TWO MEN KILLED AT PREBLE
JAMES DORTHEY AND DAVID ETZ OF PREBLE DRIVE ONTO LACKAWANNA RAILROAD CROSSING JUST AHEAD OF NEW YORK LIMITED EXPRESS.
Last Friday night as James Dorthey and David Etz, who live in the town of Preble east of the Lackawanna railroad tracks were driving to their homes from Preble village, their sleigh was struck by the New York special south-bound express train due at Preble at about 11:30. This train makes only one or two stops between Syracuse and Homer and was going at terrific speed when the sleigh with its two occupants was struck just as they had driven onto the tracks at the crossing just south of the Preble passenger station.
Both men were thrown ahead of the locomotive onto the track and were instantly killed and terribly mangled by the wheels of the train and parts of their bodies were scattered along the track for some distance. Both horses, which belonged to Etz, were also killed and the cutter smashed to pieces.
James Dorthey was 40 years old and David Etz 35. Mr. Dorthey resided in a small house on the Haviland farm near the river about a quarter of a mile or less east of the Preble crossing and station and Etz worked on the James Cummings farm further east. Both had been spending some time in Preble. How they failed to hear the approaching train is not known. The high snow banks and the passenger station, which stands a few rods north of the highway and some freight cars which stood on a siding beyond the station, might have cut off their view of the train and if they had heard it and could not see it, they may have believed they had time to cross ahead of the train. Both lived not far from the station and must have been aware that this train was due about the time of night they reached the crossing. No one, it is said, unless it were some member of the train crew, saw the accident and the exact reason for the terrible accident may never be known.
The bodies of the men were carried down the track for some distance and the arm of one of them was found the following morning at 9 o'clock at the round house in Oswego after the return of the train from its trip to Binghamton. One of the horses was carried for nearly a quarter of a mile down the track and its carcass was badly mutilated, while the other horse was thrown about 100 feet and was not badly cut up by the contact with the pilot of the engine.
The train was stopped as soon as possible and backed up to the crossing and many passengers got off to see what had happened and the train crew went along the track and picked up the remains of the mutilated bodies they could discover and took them to the freight house and Dr. W. R. Hammond of Preble was called. He found that the men had been instantly killed and telephoned to Coroner L. E. Gardner of this village, who requested Briggs Bros., the Homer undertakers to bring the remains to this village, where they were viewed by Coroner Gardner and Dr. Bradford. No inquest was deemed necessary.
Mr. Dorthey is survived by a wife and three little children the oldest child being five years old. Etz leaves a wife and four children all under eight years of age.
A bad accident occurred at this same station some fifteen or twenty years ago when a misplaced switch threw the night south bound express onto a siding and wrecked the train, severely injuring several passengers.
-Homer Republican, 19 Mar 1914
JAMES DORTHEY AND DAVID ETZ OF PREBLE DRIVE ONTO LACKAWANNA RAILROAD CROSSING JUST AHEAD OF NEW YORK LIMITED EXPRESS.
Last Friday night as James Dorthey and David Etz, who live in the town of Preble east of the Lackawanna railroad tracks were driving to their homes from Preble village, their sleigh was struck by the New York special south-bound express train due at Preble at about 11:30. This train makes only one or two stops between Syracuse and Homer and was going at terrific speed when the sleigh with its two occupants was struck just as they had driven onto the tracks at the crossing just south of the Preble passenger station.
Both men were thrown ahead of the locomotive onto the track and were instantly killed and terribly mangled by the wheels of the train and parts of their bodies were scattered along the track for some distance. Both horses, which belonged to Etz, were also killed and the cutter smashed to pieces.
James Dorthey was 40 years old and David Etz 35. Mr. Dorthey resided in a small house on the Haviland farm near the river about a quarter of a mile or less east of the Preble crossing and station and Etz worked on the James Cummings farm further east. Both had been spending some time in Preble. How they failed to hear the approaching train is not known. The high snow banks and the passenger station, which stands a few rods north of the highway and some freight cars which stood on a siding beyond the station, might have cut off their view of the train and if they had heard it and could not see it, they may have believed they had time to cross ahead of the train. Both lived not far from the station and must have been aware that this train was due about the time of night they reached the crossing. No one, it is said, unless it were some member of the train crew, saw the accident and the exact reason for the terrible accident may never be known.
The bodies of the men were carried down the track for some distance and the arm of one of them was found the following morning at 9 o'clock at the round house in Oswego after the return of the train from its trip to Binghamton. One of the horses was carried for nearly a quarter of a mile down the track and its carcass was badly mutilated, while the other horse was thrown about 100 feet and was not badly cut up by the contact with the pilot of the engine.
The train was stopped as soon as possible and backed up to the crossing and many passengers got off to see what had happened and the train crew went along the track and picked up the remains of the mutilated bodies they could discover and took them to the freight house and Dr. W. R. Hammond of Preble was called. He found that the men had been instantly killed and telephoned to Coroner L. E. Gardner of this village, who requested Briggs Bros., the Homer undertakers to bring the remains to this village, where they were viewed by Coroner Gardner and Dr. Bradford. No inquest was deemed necessary.
Mr. Dorthey is survived by a wife and three little children the oldest child being five years old. Etz leaves a wife and four children all under eight years of age.
A bad accident occurred at this same station some fifteen or twenty years ago when a misplaced switch threw the night south bound express onto a siding and wrecked the train, severely injuring several passengers.
