A Fatal Nap on the Tracks
A tired freight brakeman, exhausted by days of overwork, pays the ultimate price after falling asleep on the job.
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.
Harry S. Miller, a 21-year-old freight brakeman on the O.R.N. railroad, was killed by a passenger train near Lee’s Siding, 15 miles west of Colfax, last Friday. Miller’s train had sidetracked to let the passenger train pass, and he was sent ahead to flag it. It is believed he sat down on a tie to wait and fell asleep. The passenger train struck him, killing him instantly. It is reported that Miller had been kept on duty for 72 hours with little rest. The family intends to sue the company for $15,000 damages.
“The unfortunate young man had, so it is said, been kept about 72 hours on the road, with but little sleep.”
This tragedy highlights the brutal reality of turn-of-the-century labor conditions, where worker exhaustion was treated as a personal failing rather than a systemic safety risk. Today, the debate over 'fatigue management' in the transportation industry continues to echo these same fatal consequences.
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