Tragedy on the Tracks: A Silent Commuter

Elien S. Olsen, a Scandinavian, was found dead on Saturday morning, July 19th, by railroad men in the Selah valley, four miles west of North Yakima. Clothes were scattered along the track, which first attracted the attention of the section men, and a little search revealed the body of Olsen lying in a toulle marsh about thirty feet from the track. From papers found on the deceased, it was learned that his name was Elien S. Olsen, aged 20 years, and he had recently been employed as a section hand at Kennewick. He had an uncle named Emil Peterson, residing at Ellensburgh, and was the owner of some land purchased from the railroad company. All indications are to the effect that he was walking along the track towards Selah, where he had arranged for employment, when he was struck by the Atlantic express. There was a compound fracture of the skull above the left ear, the toes of the left foot were cut off and both legs broken between the ankle and the knee. Conrad Newman, who was with Olsen in this city on the 17th, says the deceased was deaf, and as the wind was high that night, these two things probably prevented him from hearing.