Piqua Daily Call

Friday, November 26, 1915  

MOTOR TRUCK HIT BY P. R. R. TRAIN; CHAUFFEUR MAY LOSE HIS LIFE

 William Snyder, of Piqua, Dangerously Injured at Gettysburg Today.

 CAUGHT ON CROSSING BY TRAIN RUNNING LATE

PIQUAD’S HEAD CRUSHED AND BOTH HIS LEGS REPORTED BROKEN IN ACCIDENT  

William Snyder, chauffeur for the W. H. Armstrong Company, of this city, was dangerously and possibly fatally injured about noon today at Gettysburg.  The motor truck was struck by the west bound Pennsylvania R.R. mail train due in Piqua at 10:13 a.m.  The train was running about an hour late.  The details of the accident that have been received here are meager, Snyder was on his way to Greenville taking a load of goods that had been sold by the W. H. Armstrong Company to Greenville merchants.  It is assumed that Snyder not knowing the train was late attempted to cross and was struck.  The truck was completely wrecked.  The information that came to Piqua immediately following the accident was that both of Snyder’s legs were broken and that his skull was crushed. The Pennsylvania R. R. officials at Bradford made up a special train to bring Snyder to Piqua where he could be taken to the hospital. The injured man was brought to Piqua at 2:30 p. m. and taken without delay to the memorial hospital.  His condition was then very serious. Although dangerously injured Snyder when placed on the operation table was conscious.  He was in great pain and the surgeons found it necessary to place him on the table at once. Snyder was in no condition to give an account of the accident.  Railroad men believe Snyder, who must be familiar with the Pennsylvania time table, thought the west bound mail had passed.  He did not know of it being an hour late.  East of Gettysburg there is a sharp curve and Snyder no doubt, drove the motor truck onto the tracks just as the fast train bore down on him.  The motor truck was struck in the center, Snyder was thrown many feet.  The truck and $1,000 worth of merchandise were scattered in every direction. Snyder is 48 years old and resides east of Piqua on the lower Urbana pike.  He has a wife and nine children, the youngest is two years old. Snyder was looked upon as a very careful driver. Mr. Harry Armstrong, Mr. Will Ramsey, and an employee left for Gettysburg in an automobile to save what could be had from the wreckage. Mr. W. H. Armstrong received a telephone message from his son, Harry, at Gettsyburg late this afternoon stating the motor truck had been smashed to pieces, and that there was practically no salvage either from the truck itself or the goods it carried.

 Piqua Daily Call

Saturday, November 27, 1915

PASSES INTO ETERNITY

William M. Snyder Dies of Injuries Received Near Gettysburg.  

TRAIN WAS RUNNING AT 90 MILES AN HOUR

WRECKAGE OF TRUCK SHOW FORCE WITH WHICH IT WAS STRUCK BY ENGINE  

William M. Snyder, who was seriously injured yesterday noon when, near Gettysburg, the Wm. H. Armstrong motor-truck was struck by Pennsylvania R. R. west bound mail train, No. 45, which was running one hour late, died at the Memorial hospital early last evening. Snyder’s death was due to shock.  Up until death occurred the injured man was in a conscious condition.  Two minutes before death Dr. J. H. Baker spoke to Snyder and asked him if he had much pain? Snyder replied: “I am not suffering from pain, but I cannot get my breath.” Snyder’s injuries were both internal and external.  The left leg, both flesh and bone, was mashed between the ankle and knee.  The bone was simply ground through the flesh.  If Snyder could have recovered amputation of the limb would have been necessary. The right leg was badly bruised up as far as knee.  The ankle was fractured. Four ribs on the left side were fractured while a deep gash, two inches long, extended along the back of the head.  Both eyes were badly swollen. The lungs, no doubt, were ruptured and crushed.  Mr. Snyder’s condition indicated that he had been badly squeezed.  His arms were not injured.

