Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-09-12
MEETS DEATH
WHILE ON DUTY
Hugh S. Murphy, Railway En-
gineer, Crushed Under Engine.
CORONER HOLDS INQUEST
Engineer Might Have Saved His Life
by Deserving Post.
ACCIDENT ON SHARP CURVE
Fidelity tosDuty Displayed by, Muir.
ply and His Fireman Latter !,
Slightly Injured.


accident. The inquest. which was in prog
ress at late hour this afternoon, is being
conducted by Coroner hewitt
Engineer Murphy stuck to his post when
the locomotive left the rails The engine,
which was drawing a heavy passenger train
bound for Jacksonville, Fla, turned almost
half way around after jumping the track
and fell over on the right side. AS soon as
the jagrins motion and grating sound in
formed the trainmen of the accident, Engi-
neer Murphy reversed the lever and applied
the safety brakes.
When the, locomotive careened he was
doing all in his power to reduce the speed
of the train. which was not more than
eight or ten miles an hour. Neither he nor
the fireman JOS. Reynolds. also of Alexan-
dria. made any attempt to jump from the
cab before the derailment 1t is declared
that the engineer might have saved his life
Pinned Under Machinery.
When the engine turned over Murphy
was pinned under the machinery. and was
Immediately subjected to an overwhelming
volume of scalding steam, escaping from a
broken valve in the cab. 1t was probably
not more than five minutes before the rusa
of blistering vapor had ceased, but in that
time the unfortunate engineer had received
1rightful injuries. The implnging parts OF
the engine held his body so tightly that 1t
was impossible for him to be remove
without the aid Of mechanical appliances.
ana IT was about an hour before he was
released from his terrible position. The
engine was finally raised by wrecking
train OF the Pennsylvania line and the in
1ured man was conveyed to the Emergency
hospital At the time he was taken out or
the wreck he was In a moribund condi-
ton. His death occurred about o o'clock
nfteen minutes after he had reached the
institution.
Train No. 3d. which is one of the fastest
on the Southern railway, Is scheduled to
leave this city at 7:3O O'Clock pm and to
arrive at Jacksonville at O'clock the fol-
lowing evening. Last night 1t pulled out
OF the 9th street station on time and was
getting up speed sufficient to enable 1t to
run the high grade on Maryland avenue
when the accident occurred Before leav-
ing the station Engineer Murphy had made
the usual arrangements preliminary to a
start Just before receiving the signal from
the conductor he had asked Fireman Rey-
nolds if he was ready The latter replied
that he was. and the start was made. This
was the last word which passed between
the fireman and the engineer. The latter
did not call to Reynolds to jump. as has
been stated. and did not carry on a con-
versation with bystanders while he was
pinned under the engine.
Wheels Leave the Rails.
AS the locomotive struck the curve lead
ing to the south the front wheels left the
rails. In moment or two the engine had
turned abruptly across the track, so that
the cowcatcher was pointing in a north
easterly direction. Under it's great momen-
tum. added to the pressure of the oncoming
cars, the engine, together with the tender
was thrown over to the right. that it
was almost resting its top. AS soon
as it went over the lights in the cab were
extinguiShed.
Fireman Reynolds was thrown down on
his hands and knees. He was struck by
flying pieces of coal and burnt slightly by
the escaping steam. but he managed to
climb out of the. side of the cab which was
on top. Starting at once to search for the
engineer he located the latter in few min
utes under the engine. Together with Con-
ductor James Maggie, who, though not in
charge of the train had been aboard. the
fireman attempted to pull Murphy out from
under the mass, but the task was impossi-
BILE. BY that time the locomotive was sur
rounded by big crowd. which was aug
mented within fifteen or twenty minutes by
the arrival Of men from the fire department
An ambulance with doctors from the Elmer
gency Hospital also arrived about that time.
Before the unfortunate man was released
he was given medical attention which in a
measure alleviated his suffering.
1t is asserted that the engineer was un-
able to utter word after the accident
When he was reached by the fireman and
while the latter was making Intellectual eff
forts to release him Murphy replied only in
groans to what was said to him. He was
able to drink a few draughts of water.
which seemed to diminish his pain. When
he was removed to the ambulance his
clothes were still smoking from the steam.
His face and head had been terribly scorch-
ed and his right leg mangled Death was
due to shock.
Though painfully bruised and battered,
Fireman. Reynolds was able to go unas-
sisted to the home of Mrs. Leake at SO4
T,,1yo ctr Low n6rfo txyho he
lodging. His native home Is Roanoke Va.
He has been in the service of the Southern
railway for several years and has an ex-
cellent record as a fireman.
Sixteen Years in Service.
Mr.. Murphy was about thirty-fve years
of age and lived with his wife and three
little children at 91S King street. He had
been in the employ of the Southern road
about sixteen years. being regarded as one
Of the most capable and trustworthy en-
gineers on the road. He was highly es-.
teemed by large number of friends in
Alexandria, where his tragic death is deep
ly regretted.
officials of the railroad have been inves-.
tigating the accident today with view of
determining the cause. 1t has been -sug-
gested from the appearance of the rails that
the drag of the heavy train. coupled with
the strain on the curve caused the track to
spread. thus releasing the front wheels of
the locomotive.
Among the first outside of the train crew
and passengers to know Of the accident was
H. T. Ireland. a fagman in the employ of
the Pennsylvania road. Seeing that the
engine had turned over he at once tele-
phoned to Train Dispatcher Runkle at the
Pennsylvania station telling him of what
had happened and asking for assistance.
Ireland with several others secured n.y.
,draulic jack to assist in the efforts to re-
lease the engineer but. he alleges. he was
prevented from carrying out his purpose
by the police.
Soon after the accident some one turned
in fire alarm and number of fire COM
panies responded, assisting the police in
preventing the spectators from crowding
too close to the engine. The baggage car
nearest to the engine left the track, but was
not overturned. The baggagemaster and
others in the coach escaped injury. AS is
usually the case the train was well filled
with passengers, only a few. of whom, ii