Barsch, Albert c1881 - 1903

BARSCH

Posted By: Joy Moore (email)
Date: 5/19/2024 at 21:00:43

Source: Decorah Republican Nov. 26, 1903 Page 2 Col 5

ANOTHER RAILROAD DEATH.
Albert Barsch Looses His Life While Riding the Rods under the Rock Island mail car.
The remains of Albert Barsch, news of whose death was received last week by his brother, Ernest Barsch, were brought to Decorah Thursday and the funeral held Friday. Deceased was a young man about twenty-two years old and quite well known here through his connection as an employe with the cigar factories of Decorah. From the accounts it appears that he had been working at Maynard until Saturday, the 14th, when he and Enos Brekke decided to go to Dubuque. Brekke got on the blind end of the mail car of the Rock Island passenger and Barsch swung under the car onto the rods. When Oelwein was reached Barsch was missing and Brekke started back to see if he could find him. He walked all the way to Maynard but found no trace of his companion. Not until Tuesday following was Barsch found, and then his dead body was discovered by section men, lying down an embankment by the track. The body was frozen and the skull crushed, and a bruise showed on the left temple. Whether death was instantaneous and the body was thrown where found by the momentum of the train is not known, but his relatives are inclined to the belief that he was not killed instantly but crawled where he died.
Barsch’s home was at Preston, Minn., and his parents and other relatives were here to attend the funeral.