The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1895-12-03
HOW HE MET DEATH
The Inquest on the Body Of Switch
man Samuel P. Young.
1T WAS A SAD ACCIDENT
Just How He Came to Be Under
the Wheels Is a Mystery-The
Railroad Company Is
Not to Blame.

The inquest on the body of Samuel p.
Young, the Montana Union switchman
who was killed Friday afternoon, was
held at the Butte undertaking rooms yes
terday afternoon before Judge Turner,
acting coroner. Deputy County Attorney
Mattison conducted the examination OF
witnesses and George Haldorn examined
them in the interests of the railroad COM
pany. The testimony was not at all con-
elusive and the exact manner in which
Young met his death is still a matter of
conjecture. as there were no eyewitness
es to the accident
Ed Parker, the switchman who was
working with Young, testified that they
had pulled about Is cars out OF the main
track to switch them and the first car 10
be set out was to be kicked down the
main line. Patsy Shea, the engine fore
man, raised the lever on the automatic
coupler to cut the car out, but the pin
did not pull out, and when the stop Sig
nal was given all of the cars stopped.
Parker then went back to cut the car
out. and raised the pin with his hand
and gave the stop signal. As Parker
was pulling the pin Young ran along on
the north side of the train. He was sup
posed to follow the car that was cut out.
and he had time to reach the end of the
car while Parker. was pulling the pin.
The witness did not see Young again until
after he had been pulled out from under
the wheels. 1t was his belief that Young
had seized one OF the hand-holds on the
end OF the car and jumped upon the
brakebeam and had fallen off a moment
later under the wheels. He thought that
the car had run upon him and then back
ed Off, as 1t did not have sufficient mo-
mentum to run clear over him. Parker
said that the car did not run more than
is feet after 1t was cut off and that its
speed did not exceed two miles an hour
If the Jenney automatic coupler had
worked at the first attempt to cut the
car out there would'have been no acct
dent" said the witness. " 1t very fire.
quently happens that the automatic cou-
pier fails to work. The automatic cou-
pier Is supposed to be an Improvement on
the old style of coupling cars and 1t is
when II works"
Parker's story of how the accident oc-
CURED was corroborated in every SUBJ
stantial detail by Patsy Shea, the engine
foreman, Joseph Plunkett. the engi-
neer, and III. c. Gray, the other switch
man with the train.
Shea said that Young had just gone to
work for the Montana Union on the day
of the accident.
s. III. Douglas. a Union Pacific freight
conductor. testified that as he stepped
out of his caboose to go up town he saw
Young under the wheels of a freight car
that was standing entirely alone. The
wheel was close up against his thigh and
ne was lying on his left side with his
left arm over and around the brakebeam.
IL looked as though the wheel had run
up on him and then backed Off. Douglas
called James Barber. one OF his brake
men. out OF the caboose. and they pulled
the injured man out from under the car.
Young told them that he fell off of the
car and that he didn't know how he hap
pened to fall Barber thought that he
fell from the top OF the car
The jury returned verdict of acciden-
tai death, which exonerated the railroad
company from any blame in the matter.