THE
I
ADVENTURERS'
CLUB
"The Turn o/a Wheel"
By FLOYD GIBBONS
Famous Headline Hunter.
HATEVER you might say about gambling, it takes nerve to do
it. The best of the professional card sharks are men who can
keep z poker face and never bat an eye When they're betting their
last nickel. Yes, it takes plenty of nerve to gamble with your money
--but it takes a doggone sight more courage to gamble with your life.
I've got a yarn here from Adventurer William Joseph Brinkley,
of Brooklyn, N. Y., and unless I'm no good at all at reading between
the lines of a story, Bill Brlnkley is one of those lads who can keep a cool head
nd figure out the odds even at moments when his life i:. In the greatest of peril,
If Bill hadn't had that faculty he wouldn't be here collecting his ten
tnd joining the Adventurers' club today. For back in 1915 fate tested
out those iron nerves of his--and it was one of the most rigorous tests
fate ever dished out .to a guy, at that.
Iron nerve or no Iron nerve, Bill admits he was pretty scared when it hap
pened. Maybe "pretty scared" isn't quite the expression for it either. When it
was all over Bill's nerves felt more llke putty than iron.
Bill Had a Prosaic Job Checking Freight Cars.
It was down In the town o: Atlanta, Ga., where he was working as an inter-
change clerk for the Central of Georgia railroad. Bill was Just a young lad then,
and his Job consisted of checking up on cars that were to be switched from one
line to another. It was during the June peach season and there was a lot of
traffic on the line. The railroad yard was full el box cars and It kept both Bill
and his partner Willie Baker, on the Jump most ot the time.
The first job in Bill's routine was to get the seal numbers on the
cars as soon as a traln entered the yard, Bill would get them on one
side while his partner, Willie, got them on the other. They were sup-
posed to wait for those trains at the break-up track, but sometimes they
wopld wark out to meet them and ride In on the first car. That's what
they were doing when Old Lady Adventure swooped down and got Bill
In her clutches.
They had walked out to meet the "'Special" and the Special was late that
alght, so, without realizing it, they walked a little farther than they had Intend-
ed. They met it quite a ways out of the yard when it was going at a pretty fast
T
He Threw His Body Over the Rail Just in Time
clip. Willie caught the first car, b'.t Bill let three or four go by betm'e ae could
make up his mind to Jump for it. He canght the fifth car, and since he was sup-
posed to check the other side of the train, he started to climb over the top.
But Falling Under a Train Isn't So Prosaic l
But Old I,ady Adventure didn't ever Intend that Bill should get to the other
side of that train. As he reached for the top grab-iron with his right hand the
one he was holding with his left broke away from the side of the car. His body
swung out from the side of the car and started to fall.
As Bill fell he clutched at the top grab iron. He caught It, but hit
weight broke the hold. His body twistedswung around between the
cars. then, as he dropped, his left leg hit the draw head. He swung
head downward and fell--under the train.
"1 lay fiat on my back." says Bill, "and watched the bottoms of the ears
whiz by only a few Inches from my face. The wheels ground past only a few
inches from my body on either side. I lay for a moment utterly unable to move.
Then my mind began to race.
Underslung Hopper-Bottom Cars Meant Certain Death.
"In a flash 1 had figured everything out. I had been lucky enough to land
between the tracks--not on them. As long as I did not move t was perfectly
safe unless--and there was the horrible posslbllity--unless there was a hopper-
bottomed coal car in that train. The hoppers of those cars are only a few Inches
from the tles. If one of them hit me I would be mangled--mashed to a pulp
spread along a half mile of track."
And there was a darned good possibility that not one but several of
these hopper bottomed cars were in the train. In long trains like the one
Bill was under it was he custom to put short, empty coal care between
the refrigerator cars to cut down the side sway. Bill knew that. His
mind was clicking on all four in his moment of periltaking in every
consideration.
There was just one way out--a perilous way--but something told Bill it was
a Petter risk than waiting for one of those murderous hopper bottmps, lie began
watching the wheels as they clicked by--gauging their speed and their distance.
Courage Plus Quick Thinking Saved Bill's Life,
Where two cars were coupled together the wheels were only about four feet
apart, but between two wheels on the same ear there was a space of forty feet.
