Look Both Ways

I meet my son at his school bus every afternoon. Before we cross the street in front of the bus, I always remind him to look both ways. Today he asked me, "Why do we have to look BOTH ways?" This is for him.

TRAIN KILLS LETTER CARRIER

His Body Carried Half a Mile on the Engine - Mail Strewn on Tracks

SOMERVILLE, N.J. Aug. 9 - James E. Sherman, a letter carrier on a rural free delivery route of the Somerville Post Office, was instantly killed at the Roycefield crossing on the Lehigh Valley Railroad near this city, this morning, by a fast eastbound express. When Sherman reached the Roycefield crossing, where there are no gates, on his daily ride of twenty-four miles, he waited for a freight train to pass, and then drove onto the tracks directly in front of the express, which struck his rig broadside.

The horse was killed and hurled to one side, and the wagon and Sherman were carried along on the front of the engine for nearly half a mile before the engineer could stop the train. The body was taken to Somerville. The wagon was wrecked and the mail strewn on the track.

An inquest will be held tomorrow. A small boy was the only witness of the the accident, and he was so frightened he does not remember the particulars. Sherman was married, and besides a widow leaves a year-old boy.

[The New York Times 10 August 1907]