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| Homer, N.Y. train depot. |
RAILROAD ACCIDENT
AT HOMER.
A Misplaced Switch
Causes the Death of One of Homer's Most Estimable
Citizens—Who is to Blame?
Last
Saturday morning the switch a few rods north of the D. L. & W. station at Homer was the scene of another railroad disaster,
which has cost the life of one of Homer's best citizens and came so near killing
several others that their escape can hardly be regarded as little short of a
miracle.
Carelessness
on the part of someone in leaving the switch not properly closed was the cause
of the accident. The circumstances, as nearly as we are able to ascertain, are
as follows:
Last
Saturday morning Messrs. Maxson &
Starin, coal dealers in Homer, found it necessary to change the
position of some cars that were standing on the trestle in their sheds in that
village. There were three empty cars in the south end of the building, and one
gondola filled with No. 4 coal at the north end. The bin for the No. 4 coal is
situated in the south end, and, in order to get the gondola where it could be
unloaded, it was necessary to run all the cars down the incline which leads from
the main track up to the sheds.
The loaded
car was worked backward toward the door, the purpose of the workmen being to
attach it to the empty cars as soon as it reached the top of the downward slope,
and allow it, in its descent, to draw these from the shed. Before it could be attached,
however, it gained an advantage over the men and ran swiftly down the incline,
running completely over a large scantling which had been placed crosswise on
the track to stop it, and passed through the switch out upon the main track. As
it lacked then only a few minutes of the time the fast express south was due, a
man was at once sent up the track with a flag to hold the approaching train.
In the meantime the most strenuous efforts
had been made to push the car back on the incline, and with so much success
that the flagman was recalled. In the excitement of the moment it was forgotten
to close the switch, and no one noticed the omission until it was too late.
When the engineer on the incoming express rounded the curve just above the
switch, his practiced eye discerned the danger and he at once applied the
brakes and reversed his engine, but the momentum was so great that he could not
stop in time to avoid the collision.
There were,
at the time the engine reached the switch, two men standing on the track
between the car and the engine, and one more seated on the forward end of the
car. They all escaped by jumping, though one of them sprained his ankle by his
leap, and had to be carried home. As the engine struck the car, a spray of coal
was thrown into the air and the car sent with lightning speed up the incline
nearly to the shed.
Half way up
the incline is a spur switch by which Miles G. Darby, the bookkeeper for Maxson
& Starin, was standing
when the engine left the main track. Just at that moment he started to walk
across the track to the east side, when he was struck in the breast by the
gondola and knocked down, the wheels passing over his leg between the knee and
ankle. The leg was completely crushed, and a deep longitudinal gash cut in the
flesh clear to the thigh. A severe scalp wound was also sustained, and a large
number of other bruises. He was taken to the waiting room at the depot, medical
aid summoned, and as soon as his wounds could be dressed sufficiently to enable
him to be taken to his home he was carried there.
In the
course of the afternoon he rallied somewhat, and the doctors thought that possibly
he might survive the shock. Everything that human hands could do to alleviate
his suffering was done, but to no avail, and that evening, between the hours of
seven and eight, he breathed his last.
When the
train left the track mail agent R. F. Randall, of this place, sprang from his car
and was severely bruised by his fall. The passengers on the express were considerably
shaken up by the collision, though no one was injured. The water tanks were
pitched from their stands to the floor, and several persons who had risen in
their seats were thrown forward with some force into the seats ahead. The engineer
and fireman remained at their post and did all they could to avert the disaster,
but in the eight rods that intervened between the train which had rounded the curve
at the rate of thirty miles an hour, and the car on the incline, it was impossible
to stop.
The engine
of the express was badly wrecked but not disabled, and made the remainder of
its run to Binghamton, returning that same evening to Syracuse. The cow catcher
was torn completely off, and the heavy timbers underneath the head of the
boiler were broken in two. The coal car was somewhat damaged and the ties for a
number of feet on the incline were broken and thrown out of place.
