Robert Melville McCARTY

MCCARTY, ARMSTRONG

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 2/10/2024 at 13:06:43

Robert Melville McCarty
20 April 1876 ---- 12 March 1944

Robert McCarty, 68, lost his life under the wheels of a Great Western freight train about 8:50 Sunday night. His body was discovered by a brakeman, under the train which was just starting to leave the station. The freight had taken the siding to wait for a troop train, and was headed west. When the troop train which was going east had left, the freight started on its way. The brakeman was walking north along the train when he discovered Mr. McCarty's body under the train. He stopped the train, which was held here until the coroner from Clarion made an investigation. Dr. E. D. Tompkins acting for Dr. Walker, county coroner, reported on the death certificate that death was accidental, caused by being run over by a freight train. It is apparent that the sixth car from the engine was the first to pass over the body as there were blood marks on the wheels. The body lay between the rails practically on the north sidewalk on Broadway, near the depot.

There were no witnesses to the tragedy. Agent T. L. Rogerson spent most of Sunday night investigating clues and rumors relative to how the accident occurred without results. A claim agent for the company spent Tuesday here and was able to discover nothing. The freight was not blocking the crossing, the engine having stopped just north of the Broadway sidewalk.

Mr. McCarty was placed on the pension list by the Northwestern, March 1st of this year. He had worked for the company as brakeman and conductor for nearly 46 years and was No. 1 on the conductor's seniority list when he was retired three weeks ago.

The widow and two children survive, Ronald McCarty of Needles, Calif., and Mrs. Sidney Armstrong of Ames. Funeral services will be held at the Methodist Church, today (Thursday afternoon) at 2:00 o'clock.

Eagle Grove Eagle -- Eagle Grove, Iowa
March 16, 1944