab
lishment, and Improvements of this
character are made possible without
hardship to employes partly because
of that.
More than four thousand men and
women are employed making the money
and stamps of th Government and
many of them are closely organized for
their own protection, yet th tact and i
Actors or Their
r!
pilot of his running engine and ae
year,
The commission, however, will insist on
Thompson accepting a bronze medal and
$1000 to be applied toward the purchase
of a home.
One of the young heroes in the last
awards of the Carnegie Commission is
Herbert Ia Hesse, a 16-year-old school
boy of Whitehall. Mich. He set out to
save one person and found thaUho had
saved two.
Hesse, with his sister, had been bath
injr in Duck Lake. They had pone to
their bathhouses and had finished
dressing when a commotion was heard
from the lake. Herbert saw a young
experience of the director, combined
with a ready sympathy, have been so
skillfully exercised that the mammoth
establishment goes on month in and
month out without a sign of friction in
its worklnps. During the last fiscal
year appropriations for the bureau
amounted to $3,655,158 and an addition
al $1,333,654 expendod under the pos
tage stamp contract made a total of
$4,888,613 for which the director was
responsible. The value of currency,
postage and Internal revenue stamps
approximated 3 billions of dollars In
the fiscal year Just closed, every cent
of which enormous sum waa accounted
for bv Director Ralph.
The director regards the bureau of
engraving and printing as a great fac
tory pure and simplo and has no pa
tlouoe with the outside view that here
Is a place where a little Interior poll-
tics can be played without detriment
to the service and the menus oi ae
serving politicians be tucked away, 'i'ne
bureau is managed exactly like any
other great manufacturing concern.
and Its watchword. "Efficiency .and
Eronomv." Is no empty sound.
In view of the record and work of
Director Ralph, the public no doubt
will be slow to understand the ways
of tonirress In falling to recognize his
services at something like tneir real
value. As Mr. Ralph has hot been con
sulted directly or Indirectly in the
romnllatlon of this sketch, it can do
him no harm to tell the facts here.
The salary of the director has been
for years $5000 per annum, but as soon
as the new live wire group, headed by
Secretary MacVeagh and Charles D.
Norton, took charge of the Treasury
Department they made up their minds
that they would hang on to such good
things as they happened to find about
the place. One or tnem was josepn rz.
Ralph, and it came to the ears of Nor
ton that some of the big business In
terests were trying to get him away
from the Government. Norton wrote a
letter to the House Committee on Ap
propriations and later addressed the
committee himself, telling the story of
the work of Mr. Ralph and pointing
out that already in his short term of
oti.ee he Iiad saved the Government
many times the $6000 which the de
partment asked Congress to pay iiie
director. The committee listened and
finally, when Norton told them that
Ralph awaited only a little more evi
dence of lnappreclation to step out and
take a private position at $10,000 a year,
they voted to increase the salary to
$5500.
It stands there now. But a new
building is soon to be erected to house
the bureau, and although Mr. Ralph
is more partial to factory construc
tion than to Imposing colonnades
which bhut the light out of one side
of the workrooms. It Is probable that
he will retain his place, at least until
the transfer has been made.
v -f
WON GoRNcOE
Families
MARY BROWN. " Finally she got
woman who proved to be Miss Klsle ".
Breytsprask. of Chicago, apparently
drowning abont 100 feet from shore,
and he dashed into the water after her.
The girl had disappeared by the time
he reached there. Reaching under
water he grasped her by the right arm,
and raising her head began to swim to
shore with her.
She waa so heavy that he waa pulled
almost under water as he swam. Finally
he reached comparatively shallow
water where Miss Hesse, his sister,
stood with an oar extended and helped
him. What was the surprise of young
Hesse in pulling his unconscious bur
den from the water to find that with
her left hand she held tightly to an
other woman also unconscious. She
proved to be Mrs. Carrie E. Kranse, of
Chicago, sister of Miss Breytsprask.
who had gone down with her in the
water, but Hessa knew nothing of It.
Hesse weighed 120 pounds while the
combined weight of the women rescued
was 204 pounds. The Commission has
awarded the lad a bronxe medal and
will allow him $1000 for educational
purpose to be used as needed.