     At Ninety Miles An Hour

 The mail train was running 90 miles an hour when it crashed into the motor truck.  The train, which was an hour late, was making up time. Mr. William H. Armstrong is of the opinion that Snyder had looked up and down the track as the road crosses the rails on an angle.  The accident occurred west of Gettysburg and when Snyder looked east & west no train was in sight.  Believing himself safe he drove onto the west bound track. The wrecked condition of the truck seems to disprove the assertion made by a Greenville paper that Snyder ran into the engine.  The front of the truck was twisted in a manner which indicated that the engine had struck the machine just behind the front wheels.  The body was torn to pieces and the motor was lifted out of the frame and hurled over a fence into a corn field.  Snyder was hurled out of the car and thrown with terrific force against a telephone pole. Merchandise and the debris of the car were scattered along the track and over the adjoining fields.  An attempt to save any substantial part of the goods was a failure.  The salvage will not amount to more than $100 while the value of the stock was $1,000. Mr. Armstrong places no responsibility upon Snyder for the accident.  The former considered Snyder as one of the most careful drivers in the city.  He was conscientious in his work and was always working for the firm’s best interest. A short time following Mr. Snyder’s death, Mrs. Snyder and four of their children arrived at the hospital.  The scene that followed was most pitiful and those that witnessed it will remember the incident as long as they live. In this community and in the community in which Mr. Snyder lived he was respected by all.  Of a very quiet disposition he made no effort to push himself forward but his acquaintance was large because of this manner in spreading friendship where ever he visited.  William M. Snyder was born in Springcreek township on March 8, 1868, a son of Mr. and Mrs. W. D. Snyder.  For 13 years he taught in schools in the townships of this county.  For somewhat more than three years he had been in the employ of Mr. W. H. Armstrong.  In this service he proved himself a faithful, careful, competent, painstaking employee.  He was not a man demonstrative by nature but it was a characteristic of him always to do his work well. For about 20 years he had been a member of the First Christian church of this city.  He placed his name upon the church roll during the pastorate of Dr. S. S. Newhouse, now of Defiance. Mr. Snyder is survived by his widow and nine children, five sons and four daughters.  The youngest of the children is but three weeks old.  Surviving also are two brothers, Mr. Ward Snyder, of Springcreek township, and Mr. Warren Snyder, of this city, and four sisters, Mrs. Louisa Wolf, of Dayton, Mrs. Susie Gerst, of Lucasville, Mrs. Bertha Niswander, of Toledo and Mrs. Lillie Paxon, of this city.  The funeral will be held on Tuesday morning at 10 o’clock at his late home on the south Urbana pike.  The service will be in charge of the Rev. W. J. Young, pastor of the First Christian church.  Interment in Forest Hill cemetery.

The Greenville Advocate gives the following account of the accident.  It says:

 "The Pennsylvania mail train, that is due in this city between eleven and twelve o’clock noon, ran into an automobile truck at the crossing just this side of Gettysburg, about 11:55 Friday morning, fatally injuring the driver, W. M. Snyder, of Piqua, and almost totally destroying the machine. “The Mail train was running about twenty minutes late was going at a speed of from 60 to 65 miles per hour. “As the train neared the crossing, which is about a quarter of a mile west of Gettysburg, and crosses the Pan Handle at an angle, the engineer noticed the big yellow automobile moving along the pike and was sure that the machine was going to slow down to allow the train to pass, as the whistle had been sounded for the crossing.  The engineer was horrified when he saw that the driver of the big truck had paid no attention to his warning and saw that it was impossible to keep from hitting the machine.  The air was applied but it was too late, and the locomotive hit with a terrible crash, knocking the truck and its driver about forty feet. “The driver of the machine, W. M. Snyder, was picked up and it was found that he was terribly injured.  His left leg was badly broken, he was injured internally and sustained injuries about the head and face. “The injured man was taken to Gettysburg where his wounds were temporarily looked after by Dr. Bigler.  A hurry call was sent to Bradford for an engine and a coach and the unfortunate man was taken to the hospital at Piqua. “It is reported that the man’s injuries are such that he can not recover. “The big auto truck was owned by W. H. Armstrong, wholesale candy dealer of Piqua, and was driven by Mr. Snyder who was making his regular trip to Greenville.  No other person was in the machine but Snyder when it was hit by the locomotive. “When the auto was hit it was knocked south and forward along the track about forty feet, the bed was knocked clear of the chassis and when it struck the ground was completely demolished and shattered in many pieces.  Reports from Piqua are that the truck contained about one thousand dollars worth of candy for local merchants and this was scattered all about the wreckage and is said to be almost a total loss. "The chassis of the truck, after the body had been knocked off, struck a large telephone pole and was totally demolished. “The locomotive on the mail train was so badly damaged that it could not be used to continue the trip and was backed back to Gettysburg and another engine secured from Bradford and passenger train No. 7 was combined with the mail train and the trip continued. “Traffic was delayed for almost two hours. “A later report is to the effect that the truck was not struck by the locomotive, but that the auto ran into the engine, striking near the steam box on the left side, this report is born out as the steam box on the engine is badly damage.”  

Provided by Roger A. Hopkins