Hand Car Collision Kills Laborer Near Harrington
A supervisor's warning went ignored as four hand cars telescoped on the tracks, ending in a fatality for one of the track workers.
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.
An accident occurred on the Great Northern at a point two miles west of Harrington this morning, which resulted in the death of one laborer and the serious injury of three others. The accident was caused by a collision of four hand cars. A large gang of Italians employed as ballasters, in charge of Foreman McMahon, left Harrington about 7 a.m. on hand cars for the place where the accident occurred. The foreman had instructed the men to keep the distance between the cars equal to that of the telegraph poles, but after a distance of two miles was covered, it was found the men were not obeying. The cars were moving at the rate of six miles per hour, and the foreman, who was on the first car, seeing the danger, signaled the others to stop, at the same time bringing his own car to a standstill. Instead of obeying the signal, the Italians rushed into car No. 1, telescoping it, while the two following cars collided in the same manner. When the first collision occurred, the men on the second car were thrown upon the track behind and were run over by the third car. Lodowick Cassiah had his right thigh broken and received severe internal injuries, from which he died within an hour. His brother had his left ankle broken and was otherwise injured. Two others were also slightly hurt. The coroner's inquest was held and a verdict returned that Cassiah came to his death by an unavoidable accident. He leaves a wife and five children living in Italy.
“Instead of obeying the signal, the Italians rushed into car No. 1, telescoping it, while the two following cars collided in the same manner.”
Early rail construction in Washington often relied on immigrant labor under dangerous conditions, with little accountability for worker safety. Today, while the Great Northern tracks remain a vital part of the regional freight corridor, the oversight and safety standards for infrastructure work have shifted dramatically from the era of hand-pushed cars.
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