Injured Man Valley Forge Will Recover

1912.07.31 DR

Reading Engineer Injured
By False Work at Station
Now Being Erected
at Valley Forge,
Hitting Head on
Same
Injured Man is Brought to
Phoenixville Hospital;
and Though Seriously
Hurt, It is Believed He
Will Recover.

William Stange (?), of Cressona, Pa., an
engineer on the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad,
was rendered unconscious this
morning when his head came in contact
with some false work on the new station
which is being erected at Valley Forge.
He is now at the Phoenixville Hospital,
and although he is not yet out
of the danger zone his chances for
recovery are thought to be very good.
Stange is the engineer of the mixed
freight and coal train, which passes
through Valley Forge, northward bound
about 4:30 o'clock each morning. How
it is that he failed to see or at least
remember the false work which he
passed by on his way to the city each
day, he cannot figure out. It is thought,
however, because of the curve which
he was approaching, he thrust his head
out of the window to gain a better view
ahead and he received the knock before
he could withdraw his cranium.
The train had not proceeded far before
the fireman noticed that something
was wrong in the cab, and his investigation
resulted in the finding of the
unconscious man lying on the seat, with
blood streaming down his face from
half a dozen cuts. He at once opened
up the throttle wide and made full
haste to the local station.
A telephone call from the local station
was responded to in good time by
the ambulance, in which the injured
man was hastily placed. It was while
enroute to the hospital that he first
regained consciousness and asked where
he was.
At the hospital the injuries were
washed and dressed and four stitches
were required to draw the edges together
of the large of the wounds. I
was at first feared the engineer had
suffered a slight fracture of the skull,
but this belief has since been dispelled.
The train was delayed at the local
station for half hour until another
trainman could be secured to assist the
fireman on the remainder of the run
northward.

Found by Herb Fry. Digitized by Heidi Sproat 11/06/2022.