A Train-Hopping Tragedy
Two Indigenous men fell under the wheels of a moving freight train near Yakima; one died instantly, and the other suffered catastrophic injuries.
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.
Thursday night, Oct. 23rd, two Indians, who had been stealing a ride on a freight train from Ellensburg to Yakima, attempted to jump from the moving train near the mill, and both fell under the wheels. One of the Indians was instantly killed, being cut in two, while the other lost his right arm and his right leg at the hip and cannot possibly recover. The latter stated after the accident that the brakesman pushed them off, but was unable to identify any of the train men, and later on he said they had attempted to jump off, when they were caught under the wheels. Coroner Clark immediately impanelled a jury, which is now hearing testimony.
“The latter stated after the accident that the brakesman pushed them off, but was unable to identify any of the train men.”
This incident highlights the lethal dangers of transient labor migration during the early railway era, a struggle for safety and survival that remains relevant in modern discussions about transit security and the treatment of unhoused or migrant populations in the Pacific Northwest.
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