Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 35, Number 135, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 November 1903 — More About the Dunnville Accident. [ARTICLE]

More About the Dunnville Accident.

Coroner Wright will report the death of young Patrick McMannis as due to an accident, and for which neither the railroad nor any other party except himself is to blame. The young fellow lived at San Pierre, and though only about 19 years old was ah experienced railroader, and was already a passenger conductor on the Three I road. Saturday night he helped himself to a section hand-car at San Pierre and a party of 10 young people, of that place, in 5 couples, went to Dunnville To a dance. The accident occurred as they were start ing back to San Pierre, aboutlo;so p m., when they met a west bound freight train. The headlight of the train is visible there a long distance, but the party mistook it for a switch light, all except one young lady, who kept insisting that it was an 'engine head-light. The rest paid it little attention, and the train was almost upon them before it was recognized. All jumped off and ran to safety except McMannis and another young man, who together tried to remove the handcar from the track.

Before they had more than got ''The wheels at one end tilted up, the engine struck the car. The other young man was at the side of the track and escaped, but McMannis was struck by some part of the engine, in the back of the head. He was thrown into the ditch, but not a great distance. The engine men on the* train never saw the hand car at all at the time, and never kndfr they had killed anyone till after they reached the end of their run and had gone their homes. A strange circumstance was that the pilot of the engine caught the hand-car in such a way that two wheels were cpught in the pilot and the other two still stayed on the track, and % this way it was pushed nearly to Wheatfield when a grating noise in front caused the • engineer to stop and invest gate, when the hand-car was discovered. It was carried in this way a dis tance of about four miles.