A man made a rush to board a train as it was moving away from the depot, but realizing that he could not pull it off, jumps off the side of the moving train and strikes the ground head first, narrowly missing the wheels.
Under the Wheels
May 22, 1900. — The crowd that lined the depot platform when No. 3 was leaving Laramie at 1:35 this afternoon witnessed with bated breath the narrow escape of a man from having his body cut in two by the wheels of a big Pullman sleeper.
“Boss” Kennedy, as his friends among the spectators called him, the manager of the boarding house for section men at Howell, was the unfortunate individual who came so perilously near being run over, and who injuries may yet prove fatal, though Dr. Stevens thinks he will recover in time.
His real name is Peter Kennedy and he is well known in this city, where he has a daughter, Miss Rose Kennedy, attending the university.
Mr. Kennedy was intending to take the train for home, but delayed getting on board until it was well under way and going at considerable speed.
He made a spring for the steps of the Pullman, but the doors of the vestibule had been closed and seeing he could not get in he apparently attempted to jump off to wait for another car.
He fell and struck the ground on his head and shoulders. The next instant the projecting boxes of the truck struck him and rolled him over in such a manner that his head and neck were across the rail and his body was swinging toward the center of the track.
At this critical juncture, James Duffey, a stalwart lineman on the hill district, with a promptness and presence of mind that was wonderful, grasped Mr. Kennedy by one of his ankles and jerked him from beneath the car, just as the second truck was close on him and all had given him up for lost.
The victim, who was unconscious from the shock, seemed to suffer most in his head, but there were no bleeding cuts visible and Dr. Stevens was hurriedly summoned, the patient in the meantime being carried to the baggage room on a stretcher.
The doctor found that his collar bone had been broken and that he had received numerous severe bruises, and, as soon as consciousness was restored, had him removed to the home of M.H. Murphy, where he is receiving the best of care.
Mr. Kennedy is about 48 years of age and being a man of strong constitution may bear his injuries better than was at first supposed. He will, at all events, never come closer to death and live to hear the story told.
But for Mr. Duffey’s timely aid he would not have escaped this time, as all other witnesses were too nearly paralyzed to know what to do, even if they had been strong enough to do it.
Source: The Laramie Republican. (Laramie, Wyo.), 22 May 1900.
