Frozen Ground Crushes a Railroad Worker
A steam-shovel man on the Idaho & Washington Northern is struck by a collapsing bank of frozen gravel and brought to Newport with a broken nose and severe bruises.
A man named Goodlad, employed on the Idaho & Washington Northern, met with a serious accident on Monday. He was working with the steam shovel and was engaged in prying down some frozen gravel on the sides of the cut when a large section of the bank gave way. A large chunk of the frozen earth struck Goodlad in the face. He was brought to Newport and Dr. Boudwin attended him. His nose was broken and his face badly bruised. Besides, he was severely bruised in other portions of the body.
“A large chunk of the frozen earth struck Goodlad in the face. His nose was broken and his face badly bruised.”
Railroad and construction crews still face cave-ins and falling debris, and this 1908 report reads like a modern workplace-safety incident: a worker sent into a cut, a bank that gave way, and a town doctor doing what he could. Newport's early growth depended on such dangerous excavation work.
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