ACCIDENT--NARROW ESCAPE.--On last Thursday afternoon a special train, bringing a number of men to guard bridges, &c., on the Catawissa Road, stopped at our depot for supplies and reinforcements from Tamaqua. After Squire Conrad had administered the oath to them, they passed into the car and found themselves under the command of Officer Churchill. The signal was given and the train started out and was soon running at a lively rate. It is usual for an engineer running a special train to blow his whistle frequently so as to warn others who may occupy the track. At Mintzer's Switch a lot of repairmen had their truck on the track, when suddenly they heard the train coming, jerked the truck half way off, when the engine struck it, knocking it in pieces. The engine jumped the track and rolled over down the bank on the right side, while the car containing the guards tipped over towards the mountain side. Then ensued a scene of the direst confusion, the men were uninjured, in fact no one was hurt, with the exception of Wm. Parkinson, who was bruised at the leg, and H. K. Nicholls whose arm suffered an abrasion. D. R. Boyer, assistant dispatcher, first noticed the engine jumping the track, and he said to Mr. Nicholls, "Harry we're gone up," when both gentlemen grabbed hold of the seats to hold themselves. After the train had so suddenly stopped, the men not knowing what caused the "run off," cocked their guns to do some shooting, as they were under the impression that their train had been thrown off the track by the strikers, and as some men were from Pottsville, and others from Tamaqua, and unacquainted with each other they came very near pitching into each other. Mr. Nicholls remained perfectly cool, and ordered the men to preserve order and keep cool, and he was the last man to leave the car. Col. Wynkoop also did not show any trepidation, while the men were ready for a fight in a moment. It is almost a miracle that none of them were not seriously, if not fatally, injured.

Source:

Unknown, "Accident--Narrow Escape," The Tamaqua Courier, Tamaqua, Schuylkill County, Pa., Saturday, 4 August 1877, page 3, col. 3.