If he could throw his body over the rail as the front wheel passed, and get across
before the rear wheel hit hlmhe'd be safe.
There was no time to lose, but Bill gauged those moving wheels
carefully. He nerved himself and tensed every mu=Cle. Then, at a front
wheel flashed by, he started to roll.
tie nit the rail and started to go over. Would he get across In time? BIll
dldnt know because his eyes were shut. He didn't dare look at the thing he was
doing, l'hen, all at once, he felt himself go over the top of the rail. He opened
his eyes and saw clear sky overhead. H,e had made It,
"Then," says Bill, "came the reaction. I began trembling all over
and ;lot sick as a dog. A,.d to this day the mere sight of a hopper-bet.
tom coal car can give me a bad case of chills."
@---W NU Service.
Important GaldfiaJk
Undoubtedly the most important Job
Letd today by a school of goldfish is
helping in the operation of the broad-
casting station in Droitwleh, England.
These 150 fish eat the algab that grow
In the water-cooling system of the
transmitter tubes and thereby prevent
these aquatic plants from clogging the
pipes.
French Care ia Tree Top
In the branches of a tall chestnut
tree at Sceaux, near Paris, a restau-
rant-care has been opened. Besting on
the branches are the separate dlnlffg
places, access to which Is gained by
means of a winding staircase built
around the trunk of the tree. The
food is conveyed from the ground In
baskets attached to ropes.
PERKINS
JOURNAL
IIII
The Thinker
EHIND the invention is the in-
ventor; behind ever,# discov-
ery there Is the pioneer; behind
each new thought there is the
thinker.
" ' tMnker is thus the ten!
ruler 0f the world, lie initiates
new ideas, is behind each great
advance, and really It is he who
determines the line along which
mankind Is destined to advance.
The thinkers are the world's real
leaders; can we not say that they
are the world's real rulers?--Rev.
E. Neville Martin, M. A.
Good names are gained by ex-
emplary deeds.
EGYPTIAN BEAUTY,
BURIED 3800 B. C.,
REPORTED FOUND
Perfectly preserved, nearly 6,000
years after burial, the slender body
of a lovely princess of ancient Egypt
has been discovered Intact reposing
in a tomb under one of the Glzeh
pyramids.
The discovery was made by the
Egyptian anthropologist, Prof. Sellm
Hassan,
The beautiful princess, who died
8800 B. C., was believed to have been
a daughter of the great Pharaoh
Chephren, who erected the second
loftiest pyramid in Egypt.
Costly and delicately carved pieces
of Jewelry decorated the body of the
princess. At her feet lay two heaps
of gold.
Working with Infinite patience,
Professor Hassan toiled for 34 hours
removing the mud on the mummy.
The finely featured face of the
princess, and her soft smooth neck
were particularly well preserved.
In an attitude more of graceful
slumber than of death, the princess'
body was reclining on its side.
No Sooner Said
George--I'd llke, the best In the
world, Kitty, to marry you; but I
don't know how to propose.
Kitty--That's all right, George.
You've finished with me; now go to
father.
Perhaps
Q.--Why does a puss purr?
A.--For an obvious purr-puss.-
Washington Post.
On High, Too
"HI, miss! I reckon you took that
corner at 60 miles an hour."
"Really, officer. Good old mel
Room for Protest
I tell you I won't have this room,"
protested the old lady to the bell.
boy who was conducting her. ql
ain't going to pay my good mone
for a closet with a measly little tel@
lng bed la It. If you think that JuM
because I'm from the cauntry--"
Profoundly disgusted, the bo3' €i
her short. "Get In, mum, get in. Thll
ain't your room. This Is the elev
tor."--The Log.
&rid No Fooling
Seagoing--May I have the
dance with you?
Glrl--Blg boy, you Just had |t.
U. B. S. West Virginia Mountaineer,.
The ame Boat
"She seemed like a sensible girL"
"Yes, she wouldn't pay any atten-
tion to me, either."
LAVISH LOVE
"How can you be engaged to a
man of forty? He has, I hear, given
you some magnificent presents."
"That's the point. A first love is
romantic, but a last love is lavish."
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