Willis H. Parkinson saved Ruth L. Hoelzle from being killed by a train, Wadsworth, Ohio, April 30, 1925. Ruth, 10, drove a cow toward a track on which a train was approaching at a speed of 45 m.p.h. A chain 100 feet long was attached to the cow and also wrapped around Ruth’s body. The cow stopped on the track, and Ruth made unsuccessful efforts to get the cow off and the chain from her body. Willis, 16, student, ran to Ruth and pushed her off the track when the train was but 400 feet distant. He jerked the chain, which was tangled, in an effort to move the cow, and when the train was 175 feet distant, Willis got between the rails and took hold of the chain a foot from the cow’s head. Bracing himself with his foot against the rail, he jerked the cow and got it from the track a few feet ahead of the locomotive, which passed at a reduced speed of 25 m.p.h. 26121-2103
26121 – 2103
26121-2103