JUMPED TO HIS DEATH
DAVID M. WEISER MEETS TERRIBLE FATE ON LAKE SHORE TRAIN NEAR LAPORTE.
Escaping Steam In Engine Cab Caused Him To Believe Explosion Was To Take Place -- Fireman Replogle Maimed.
Believing that the locomotive was about to be wrecked and that their lives were in danger, the fireman and brakeman of an eastbound fast stock freight on the Lake Shore railroad jumped Thursday night from the cab window as the train was running 40 miles an hour just after leaving Laporte. The brakeman met instant death, while the fireman was seriously injured and is now at the Holy Family hospital in Laporte. The engineer stuck to his post and escaped uninjured excepting a few slight scalds from escaping steam.
The accident, which occurred near the first high grade, two miles east of Laporte, turned Christmas joy into unspeakable grief in several homes in Elkhart and Goshen., where live the relatives of the dead and injured. In one home sat the bride of four months beside a Christmas tree awaiting her husband's return. He was completing his run for the day and was thinking of the welcome that awaited him at the cozy fireside. That dream was never realized, for in an instant his young life was snuffed out, and the young wife's dream of the arrival of the husband was crushed to earth as a messenger brought tidings of his death. Thursday afternoon the body, cold and still, was carried into the house and Sunday the relatives and friends gathered to pay their respects to the young man whom they knew and respected.
The breaking or coming out of a pin holding a connecting rod on the fireman's seat on the left side. When rod to swing around and play havoc with the rest of the machinery within the orbit of its swing. This brought it in contact with the pipe connecting with the water gauge, which it broke, permitting steam and hot water to escape into the cab. In the cab at the time were David Moorhouse, the engineer, Elmer Replogal, the fireman, and David M. Weiser, the head brakeman, all living at Elkhart. The engineer was on the right side of the cab and the fireman and brakeman on the firemane's [sic] seat on the left side. When the connecting rod began to swing around and the steam filled the cab, the fireman and brakeman believed the engine was either about to blow up or capsize and thinking that their chances of escaping with their lives were better in jumping than in sticking they leaped from the cab window to the ground. Weiser landed in such a way that his skull was crushed and death must have been almost instantaneous. Replogle landed to that his left leg was broken and crushed, some of the toes of his right foot were broken and his shoulder blade was fractured.
Engineer Moorhouse stuck to his post. He realized equally as well as the fireman and brakeman that an accident had happened to the engine, but the swinging rod was not on his side of the cab and though the escaping steam was scalding his hands he reversed his levers and applied the emergency brakes, bringing the train to a stop within a short distance of where his fireman and the brakeman had leaped from the cab. Hurrying back to the spot the conductor, rear brakeman and engineer found the dead body of Weiser and the unconscious form of Replogle. Word of the accident was immediately sent to Laporte and the ambulance and the dead wagon were ordered to the scene, but in the meantime the second section of westbound passenger train, No. 23, came along. It stopped and the dead and injured man were placed in the baggage car and taken to Laporte. At the hospital Drs. Bowell and Martin amputated the left leg, took off some of the toes of the right foot, set the fractured shoulder blade and dressed other injuries. Reports are that the injured man, though maimed for life, will recover.
Weiser and Replogle were brothers-in-law. The injured fireman is a brother of J. W. Replogle of Goshen, great recordkeeper of the Maccabees of Indiana. David Weiser was 28 years old. Relatives, including J. W. Replogle, arrived in Laporte Thursday night to take charge of the body of the dead man and to look after the injured fireman. The body of Weiser, who, besides the wife, leaves his parents to mourn his untimely death, was taken to Elkhart Friday.
One of the mysterious little incidents of the terrible accident is the disappearance of Weiser's gold watch. He had a fine gold watch, but when the clothing was removed from the body it was not found and a search at the scene of the accident failed to disclose it.
Source: The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; December 31, 1908; Volume 25, Number 40, Page 1, Column 6.
