AN ACT OF HEROISM.

Otago Witness, Issue 3115, 26 November 1913, Page 36

AN ACT OF HEROISM.

SPLENDID CONDUCT OF A MAIMED MAN. From Mr G. Cruickshank, S.M., Invercargill, the secretary of the Royal Humane Society of New Zealand (Mr E. Smith) has received particulars of an act of heroism of an extraordinary character (says the Lyttelton Times). In his letter Mr Cruickshank gives the facts roughly, his object in communicating with Mr Smith being to obtain the necessary forms on which to make application for the recognition by the society of the act of heroism he describes. From Mr Cruickshank’s letter it appears that about the beginning of the present month a sawmill manager in the Co lac Bay district, named Dawson, was driving an engine hauling some trucks on a bush tramway, the destination of the trucks being Colac Bay. Mr Dawson was alone on the engine, and there was no one else on the train. Suddenly one of the bridges over a gully collapsed, and the engine, with Mr Dawson on it, fell into the gully. Mr Dawson smashed all his ribs on the right side, his right arm was torn right out of its socket, and his thigh was broken. In addition to numerous minor injuries he got nearly scalded to death. Mr Dawson’s injuries rendered him unconscious for a while, but when he came round he thought of all the bushrnen who, at 5 p.m., would be returning from the busk on jiggers running on the line. If they were not warned he knew that they would be shot over the broken bridge to certain death. Despite his injuries Mr Dawson managed somehow to crawl up the slope of the busk gully on to the line. Once there he succeeded in getting a sleeper on the line. This was seen bv the returning bushmen, who were able to pull up in time. They found Mr Dawson lying close by, quite unconscious.

Mr Smith has forwarded the necessary forms to Mr Cruickshank, and when those are filled in they will contain, probable, fuller details of this heroic deed.