Ashtabula telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1874-1880, 1875-04-02
MANGLED FLESH.
The Remains OF . Man Found on the
Oil City ROad-Tke Head Pound
Forty Feet from the Track, and the
Body Fearfully MangIed-SusPietons
ofROuI PIaV

/ Atc4sul lTdln NO 20, lelt AShtosuio ~
Oil City. The train was heavy one. anC
in or der 20 get over the Plymouth sum
NIT the pony engine at the L. s. & NJ. s
depot was attached to the rear of the
, train 10 assist the other locomotive, afleI
which IT returned to the depot.
When the train reached Jefferson, the
engineer ofNo. 28 got out TO oil up, when
he discovered the wheels and pilot of his
locomotive bespattered with blood. This
news was telegraphed to the headquar-
tiers st Stoneboro, and Immediately re-
ply was sent TO Ashtabula, instructing
the cOmpany's officials here to send the
pony engine in search of the remains. Sta
ton Agent Strong with several of our
citizens. were among those who went.
The party left here about II p. M, and
when they arrived at the gravel bank, in
Plymouth, about 21S miles from the l..
s. 6 n. S. depot, they discovered the OBJ
ject of their search On one side of the
track lay mans leg and an arm, on the
other side, hand and headiess body all
these pieces were picked up and put in
blanket and taken TO the L. S. depot. Ow-
ing to the darkness, they were unable TO
find the unfortunate mans head.
Next morning, "wednesday at a. m,
another party of L. S. employees started
out on the way freight, and found the
head, down an embankment about forty
feet from the track, where the accident
occurred, which they brought to, Ashla-
bula and placed with the other remains.
W. H. Hubbard, ]. P, was notified Of
the case early Wednesday morning, who
summoned a jury. At 10 a. m, they
viewed the remains. Several rolling mill
men who were present, recognized the
remains as those of William Welch, who
had worked at the mill as puddler.
These men and several other witnesses,
were examined, Wednesday morning at
the depot, and at IL: 80 o'clock, a. M,
the coroner and jury took a special train
and went TO the locality where the re-
mains were discovered. From the ap-
the direction the head took when it roll
ed down the hill, it was plain to the jury
that train going south, probably the 9
p. m, tram, was the first one that ran
over the man, and the pony engine when
it returned from the summit, again ran
over if, dragging parts of the body some
fifty feet, and leaving pieces of flesh and
clothing on the projecting spikes and
bolts on the tack.
Tuesday afternoon, Mrs Mary E. Shell
don and James Roberts, of Plymouth,
came to Ashtabula, and at the coroner's
Office gave some facts that threw consid-
erable light upon the case. From Mrs.
Sheldon's statement, it appears that
about l o'clock, Tuesday p. m, three
men, John Welch, VIM. Welch and Dan.
Lynch, employees of the Ashtabula Roll
ing Mill Co., called at her house, in Ply
mouth and asked for some cider, which
was given them, after which shey went
away. but within an hour two of them
returned, VIM. Welch and Dan. Lynch,
and asked for more cider. which was Civ
en- them. The men did not appear to be
intoxicated when they called for cider.
About O'Clock, Lynch and VIM. Welch
left Mrs. Sheldon's saying they were 60
ing over to James Roberts place, and
they started offln that direction,
James Roberts next testified that these
men came to his house about 5 Is p. m,
and asked for some cider, which he gave
them, Welch drinking two glasses, and
Lynch one and half They remained
here until 8 o'clock in the evening and
then started down the railroad track to-
wa rds Ashtabula. Mr.. Roberts took |
lantern and accompanied them as far as
the track. He says when he left them
they were in good spirits, and were not
so drunk but that they could walk per-
fectIy straight and had their right senses.
While this testimony was being given,
subpenas were served on Daniel Lynch |
and John Welch. Lynch was first exam
ined, and said he and Wm.l Welch started |
down the ]. & F. track towards Ply |
mouth, for walk; when they reached |
Plymouth they met John Welch, who
accompanied them TO Mrs. Sheldon's for
cider the first time, after which John /
Welch lett them and returned to Ashta-
bula. His story as TO visiting Mrs. Shell
don's and Roberts agreed with the testi- |
mony given by them; but here comes
the dark side ofhls testimony. He said he
remembered nothing from the time he
drank the glass and half of cider at
Roberts house, which was between and |
8 o'clock, until alter 10 o'clock the same
night. Roberts claimed they were In their
right mind when they left him at the
railroad So that leaves about five hours
that Lynch cannot account for, during
which time his companion, VIM. Welch,
was killed.
The deceased has been employed as a
puddler, at the rolling mill during the
past three or lour months. He was about
% years of age, and for the last six weeks
has drank nothing stronger than beer
and cider. he had no money or valua-
bles in his possession, and was regarded |
by his fellow workmen as an inoffensive |
man.
Several more witnesses are to appear |
this friday morning before the coroner's |
jury, when it is hoped the jury can come |
TO decision as to the cause of the death. |
LATER.
Since the above was in type the engi- |
neer of train No. 2s has returned who
says he saw the man lying across the
track, but not in time TO stop the train.
Whether the man was dead or lying in a
drunken state is a difficult matter to de-
eide.
RARBOR AND MARINE.
The ice in the creek is all broken up
and as soon as the ice at the mouth of
the harbor moves out the creek will be
free. -
The Cleveland and Detroit lima oF