BRAVE LADY: “Presence of mind and quick action of a young woman
saved 20 people who were scorching and suffocating near Newton
yesterday evening, at 5:30 o’clock. While a dozen or more strong
men stood inactive and confused, this woman ran a distance of a
mile through fire and smoke and brought assistance, which saved the
train and its passengers.”

We begin a story about Mrs. Allan Parks of Mount Jewett and her
heroic efforts in what’s been called The Big Level Fire of May
1900.

Our story comes from a recent edition of the Bradford Landmark
Society’s newsletter which it, in turn, borrowed text from The Era
of May 9, 1900. It will take us two days to tell the whole story
but we think you’ll find it interesting.

We excerpt: “Train No 9 mail and express southbound left this
city at 4:30 o’clock in charge of Conductor Michael McGannon, with
Engineer P. Hannon at the throttle. While climbing the
mountainside, the train encountered forest fires, but as the train
went though, the worst of the fires had been subdued by the rains
in the early morning, no thought of real danger was in their
minds.

“They did not think of turning back. When the train left
Bingham, the fires along the track made their presence felt. Flames
began to dart at the cars and into the windows. Passengers began to
suffer from the heat and smoke. After passing Newton, one of the
passengers on board, an old railroad man, became alarmed and was
just reaching for the bell cord when the train came to a sudden and
violent stop.

“Passengers were hurled forward with terrific force. The
passenger train had run into a gravel train. The place where the
incident occurred was in the 14-foot cut, 400 feet south of the
Fernwood switch.

“A gravel train, which was standing in the cut, was in charge of
Conductor George Jacoby and Engineer C.J. Wolfe, both of this city.
About 30 laborers had been with this train and, it is said, the
trainmen had been overcome with smoke and flames and were unable to
move out of danger.

“Some of the men had run away. Others crouched in the ditches on
either side of the cars while clouds of smoke and blistering heat
made them helpless. The engine of the passenger train struck the
tender of the locomotive attached to the gravel train. The pilot of
the passenger engine lifted up the tender before it and threw it
from the track. The engineer and firemen jumped for their
lives.”