'
At Carbondale, penn., on the evening
of July 1, 1908, Jesse Dun lap, a freight
conductor of the New Tork, Ontario &
Western Railroad, reached from the
pilot of his running engine and saved a
child of 2 years named Francis Walker,
who had toddled between the rails. The
youngster, who weighed about 30
pounds, was not hurt. Dunlap lost his
hold on the front of the engine, and was
thrown to one side as he picked up the
child. Tho engine at the time it reached
the child was running about five miles
an hour.
Dunlap had been riding on the run
ning board of his own engine, and when
he saw the child on the track and felt
the engineer trying to stop the locomo
tive he ran down on the cowcatcher
and, holding to some part of the engine
with his left band, he placed bis foot
on the circular footstep on the cow
catcher rim and leaning down scooped
the child up. Dunlap is given a bronze
medal and $800 with which to liquidate
indebtedness.
s
A 17-year-old girl of Halsey Valley.
N. T-, Gertrude Sliarpsteen by name, is
Horror Relic Is Neglected
Witc-ies Tower in Switzerland "Will Be Repaired.
t
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I
v5 j 4r
i
m ' i" fx .. ? ' ..
BSBBBatakassafHssfsB'
isii vr
IA SORCIERE," W HICH
GENEVA, Nov. 19. (Special.) So
many criticisms were passed by Sum
mer visitors on the neglect of Interest
ing relics in Switzerland, that the au
thorities are taking a look around for
themselves. To begin with they are
considering the case of "La Sorciere."
This is a curious round tower, con
structed in the Middle Ages at a height
of 4000 feet on the Saleve Mountain,
overlooking Geneva. Ghastly would
be the record of this tower were it pos
sible to discover the details of its
history. But only the general outline
Is known to Indicate the dread Incidents
that have transpired In the mountain
horror chamber.
MEDALS
her right hand on bis pistol hand.
given & silver medal and $600 to he
used for any worthy purpose because
of her saving from death her 4-year-old
niece, Gertrude Downey, August SI,
1909. The young lady was visiting her
sister and had taken little Gertrude
out for a walk.
The little one left her after a time
and was about to cross the tracks of
the Lehigh Valley Railroad when a fast
train, running at the rate of 40 miles
an hour, rounded a curve about 250 feet
away. Miss Sliarpsteen screamed to
the child to come back, but the little
one either did not hear or did not heed,
and kept on her way. Miss Sliarpsteen
dashed on to the tracks, and hurled
the child to one side.'
Before she could get oft the tracks the
engine struck her. and hurled lier heels
over head through the air. Her right
arm was found to be badly injured and
probably will never be of full use to
her again, and she sustained other In
juries. James L. Smith, a nepro puddler, at
great risk to his own life saved that of
Francis R. Hetrlck. a white child of
2 years, who had been left in a burning
house at Sistersville, W. Va.
The mother of the babe on her ar
rival from the store found her house
In flames and cried that her child was
Inside. She could not tell In which
room it had been left, but Smith and
another man' got into the house through
windows and searched all but one great
living-room. By this time the inside
of the house was a mass of flame and
smoke, draft having been made by the
opening of windows and doors.
Smith announced that he would go
into this one large room, but was held
back by two men. who told him U
would mean certain death. Breaking
away from the men who held him
Smith dashed into the smoke and fire.
Lying on his stomach, with his head
as close to the floor as possible, he
circled the room and at last came to
the child on the floor, where she had
been overcome by the smoke and heat.
He brought the child out and collapsed.
The Hero Commission has awarded
Smith a silver medal and $1000 to be ap
plied to the purchase of a farm.
IS FAI.LI.VG ITO HI IX.
To this tower In the dark ages of
superstition those accused of sorcery
and witchcraft were dragged, to the
accompaniment of every indignity. The
tower had no door, its four windows
were high in the walls, and there was
no roof. The accused were lowered
from the top into the tower, bade to
call on their goblin allies for help
and left to die of starvation.
Of late years, "La Sorciere," by which
name the tower is locally known, has
been allowed to drop Into decay, and
unless the authorities decide that the
Interest is sufficient to Justify repairs
the coming Winter will about destroy
what Is left of the unoanny relic
r : it
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