Howard Station, Pennsylvania
Train Accident
January, 1908
A Remarkable Accident
The death of BURTON C.
GRIFFITH, of Plumville, the young man
who had both legs cut off in a railroad accident
Saturday morning occurred the same day of the
accident at 3:00 in the afternoon.
The particulars of the accident show it to be a
remarkable one, although nothing could have been
done to save the young man.
At the time of the accident the train was
pulling up a steep grade
Engineer DETWILER
had stepped back to the tank to get a drink.
GRIFFITH was
straddling the space between the cab and tank
when the drawbar broke. The engine leaped away
from the tender and the unfortunate fireman fell
directly across the rail.
From Howard Station, the scene of the accident,
DETWILER
walked to Covode before he could find a
telephone and warn the dispatcher at DuBois that
a runaway engine was on the track. With just
enough steam to cross the summit at Covode,
eight miles from Howard Station, the engine ran
down the grade to Juneau, then out upon the B.
R. & P tracks stopping two miles up the road. It
was here that the freight train from DuBois
crashed into the runaway.
GRIFFITH was
about twenty years of age and had but recently
been released from a hospital where he was
confined with pneumonia. He had been railroading
but little over three weeks, and the trip on
which he met his death was to have been his
last, doctors having advised him to give it up.
He was a son of Mr. and
Mrs. GEORGE S. GRIFFITH of Plumville.
The Indiana Democrat, Indiana, PA 15 Jan
1908
Transcribed by
Trish. Thank you, Trish!
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