The Kadoka press and Kadoka reporter. [volume] (Kadoka, S.D.) 1910-1923, 1923-03-16
HIT BY TRAIN
Fred Hartwig Victim of Crossing
Accident Friday and Dies At Hos
pitaI the Following Day

Inc 1OllOWlnS account Oh Lnc ac
cident which cost Fred Hartwig, :
former Kadoka resident, his lie i!
taken from the Perham, Minnesota
Enterprise Bulletin:
Another narrowing acciden'
Friday AIDED to the sister reputa
tion of the Dover crossing, whe
Fred Hartwig of Pine Lake Tow
was fatally injured by a section oil
No. 2 passenger east bound. Es
Gaping the instant death which ov
ertook the horses Mr.. Hartwig liv
ed, although terribly injured, unit
1l:15 o'clock the following morn.
ing, when he passed from life.
The accident was one of those
avoidable mischances which an ap-
parontly malignant combination OF
circumstances sometimes produce
Primarily the accident resulted
from the fact that there is no gate
man in the tower during the moor
a iact of which many people
are not aware. and of which, in all
probability the victim did not have
hnowIeuge. Another contributing
cause is the policy which the rail.
road company pursues of putting
the fast trains through the village
DIT maximum speed. The third con-
tributing factor was the lack OF
precaution of the victim in ap.
preaching the track.
Several persons witnessed the
accident and all gave about tho
same version. Carl jain who was
going home to diner saw it from
the crossing at the Flagg oil sta.
tion.
II heard the train whistle" said
Mr.. jain, "and when | reached
III ecrossing ! looked up toward
the track. The sled was then ap-
preaching the crossing, going slow
ly. I noticed the driver was stand
ing in about the middle of the box,
With his collar turned up and his
back to the wind, the direction
from which the flyer was approach
ing. thought to myself that the
driver must either quicken his pace
or stop or he would probably get
on the crossing about the time the
flyer arrived. Apparently he did
not hear the train for he drove
right onto the track. The eng ne
whistled sharpely. and then there
was a crash and an upeaval OF
horses and sled and then steam hid
the scene. | did not see which way
the driver went. When ] got over
there we found him lying with his
head on the rail of the sidetrack
and under one of te runners of the
sled. I could not tell whether he
had made any attempt to stop or
turn off the track or whether he
saw the train in time to do any
thing.
Richard Fischer was approach
ing from the opposite direction,
having left his home on the corner
a short block north of the cross
ing to come down town. He was
near the corner of the Marckel
lumber sheds when the crash came
Mr.. Fischer said: Il heard the
train whistle somewhere on the
the other side of the station. The
driver of the team did not appar.
emily hear anything and drov,
straight ahead onto the track. As
the train shot into view the horses
swerved away from the engine and
the pilot hit them from the rear
What happened to the driver and
sled was cut off from my view by
the train"
The accident was also seen by
w. E. Flagg and John Pokeswinski
The crash was heard by many ir
the neighborhood. Hartwig was
picked up and carried to the city
hall, and a physician summoned
He was then removed to the hospit.
al His left arm waas broken ir
two places, the bones being reduc.
nd to bits and his left leg was also
frartured at the hip AMI above tht
ankle. In addition he had sever;'l
broken ribs and his skull was fra
ctured. It was apparent that he
had very little rhancc for recove :,
and death came the following ds
i, from shock.
The horses were disembowled anc
their entrails scattered all ovel
the engine, the front of which was
dyed with blood. One horse was
carried on the pilot as far as the
Perhad Mill before it was cast as
ide. The sled was sdashed but no,
as badly as might have been expec
ted.
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