A Deadly Shift in the Great Northern Yards
A newly hired switchman dies after slipping under the wheels of an engine in Spokane, leaving behind a grieving family.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
SPOKANE, Sept 27.—John Kilduff was run over by a switch engine in the Great Northern yards this morning and received injuries which resulted in death an hour later. Kilduff had been employed by the Northern Pacific until Saturday night and accepted a position with the Great Northern just this morning. As Engineer Thompson backed up the engine, Kilduff attempted to get on, but the engine was differently constructed than those he was used to; he missed his foothold and fell under the driving wheels. The engine crushed his chest, broke both legs, and severed a foot. He was taken to Sacred Heart hospital, where he died at 10:40. Kilduff was unmarried and lived in Spokane with his parents and sisters.
“He missed his hand or foothold and fell under the driving wheels.”
Railroad work in the 1890s was notoriously dangerous, with mechanical inconsistencies between manufacturers leading to frequent workplace fatalities. This incident highlights the lack of standardized safety protocols in a booming industrial era.
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