JUMPED TO HIS DEATH
DAVID M. WEISER MEETS TERRIBLE FATE ON LAKE SHORE TRAIN NEAR LAPORTE.
Escaping Steam In Engine Cab Caused Him To Believe Explosion Was To Take Place -- Fireman Replogle Maimed.
Believing that the locomotive was about to be wrecked and that their lives were in danger, the fireman and brakeman of an eastbound fast stock freight on the Lake Shore railroad jumped Thursday night from the cab window as the train was running 40 miles an hour just after leaving Laporte. The brakeman met instant death, while the fireman was seriously injured and is now at the Holy Family hospital in Laporte. The engineer stuck to his post and escaped uninjured excepting a few slight scalds from escaping steam.
The accident, which occurred near the first high grade, two miles east of Laporte, turned Christmas joy into unspeakable grief in several homes in Elkhart and Goshen., where live the relatives of the dead and injured. In one home sat the bride of four months beside a Christmas tree awaiting her husband's return. He was completing his run for the day and was thinking of the welcome that awaited him at the cozy fireside. That dream was never realized, for in an instant his young life was snuffed out, and the young wife's dream of the arrival of the husband was crushed to earth as a messenger brought tidings of his death. Thursday afternoon the body, cold and still, was carried into the house and Sunday the relatives and friends gathered to pay their respects to the young man whom they knew and respected.
The breaking or coming out of a pin holding a connecting rod on the fireman's seat on the left side. When rod to swing around and play havoc with the rest of the machinery within the orbit of its swing. This brought it in contact with the pipe connecting with the water gauge, which it broke, permitting steam and hot water to escape into the cab. In the cab at the time were David Moorhouse, the engineer, Elmer Replogal, the fireman, and David M. Weiser, the head brakeman, all living at Elkhart. The engineer was on the right side of the cab and the fireman and brakeman on the firemane's [sic] seat on the left side. When the connecting rod began to swing around and the steam filled the cab, the fireman and brakeman believed the engine was either about to blow up or capsize and thinking that their chances of escaping with their lives were better in jumping than in sticking they leaped from the cab window to the ground. Weiser landed in such a way that his skull was crushed and death must have been almost instantaneous. Replogle landed to that his left leg was broken and crushed, some of the toes of his right foot were broken and his shoulder blade was fractured.
Engineer Moorhouse stuck to his post. He realized equally as well as the fireman and brakeman that an accident had happened to the engine, but the swinging rod was not on his side of the cab and though the escaping steam was scalding his hands he reversed his levers and applied the emergency brakes, bringing the train to a stop within a short distance of where his fireman and the brakeman had leaped from the cab. Hurrying back to the spot the conductor, rear brakeman and engineer found the dead body of Weiser and the unconscious form of Replogle. Word of the accident was immediately sent to Laporte and the ambulance and the dead wagon were ordered to the scene, but in the meantime the second section of westbound passenger train, No. 23, came along. It stopped and the dead and injured man were placed in the baggage car and taken to Laporte. At the hospital Drs. Bowell and Martin amputated the left leg, took off some of the toes of the right foot, set the fractured shoulder blade and dressed other injuries. Reports are that the injured man, though maimed for life, will recover.
Weiser and Replogle were brothers-in-law. The injured fireman is a brother of J. W. Replogle of Goshen, great recordkeeper of the Maccabees of Indiana. David Weiser was 28 years old. Relatives, including J. W. Replogle, arrived in Laporte Thursday night to take charge of the body of the dead man and to look after the injured fireman. The body of Weiser, who, besides the wife, leaves his parents to mourn his untimely death, was taken to Elkhart Friday.
One of the mysterious little incidents of the terrible accident is the disappearance of Weiser's gold watch. He had a fine gold watch, but when the clothing was removed from the body it was not found and a search at the scene of the accident failed to disclose it.
Source: The Chesterton Tribune, Chesterton, Porter County, Indiana; December 31, 1908; Volume 25, Number 40, Page 1, Column 6.
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