Page:History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century Volume 3.djvu/144

 high railroad bridge to cross before she could reach the Moingona telegraph office where warning could be sent to the approaching train. Hurrying on with all the strength she could summon, she at last reached the railroad bridge four hundred feet in length and fifty feet above the river. The tempest was now at its worst; there was no floor on the bridge, the rails resting on the cross-ties. It was impossible for the girl to stand at that height against the fierce gale that swept over it and on her hands and knees with the wild gale beating in her face she slowly made her way over the ties until the farther shore was reached. Lacerated and exhausted as she was, sufficient strength remained to enable her to reach the telegraph office, half a mile farther and give the alarm. Almost overcome by the unparalleled exertions, she had scarcely strength to rouse the agent and tell him of the impending danger before she sank helpless and fainting. Instantly a message flashed over the wire carrying warning to the approaching train which was fortunately reached barely in time to avert a greater horror than has ever yet overtaken an Iowa railroad. As the train halted at the little station, the last before the wrecked bridge, the passengers learning of the narrow escape from destruction hastily gathered about the brave little Irish girl attempting to express some measure of their gratitude to her for saving them from a fate too awful to contemplate. As her heroic deed became known through the press the story of that fearful night adventure was told in every portion of the country and the name of Kate Shelly became as widely known as that of any famous women of modern times. The Northwestern Railroad made her a small gift in acknowledgment of the deed. The Iowa Legislature at the session in 1882, made an appropriate recognition of the noble action of the obscure little heroine, by authorizing the Senator and Representative from Boone County, together with the Governor of the State, to procure and present to the brave girl a gold metal with an inscription