66192: Tragic Motoring Accident in Chicago

Stornoway Gazette, 1929

Chicago papers to hand contain reports of a tragic accident in which a party of Lewis folk were involved. A sedan car in which five adults and three children were riding, crashed into a goods train at a level crossing, and two of the party — a man and a child — were killed outright, while four others were injured — three of them very seriously. The following is the casualty list: Dead – John Macdonald, 32 years old, 6354 Dante Avenue, a stonesetter; Donald Macaskill, 19 months old. Injured – Murdo Macaskill, 26 years old, 2 East 107th Street, a street car conductor, and father of the child killed, scalp wounds; Mrs Margaret Macaskill, 24 years old, mother of the dead child; Mrs Catherine Macdonald, 27 years old, wife of the man killed; Alex Macleod, 29 years old.

The two infant daughters of the Macdonalds escaped with minor bruises. The injuries of all the adults, except Murdo Macaskill, are critical.

The sedan was moving east in 111th Street and a flagman was at the crossing with his red lantern. He waved the light but the car swept past him, striking the driving rod of the locomotive, which was north bound at forty miles an hour.

The sedan’s front wheels locked with the locomotive mechanism and were pulled away from the car frame. The car dragged along for ten feet and was pounded to scrap before it bounded off into the ditch. Other motorists who witnessed the crash reported it to police as a train wreck. The fire department responded with five ambulances and two inhalator squads, but when the equipment reached the spot, the dead and injured had already been taken by motorists to hospital.

The man killed, John Macdonald, is a son of Mr Alexander Macdonald, Reef, Uig. His wife hails from the Point district. We have not been able to trace the Lewis connections of the Macaskills and Alexander Macleod.