Who is
responsible for the wrong position of the switch, it is impossible to say. The
employees at the yards of Maxson & Starin say that they had no key to the switch
and lay the blame on the train men of the last train over the road. One other resident
of Homer was positive that he had seen a switch key hanging in the office on several
different occasions. A thorough investigation will doubtless be made soon, with
a view of placing keys in the hands of those to whom they should be properly entrusted,
so that there may be no recurrence of such accidents in the future.
Darby died
on Saturday evening. He leaves a widow to mourn his loss.
Emerald Hose
Company's Field Day.
The
committee having the program of Emerald Hose Co.'s Field Day in charge have completed
their arrangements and the indications are that all lovers of manly sports will
be able to find something in the order of exercises which will be interesting enough
to insure their attendance. Jack Dempsey and Denny Costigan will reach town early
Friday morning and they may be met personally by all those who have been
skeptical about their appearance here.
An excursion
train will run from Syracuse and Binghamton, and another is expected over the
E. C. & N. In the forenoon a base ball game between the Normals and Shamrocks
of Cortland will be called at 10:30, which will be umpired by Dempsey. The
order of exercises in the afternoon will be as follows:
Hurdle Race—Best
2 in 3—Purse $10.
100 Yards Sprint Race— Purse $18.
200 Yards
Backward Running Match—Purse $6.
Sparring
Exhibition, Jack Dempsey, "The Nonpariel," champion middle-weight of
the world, of New York City, and Denny Costigan, the famous teacher of Boston.
Mild
refreshments will be found on the grounds. Music by the Mechanics' Band, and
Fisher's orchestra.
ANOTHER ACCIDENT.
Last Monday
noon Mr. Albert Goldsmith, an employee of the Hitchcock M'f'g Co., had his foot
crushed while passing between the cars of a freight train which was landing in
front of the shop at that time. It frequently occurs that the north bound freight
due here at 11:25 A. M., is on the track between the shops when the whistle is
blown for noon, and the men are delayed for several moments. The usual custom of
the men is to avoid the delay by climbing through between the cars. The only wonder
about the matter is that more such accidents have not occurred.
Veterans to the Front.
We, the
undersigned of the Volunteer mounted aides to the Marshal, comrade Webster
Young, on Memorial Day in this village, witnessed the unpleasant affair in
Grant street, and desire, without request on his part, to certify that in our
judgment comrade Young, in his effort to clear the street of wheelmen, did
nothing more than his duty, and nothing more than we would have done in his
position, under the same circumstances, and all efforts to throw blame upon the
Marshall we resent as unfair and untruthful.
A. J. WHITE,
B. R. CARPENTER,
GEORGE S. HUNT,
W. H. MORGAN,
J. W. STROWBRIDGE,
DANIEL KRATZER.
Death of Jabez Kinney.
Jabez Kinney,
aged 94 years, died at the residence of his son, Cornelius Kinney, on River
street, Thursday, June 19th.
Jabez Kinney
moved to Cortland from Cincinnatus about 30 years ago. He has been in good
health up to within a week ago, at which time it was noticed that his strength
began to fail him. Two weeks ago he was out working in the garden.
His wife
survives him. She is 96 years old. They have lived together as man and wife for
over 70 years. This is the first break in the family circle. His
children, four in number, are all living here in Cortland. They are Mrs. Asel Egleston,
Cornelius, Frank and W. S. Kinney, on
Railroad street.
NEIGHBORING COUNTIES.
CHENANGO--William
Irons, an employee of the New Berlin News, was quite seriously injured
on Friday by accidentally shooting himself with a 32 calibre Remington rifle,
which was charged with mustard seed shot for killing small birds. The charge passed
nearly through the right foot, between the toe joints and the instep, the gun
being so close to the foot that it made a hole about the size of a three cent
piece. Dr. H. C. Lyman is attending the wound. The foot will have to be cut
open on the underside and the shot removed.
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