Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 21, Number 11, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 October 1899 — A Monon Brakeman Killed. [ARTICLE]

A Monon Brakeman Killed.

A. G. Birch, known as Kid Birch, a brakeman on the Monon on a train which runs through Rensselaer, met death by accident last Wednesday morning. The particulars are thus related by the Monticello Evening Journal. “The deceased was head brakeman on train No. 91, the fast, through, south-bound freight which passes this station at 1:37 a.m. When the train was about half a mile out of Monon, Birch started back over the train to see if everything was all right and in some manner fell from the top of the swiftly moving train. “The train crew did now miss him until Delphi was reached and telegraphed from that point to other trains to watch out for the unfortunate man. Birch, although fatally hurt, displayed rare presence of mind in his predicament and succeeded in stopping the north-bopnd passenger Which passes here at 3:36 a. m., by crawling to the track and placing a torpedo on the rail. The engineer of the passenger stopped his train on hearing the report and Birch was taken to Monon. He had lost so much blood, however, that medical assistance was of no tfvail and he only lived about an hour reaching Monon. One foot •" >— .-nt entirely off and the other ' . . 6<> badly crushed that it hung b> 'he flesh. The dismembered fuui was found some distance from where he stopped the train and it is thought that he ’ was dragged along the track after receiving bis injuries. Birch’s parents live at Crawfordsville.