Tragic Accident on the Tracks at Wilkerson
A deaf woman, known as an inmate of a 'disreputable house,' is struck and killed by a runaway box car while walking on the railroad tracks.
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.
While walking on the railroad track near Wilkerson last evening, Nellie McCormick, an inmate of a disreputable house, was struck in the head by a box car and killed. Miss McCormick was walking on the track near the switch, slightly in advance of one female and two male companions. The locomotive which brought the box car down had passed, and the box car was to be switched off on the main line; for that reason, it had been uncoupled from the locomotive. After the locomotive passed, the walkers stepped back onto the track, approaching a sharp curve. Miss McCormick was a little deaf and did not hear the car approaching. She heard her friends calling to her and turned around just as the car came upon her, the blow crushing her skull.
“Miss McCormick was a little deaf, and did not hear the car approaching.”
This brief report highlights the precarious existence of those living on the margins of late 19th-century society, where even a walk near the tracks could be fatal. The casual naming of the woman’s profession serves as a reminder of how social status influenced the way news was framed and how 'disreputable' lives were frequently dismissed or stigmatized by the press.
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