The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-03-20
90
WAS FOUR TINES "DEAD."
Elevated Railway EmpIOye Thrown
From Bridge, Drowned and
Frozen.
From the New York Press

Frozen.
From the New York Press.
Aztec being dead for three hours, Charles
e. Anderson, an 81" road employee,
thought it was time to go to work yester
day He will be found at his old post to-
day, in charge of the Second avenue IL"
bridge across the Harlem river Ander-
son lives at AIT Morris avenue and has
been in charge of the bridge for some
time. He thought he knew every inch of
that bridge, and that is why he was to
all intents and purposes a dead man yes
terday.
In the morning he started across, as Is
his custom in cold weather, to look over
every bolt and beam and see that the
frost hadn't caused a break. When about
halfway across a suburban train came
booming along unexpectedly. AT the point
where Anderson was standing there was
break in the railing and the ties projected
over the edge. Anderson had often no
Iced the projecting ties and made up his
mind that il would be a safe place to
stand if he were caught on the bridge
by fast train
Here was his opportunity, and he step
ped quickly aside to the ends of the ties
to permit the train to pass. But there
was something wrong in his calculation.
The speeding engine caught and tossed
him in the air. far out from the bridge
Early suburbanites, glancing out of the
frosted windows, saw a human form
against the gray sky. 1t was whirling like
top, falling in a graceful curve to the
icy waters far below. Soon the body came
TO the surface, stiff and motionless 1t
| sank and rose and sank again without
| movement or effort to save
Capt. Suffer of the tug boat H. d. Mold
pulled the body on board with a boathook.
Anderson lay stiff, icy and motionless,
| dead beyond doubt-killed by the blow
| from the engine or his fearful fan from
the high bridge, or by drowning. Long
after that, when an ambulance arrived
from the Harlem hospital the surgeon in
charge was puzzled. 1t was explained
| that the man had died from one or three
causes, If not all combined. Besides, he
was frozen stiff
deck hand on the tug rolled an empty
barrel beside the dead man and the sur
geon first tried the water cure Head
| downward, Anderson was rolled until ev-
cry particle of water was taken from the
| lungs, where IL ought not to be- Then a lot
Of whisky was poured into his stomach,
where 1t really ought 10 be. Then the dead
man sat up and guessed 1t was time to
| go to work.
Anderson, in telling his experience of
| why he didn't die three times said he lid
die four times. He said he felt as plainly
as could be that he had been killed by the
| locomotive. Then, after sailing through
space for hours, he said, he was killed
again by the awful impact of the surface
of the water Then he was drowned ana
lastly frozen. After striking the water
he said, he knew all that was going on,
but as he was already twice dead there
was no use in trying to save himself. He
| perfectly remembered taking water into
his lungs and how the icy river instantly
froze his body stiff He remembered, TOO.
of wondering at the tug boat captain look
Ing so anxiously into his face; also how
| he mutely protested to himself at the
ridiculous idea Of rolling dead man over
barrel But when he tasted that whisky
| Anderson said he knew he wasn't dead
after all, or theologlans were wrong about
| the hereafter. As he il a good church
member he thought 1t was about time to
! go to work.