BURKE, John – Died 1899

BURKE

Posted By: Joy Moore (email)
Date: 9/30/2020 at 10:03:34

Source: Decorah Republican July 6, 1899 P 8 C 2

Jumped to his Death.
Waterloo, July 3.—John Burke, a well known and greatly esteemed resident of this city, is dead as the result of leaping from a fast moving Illinois Central train Sunday evening. He was returning with a number of members of Canton the Cresent who went to Manchester to attend the funeral of Dr. J. T. Abbott. When the train whistled for the city limits and slackened its speed at the belt line switch, he went out onto the platform and jumped from the train. His home is but a short distance from where he jumped. His friends feared for his safety, as the train was running at the rate of twenty- five miles an hour. When the depot was reached a switch engine was sent back and Mr. Burke was found unconscious beside the track. No bones were broken and there were no signs of internal injuries. He never recovered consciousness, however and died an hour later. His body was completely paralyzed from the shock to the spinal cord and brain. He leaves a wife and six children.