Death Of Wm Parker - 1897

 

From the Salisbury Advertiser July 24, 1897

YOUNG MAN KILLED

Horribly Mangled By a Freight Train Which He Fell Under In An Attempt To Board

A most distressing and fatal accident occurred last Tuesday afternoon on the N. Y. P. & N. railroad in Salisbury near the crossing of the B. C. & A. railway.

Wm. Parker, of Delmar, and a companion, whose name is Lowe, were in Salisbury, and they expected to return to Delmar on the last afternoon passenger train going north. Some business matters kept them down town longer than they expected, and before they reached the station that train had gone.

A special freight train leaves here each afternoon between five and six o’clock, but does not take passengers. Parker and his companion preceded this train up the road to the B. C. & A. crossing where they awaited the train’s arrival, and as she passed by moving at the rate of a dozen or more miles per hour, they attempted to get on board. Parker was thrown under the train and his body was fearfully mutilated. His right leg was cut off at the hip and was picked up several feet from his body. His left leg was cut off between the hip and knee and also at the ankle. The right hand was ground into a shapeless mass of human flesh.

Drs. Slemons & Morris were summoned and speedily reached the scene of the distressing accident. Parker was conscious and requested the physicians to administer something to prevent pain. His torn and severed body was placed on the floor of the freight house where sympathetic neighbors strove to lessen the agony of his expiring hours. It was nearly seven o’clock, over two hours before death brought a welcome relief to his suffering. Until his death the sufferer was conscious and spoke tenderly of his mother.

The victim was twenty-five years old and the son of Scott Parker, Esq., of Delmar, where his remains was taken for interment. He was unmarried, but it is stated, was engaged to a young lady whom he expected to wed, in a very short time. A number of people witnessed the tragedy in which Parker lost his life, and as the accident occurred, the poor fellow was heard to cry “God have mercy on my soul”.

Justice Trader summoned a jury of inquest, with E. S. Adkins as foreman. The jury exonerated the railroad company.

Parker’s death is one of many that happen in the same way, and the wonder is that people have not taken warning. His companion just barely escaped a similar fate. Boarding a train in motion is always attended with great danger. Moreover there is a law which makes it a misdemeanor.