STORIES OF BRAVE WOMEN

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 145, 16 December 1927, Page 4

STORIES OF BRAVE WOMEN

"SVonien's heroism on the sea is not a new story. Back in 1853, Grace Darling, daughter.of tho keeper of the Longstone Lighthpuse ; rescued nine men, lone survivors-of a vessel dashed to pieces on the' rocks off the English coast. Despite the remonstrances of her father that death was certain, her pleas finally won him over, and the nine men, the r.emhant of a crew of 63, were saved. . Then (says the "Cape Argus") there is the keeper of the lighthouse on the dreary, -misnamed Angel Islancl, .in San Francisco Bayj who nonchalantly reported "she had .struck tho bell by hand for 20 hours and 35 minutes until the fog lifted, "when the mechanism failed to work during a terrific storm. To do this she had to stand all night on the cold outside, platform of the ) lighthouse. " . ■ .-■_ •* ' Though her husband was dying, Kate Walker, then a bride of two years, stuck to the job, and kept the giant eye of 'the lighthouse sweeping the New York Harbour every five seconds. Lives may go out, but. not the light; its revolving white light must nevor cease. For 35 hours she remained at her post. Another woman keeper of the New Canal light on Lake Pontchartrain, remained at her task the night of the great hurricane which passed through New Orleans on' 28th September, 1915. She was alone at the station, aud kept the light burning by fastening a lens and hanging a lantern in the tower while the cyclonic winds wrecked terrij.flc damage all about her. Nor has women's heroism been limited to the sea. Spanning the Dcs Moines Elver, near Bopne, la., stands a new railroad bridge dedicated to the memory of Kate Shelley, the "Grace Darling of tho Prairies." In 1881, when Kate was 15, a wooden trestle bridge crossed the Dcs Moines Eiver where the new bridge now stands. On tho night of 6tb July of that year the valley was swept by the worst storm'in the'memory of the oldest inhabitants. Kate left ■ the shelter of her home to release their live stock, that the animals might find safety in the hills. While returning to her home she heard a crash and the hiss to steam. She knew what that meant. The bridge had given way, and the crew of the train had been thrown into the icy waters of the swollen stream. She .knew, too, that the midnight passenger' train was due at Moiugona. Someone must warn them of the break bofore they left that station, several miles avyay from the scene of the wreck, but there was no one but Kate to do it. Taking a lantern, she crept on hands and knees across the partly broken bridge, all the while hearing the agonised cries of the drowning men she could not aid, and then on to the station. But her battle against the storm was not in vain, and the new bridge now stands as a memorial to the heroine who risked her life to save others.