August, Mrs. Charles and William Luett d 1906

LUETT, IHNS

Posted By: Sharon Elijah (email)
Date: 8/17/2017 at 11:51:04

25 October 1906 - The Clarence Sun

Lowden has had another extremely sad and horrible accident. Passenger train No. 12, eastbound, two and a half hours late, struck a team and spring wagon crossing the track a little after 6:30 Sunday evening, killing August Luett, single, his sister-in-law, Mrs. Charles Luett, and her baby boy, William, three months old. Another child, Clara 3 1/2 years of age was thrown out and escaped injury. The team was killed and the wagon badly damaged.

The sight following the accident was a horrible one. The horses received the full force of the engine and heavy train and were torn to pieces, covering the ground and engine with their entrails. The persons killed were not mangled. August Luett had some bones broken and Mrs. Luett had her collar bone broken.

The accident came about in this manner: The six members of the Luett household, who make their home southeast of Lowden, adjoining Chas. Heiner's farm, spent Sunday visiting north of the railroad and were returning home. They hesitated some about crossing the railroad on account of the horses being afraid of a freight train which had backed in on a siding, leaving the engine near the crossing. Becoming tired of waiting, Ludwig Ihns, 17 years old, a brother of Mrs. Charles Luett, went ahead a half a block or more to see if the crossing was safe. He came back and directed them to cross. This they started to do when the grandmother, Mrs. Otto Luett, stopped them while she got out. So much time was consumed that the fast train had time to run four or five miles or certainly from around the curve three miles west of Lowden. The noise, steam and smoke of the standing engine prevented them from seeing or hearing the passenger train.

The North-Western keeps a flagman at this crossing until 6:30 p.m. and he had just left his post a few moments before the accident happened.

The coroner held an inquest on Monday and the jury returned a verdict giving the cause of death about as above stated, adding that the train was running at a rate of speed much in excess of the town ordinance, and that no flagman was at the crossing.

The triple funeral was held at Wheatland on Tuesday, the baby being buried with its mother.