Frank Ryan's Heroic Act of Deliverance

“I must not close without referring to an act of heroism displayed by a man at the time of the collision before referred to. His name was Frank Ryan, a brakeman on the Quebec express. At the time of the collision he was hurled many feet from the car on which he stood, and lay unconscious for a few minutes. He revived, and crawled painfully, slowly, to where he saw men fighting to rip the coach apart in order to save some of the unfortunate passengers. Calling to one of the men, as he held up his arm showing a severed artery, he said, in a constantly weakening tone : "The Montreal express, old man, is coming down on the wreck. For God's sake stop it. There is no signal man left now on the back of the express." Ryan fell back, his life seemingly about to ebb away, while the messenger he had chosen ran frantically up the track, and in the dim morning mist, managed to flag the Montreal express a quarter of a mile away. In this we can see the hand of Providence, for had not Ryan gained consciousness, the record of railroad horrors would have been frightfully increased. — Millennial Star 69:41”