Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1908-11-13
mff1sHORRIBIf DEATH Il7Ilf FAILS lOsT|

Anton Wampa Of Swanyille
Town Killed by Train at
Bridge Crossing
A frightful accident occurred Satur-
day morning at about II o'clock when
passenger train No. Is, otherwise
known as the Winnipeg Flyer. north
honnd, ran into wagon loaded with
wood. which was being driven by
Anton Wampa of Swanville town. at
the Broadway crossing on the West
aide. demolishing the wagon, hurting
tha wood in ever direction, and caus-
;nn instant death to the man.
Passenger train No. 2, known as
tho North Coast Limited, south. bound,
was On the main line waiting for No.
"a to pull in on side track NO. l, as
customary, before 1t could proceed
ord its engine was a few rods from
the, broadway crossing. .,
The fiapman had stopped number
-, teams west OF the tracks. but
Wanna. evidently looking at No. 2.
end thinking that he could get across
fafora "a started up, not knowing that
NJ IA was pulling In, as the West
total building blocked all view and
.H;,rd n that direction. drove around
ennthar, team and started to cross the
tracks During all this time the Nag
ma. did his utmost to apprise Wampa
III his- impending peril, but TO no
agnI. and as a last resort the watch:
nan earbbed hold Of the reigns and
attampted to make the horse back up
oa. fhe, tracks. The horses had just
ciearei, the track on which the, train
wa..; approaching, when the engine
struck. the loaded wagon almost N
the center. Mr.. Wampa, was thrown
tn the rails. and the engine ran over
lis head and left shoulder, crushing it
to a, nulp, also breaking the mans loft
Lao. below the knee Strange to say,
hovever., spectacles which the man
wore at the time, were found after the
accident intact.
.Wampa had come to town with his
daughter, Mary, who got off a short
distance from the scene of the ac-
cident. which fact alone probably
kept her from sharing her fathers
fate.
The train was stopped within few
feet of where it struck the wagon. and
the mans bodv was pulled out from
under the engine and laid to one side
to await the arrival Of Coroner j. p.
Chance. who was in town at the time.
The remains were later taken to the
Simonet morgue.
The horses. by main brute strength,
were able to keep themselves from
being drawn into the mess, and they
ran towards the bridge.
Anton Wampa was born in Austria
and was IS years of age at the time
of the accident He moved to this
country AMI settled in st. Paul IS
wears ago. He moved to this county
in 1885. settling on a farm IN Swan
River. here he resided until 9 years
ago. when he moved to Swanviile
town He was married twice, having
ten children with his first wife and
three with his second wife. He is
survived by his second wife and all
his children. The latter are Peter
Steve and Tom Wampa of Oregon,
John of Duluth. Joe of Pierz. three
married daughters residing IN st.
Paul. married daughter residing IN
Elm Dale. Mrs. Alex Firkus, and Mrs.
John Setera of Culdrum, and three
girls. Mary, Victoria and Martha.
residing at home.
The sympathy Of the entire CON-
rf1unity goes out to them IN their
deem bereavement over the untimely
taking away of provident husband
and father.
The funeral was held Tuesday from
the Swan River church, burial taking
place in Swan River.
THE INQUEST.
Coroner J. P. Chance held an in
quest Teusday to ascertain the manner
in which Mr. Wampa came to his
death. The jury impanelled were
VIM. Won Domarus, Frank Duford,
DR.. S. r. Fortier, G. G.. Simmons,
Frank Whitman and Eber Beatty.
Witnesses to the accident, Jos. Nc
Guire. the flag man, L. Scheiber, Ed.
Fraser, A. A. Feuger, and Mike and
Jos, Wachlarowicz were called to
testify.
Their testimony was unanimous in
respect to the actions of Flagman Nc
Guire: that he tagged the unfortunate
man. but that Mr.. Wampa paid no
attention to the signals or that he mis-
understood them, with the result
that he lost his life.
The jury verdict follows:
THAT said Anton Wampa in at
tempting to cross the Northern Pacific
railroad tracks west of Little Falls
wagon bridge. with a team and load
of wood, came to his deaht by being
struck by engine of train No. Ii.
I'VE further find that said Anton
Wampa came to his death partly
through his fault and the insufficient
protection of the highway by the
Northern Pacific Railway company at
its crossing .-
Many time IN the past has the
suggestion been made that the railroad
company be forced to put in gates at
this crossing, as it. has always been
considered dangerous one, the hotel