Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1905-08-07
MANGLED TO DEATH
HAYES SHUMPERT, A NEGRO.
RUN OVER BY COTTON
BELT ENGINE
Was Not Seen by Any Of the Crew
Till the Locomotive Had Passed
Over Him.

Mangled by the heavy wheels Of a
switch engine in the Cotton Belt
yards, with both feet cut nearly off
and probably suffering from internal
was rescued from his position under
the trucks of the big engine, only to
die in just twelve minutes after being
taken out The accident occurred be-
tween 3 and o'clock Sunday morn
ing. Coroner r. D. McGaughy sum-
moned a jury and held an inquest
over the remains, which had been TAX
en- to Ralph Robinson's undertaking
establishment, soon after the acct
dent; and the jury's verdict was that
'the deceased came to his death by
being run over by engine 224, in the
Cotton Belt yards. while lying on the
tracks of the aforesaid railrOad''
Shumpert was about forty years Of
age, and was resident of this city,
where he has several relatives living
The manner of his death is shrouded
in some mystery: for. while it is
known that the engine ran over his
body, there is difference of opinion
as to whether or not his injuries
would have caused death so quickly.
The evidence adduced at the inquis-
ton over his remains showed that
he was lying down in the center of
the tracks when he was run over by
the engine. He was dragge. about
ten feet. and when taken out from
under the wheels was gasping his last
breath, dying in twelve minutes after
being run over. When the rescuers
reached him, they found quart bot
tie standing perfectly upright and held
in position between his arm and body.
The bottle had contained gin but was
perfectly empty when discovered.
This fact led to the belief that the
man was drunk at the time he lay
down on the tracks.
Among the witnesses examined at
the coroners inquest were Engineer
Simpson, Head Brakeman Jackson
and Conductor Rogers of the Cotton
Belt. who were with the train which
ran over the man. The engineer stat
ed that the first intimation of the ac-
,;I /, 1,oI
brakeman called out TO him to stop
the train, as someone had been run
over The train was stopped almost
instantly. as it was going only about
two miles an hour and was heading
into a switch at the time. When he
reached the front Of the tender. he
found that the man had been run
over by the front wheels of the en-
sine. the cowcatcher having evident
ly cleared his body. After some little
difficulty the man was taken out from
under the engine. One foot was cut
off and the other practically so, and
the man was gasping for breath, and
lived only a few minutes after being
rescued.
Jackson said that he saw the bod,
lying in the center of the tracks just
prier to being run over, and called out
instantly to the engineer to stop the
train. He saw the heavy engine bear
down upon the PROSTATE man, and
could see the cowcatcher just turn
his head over as it struck him. Then
the headlight fell away from him, as
the train was turning a curve in 60
ing into the SWITCH and it became so
dark that he couldn't see anything
more. Only one wheel of the engine
ran over him.
Conductor Rogers could tell nothing
about the accident, as he was in his
caboose at the time: but testified to
the man having the bottle under his
arm after he was rescued. He went
to the Third avenue hotel and called
up the officers.
Shumpert was buried Sunday after
noon: Very little could be ascertain
Cd about the man. beyond the fact
t'at he lived here and had relatives
- the city. The efforts of the coroner
to ascertain where he had been on
:-l~ 4.