The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1898-02-10
KILLED At A CROSSING
MANGLED REMAINS OF 4 FATHER
AND soN DISCOVERED
Struck by the Fast Express on the
VandaIia Trainfnen Thought
They Had Killed "a COW.

Adds Hawkins fifty-five years old, and
his son George, twenty-five years Old were
killed yesterday morning at the place
known as Wright's crossing, about a mile
and half east of Ben Davis ard about
three and one-half miles west of this city
They were driving in Il top buggy from
their home in Ben Davis to this city AMI
were struck by east-bound Vandalia pas
senger train No. g. due here at $40 o'clock
There was no witness to the accident, but
there was no trouble to understand how IT
occurred. Albert Wright, a farmer and
dairyman living near the railroad CROSSING
was first to discover the bodies of the men,
and he notified the coroner and police of
this city. A special train. consisting of
locomotive, caboose and coach, was put at
the disposal Of the officials by the railroad,
and at $50 O'Clock Coroner Brayton, Po-
lice Captain Dawson and Patrolmen Bus
kirk Cox and Leppert went to the place of
the accident. A score or more of people
had collected there by the time the train
reached the spot. Lying in the trench on
the north side OF the track within a few
feet of each other were the bodies of the
two men. They were fully $50 feet from the
crossing. From the blood and pieces of
clothing it was evident the men had been
Knocked fifty feet at first and then struck
again and again, and finally rolled off the
track altogether. The remarkable circum-
stance is that neither body was mangled.
The only outward indication of their in
jurieS was a hole in the back of each head.
On a closer examination it was found that
the elder man had suffered a broken neck
and the younger had one arm broken. The
younger mans skull was terribly fractured.
The bodies were taken aboard the train
and carried to Ben Davis and to the neat
home which had been theirs in life. Mrs.
Hawkins, the wife and mother, and Mrs.
Carrie Pearson, a daughters and sister of the
dead men, had already been informed of the
sad fate of their dear ones, and were al
most crazed with grief Their grief was
more than the hardened policemen could
endure without being affected.
The train was in charge of Conductor j.
r. Hughes and Engineer Michael Barry
They did not know what had happened and
did not stop the train. report was made,
on reaching the city, however, that they
had struck something, presumably a COW.
The train was running at the rate of about
sixty miles an hour.
The fate of the horse and buggy were the
cause of considerable speculation by those
who were at the scene of the accident. The
body of the horse was found between the
roadway and fence on the opposite side
of the track from the bodies of the
men. 1t had' been carried almost as
far as the men and was mangled
considerably. About forty feet from
where the horse was struck it's heart
was found lying beside the track. The
horse had evidently been thrown into the
air ahead Of the train and had alighted on
the track in front of the engine at the point
where its heart was torn out. The buggy
was smashed into splinters and the pieces
scattered for a hundred yards.
Coroner Brayton was not inclined to ex-
press an opinion as to whether the train
men were careless. He was not able to find
any one who was willing to say the en-
gineer did not sound the whistle, though
those living near the crossing did not re-
member hearing it. The crossing is con-
sidered a dangerous one, and the people liv-
ing west of the city who come in that way
complain that the trainmen are nearly al
ways careless in coming into the city. From
Ben Davis to the Belt road it is down
grade, and some of the trains run at dam
gerous speed. Train No. had not stopped
since II left GreencaStle, and some who
noticed it claim it was running faster than
the fast trains usually run. Three people
VINO I'VE within a hundred yards of the rail-
road in the vicinity Of Wright's crossing
are positive that the whistle of No. did
not blow yesterday morning.
Persons coming into the city by way of
this crossing have to depend almost entirely
on the whistle to know of the approach of
a train from the west, for while the cross
ing is an open one on the east and on
the west for persons going the other way, it
Is not so on the west for persons coming
this way. There is a little piece of tim
bered land short distance from the road.
There have been accidents there before.
About fVe years ago a Vandalia engineer
was killed there He had been out west of
the city to buy farm, and returning was
caught at this crossing by fast train due
here at 2:3O o'clock in the afternoon. Per-
sons coming that way into the city say they
have had narrow escapes.
The accident yesterday occurred at $50
O'Clock. The Hawxinses were in the habit
of coming to the city every morning at this
hour. While they were well-to-do people,
owning tract of valuable land at Ben
Davis and some rental property in this city,
they went daily to work in this city. The
father was a cooper and was employed in
Haughville. George Hawkins was molder
and worked for Nordyke & Marmon.
George Hawkins was single and lived with
his father and mother at Ben Davis The
survivors of Adds Hawkins's family are his
wife and daughter