-Homer Republican, 19 Mar 1914
TWO MEN KILLED AT PREBLE
JAMES DORTHEY AND DAVID ETZ OF PREBLE DRIVE ONTO LACKAWANNA RAILROAD CROSSING JUST AHEAD OF NEW YORK LIMITED EXPRESS.
Last Friday night as James Dorthey and David Etz, who live in the town of Preble east of the Lackawanna railroad tracks were driving to their homes from Preble village, their sleigh was struck by the New York special south-bound express train due at Preble at about 11:30. This train makes only one or two stops between Syracuse and Homer and was going at terrific speed when the sleigh with its two occupants was struck just as they had driven onto the tracks at the crossing just south of the Preble passenger station.
Both men were thrown ahead of the locomotive onto the track and were instantly killed and terribly mangled by the wheels of the train and parts of their bodies were scattered along the track for some distance. Both horses, which belonged to Etz, were also killed and the cutter smashed to pieces.
James Dorthey was 40 years old and David Etz 35. Mr. Dorthey resided in a small house on the Haviland farm near the river about a quarter of a mile or less east of the Preble crossing and station and Etz worked on the James Cummings farm further east. Both had been spending some time in Preble. How they failed to hear the approaching train is not known. The high snow banks and the passenger station, which stands a few rods north of the highway and some freight cars which stood on a siding beyond the station, might have cut off their view of the train and if they had heard it and could not see it, they may have believed they had time to cross ahead of the train. Both lived not far from the station and must have been aware that this train was due about the time of night they reached the crossing. No one, it is said, unless it were some member of the train crew, saw the accident and the exact reason for the terrible accident may never be known.
The bodies of the men were carried down the track for some distance and the arm of one of them was found the following morning at 9 o'clock at the round house in Oswego after the return of the train from its trip to Binghamton. One of the horses was carried for nearly a quarter of a mile down the track and its carcass was badly mutilated, while the other horse was thrown about 100 feet and was not badly cut up by the contact with the pilot of the engine.
The train was stopped as soon as possible and backed up to the crossing and many passengers got off to see what had happened and the train crew went along the track and picked up the remains of the mutilated bodies they could discover and took them to the freight house and Dr. W. R. Hammond of Preble was called. He found that the men had been instantly killed and telephoned to Coroner L. E. Gardner of this village, who requested Briggs Bros., the Homer undertakers to bring the remains to this village, where they were viewed by Coroner Gardner and Dr. Bradford. No inquest was deemed necessary.
Mr. Dorthey is survived by a wife and three little children the oldest child being five years old. Etz leaves a wife and four children all under eight years of age.
A bad accident occurred at this same station some fifteen or twenty years ago when a misplaced switch threw the night south bound express onto a siding and wrecked the train, severely injuring several passengers.
-Homer Republican, 19 Mar 1914
JAMES DORTHEY AND DAVID ETZ OF PREBLE DRIVE ONTO LACKAWANNA RAILROAD CROSSING JUST AHEAD OF NEW YORK LIMITED EXPRESS.
Last Friday night as James Dorthey and David Etz, who live in the town of Preble east of the Lackawanna railroad tracks were driving to their homes from Preble village, their sleigh was struck by the New York special south-bound express train due at Preble at about 11:30. This train makes only one or two stops between Syracuse and Homer and was going at terrific speed when the sleigh with its two occupants was struck just as they had driven onto the tracks at the crossing just south of the Preble passenger station.
Both men were thrown ahead of the locomotive onto the track and were instantly killed and terribly mangled by the wheels of the train and parts of their bodies were scattered along the track for some distance. Both horses, which belonged to Etz, were also killed and the cutter smashed to pieces.
James Dorthey was 40 years old and David Etz 35. Mr. Dorthey resided in a small house on the Haviland farm near the river about a quarter of a mile or less east of the Preble crossing and station and Etz worked on the James Cummings farm further east. Both had been spending some time in Preble. How they failed to hear the approaching train is not known. The high snow banks and the passenger station, which stands a few rods north of the highway and some freight cars which stood on a siding beyond the station, might have cut off their view of the train and if they had heard it and could not see it, they may have believed they had time to cross ahead of the train. Both lived not far from the station and must have been aware that this train was due about the time of night they reached the crossing. No one, it is said, unless it were some member of the train crew, saw the accident and the exact reason for the terrible accident may never be known.
The bodies of the men were carried down the track for some distance and the arm of one of them was found the following morning at 9 o'clock at the round house in Oswego after the return of the train from its trip to Binghamton. One of the horses was carried for nearly a quarter of a mile down the track and its carcass was badly mutilated, while the other horse was thrown about 100 feet and was not badly cut up by the contact with the pilot of the engine.
The train was stopped as soon as possible and backed up to the crossing and many passengers got off to see what had happened and the train crew went along the track and picked up the remains of the mutilated bodies they could discover and took them to the freight house and Dr. W. R. Hammond of Preble was called. He found that the men had been instantly killed and telephoned to Coroner L. E. Gardner of this village, who requested Briggs Bros., the Homer undertakers to bring the remains to this village, where they were viewed by Coroner Gardner and Dr. Bradford. No inquest was deemed necessary.
Mr. Dorthey is survived by a wife and three little children the oldest child being five years old. Etz leaves a wife and four children all under eight years of age.
A bad accident occurred at this same station some fifteen or twenty years ago when a misplaced switch threw the night south bound express onto a siding and wrecked the train, severely injuring several passengers.
-Homer Republican, 19 Mar 1914
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