Fatal Accident - Bay and Hannah - 1893

Each of the three little steam engines that operated on the Hamilton and Dundas Street Railway was popularly known as “the Dummy.”

On Saturday afternoon, November 4, 1893, sadly, one of the Dummys became deadly.

The interurban train connecting Hamilton with Dundas had almost completed its journey into the city from the Valley Town.

 As the train, which ran on tracks in the middle of streets, approached the corner of Bay street south and Hannah street (now Charlton avenue west), the engine was being driven by William McDonald, with Conductor Harrison on board in the passenger car.

At the corner mentioned, there were some children playing a game of hide-and-seek. Suddenly, one of the boys intending to run from one side of the street to the other, he instead ran directly in front of the moving train.

Before the train could be brought to a stop, it had run over the unfortunate young fellow.

As described in the Spectator’s account of the incident, “when taken from under the wheels, it was found that the poor boy’s right leg was nearly severed below the knee, his left arm was broken in the three places, and there were cuts about the head and face. He was removed to the city hospital where the leg was amputated but he died about 10 o’clock Saturday night.”

The young fellow was six year old, John Cheeseboro, described to a Spectator reporter as being “a bright, pretty little fellow, and a great favourite with his playfellows. Many of them, and also nearly all the neighbors, have sent flowers to be placed on the little coffin.”

The boy’s mother was dead, and his father worked as a chemist in London, Ontario, so John was living with his aunt and uncle, Mrs. And Mr. Mack, at the time of the accident.

An inquest into the tragic incident was quickly organized with the first session held at the city hospital the Monday morning,  two days  after John had died.

The following is the Spectator’s account of the testimony given to the coroner’s jury :

          “A jury was sworn in by Coroner Woolverton this morning at the hospital. S. F. Washington was elected foreman. After viewing the body, the jury heard the evidence of several witnesses.

          John Cheeseboro, father of the dead boy, was the first witness. He is a chemist and lives in London.  His wife is dead. His son had lived with Mr. and Mrs. Mack, of this city, since he was a baby.

          Annie Sayer, Mabel Cottrel and Gladys Whatley, three little girls, were playing with the deceased when the accident occurred, but they did not see it happen. They said they were playing hide-and-seek. Young Cheeseboro was on the north side of the street hiding his eyes, and they were hiding in Mr. Hurd’s new building. They cried “Ready!” and he came running across to find them. Just then they heard the dummy whistle and stop, and when they came out of their hiding places, Cheeseboro was under the wheels.

          W. H. Evans, of Montreal, a passenger on the train, testified to getting out when the train stopped suddenly and found the boy under the wheels. He carried him into a house nearby, and as he did so the boy asked him if he was his Uncle Mack, and then added: “I heard the dummy coming but I didn’t see it.”

          After that initial testimony, the inquest was adjourned.The coroner’s jury would subsequently convene at the No. 3 police station, King William and Mary streets.

          The first witnesses at the resumed inquest included a man working on the construction of house who literally saw the boy run in front of the moving train, a man who saw the boy being removed from under the train and from two doctors who detailed the nature of the boy’s fatal injuries.

          The testimony of the key witness, the driver of the train,was covered at some length in the press :

          “Engineer Wm. McDonald said that near the corner of Caroline and Hannah streets he saw a number of children playing on the street, and as there were also a number of rigs, he slowed up. Just as he got past he saw the boy about six feet north of the track and four or five feet ahead of the engine, running directly across the track. Evidently he did not notice the train. Witness shouted to him and reversed the engine, but the boy ran right in front of it and was knocked down. The train was going about five miles an hour when the accident occurred. The train stopped within 40 feet. He was under the position that the engine wheels did not go over him as he felt no jar. The H. and D. drivers have a great deal of trouble with foolhardy youngsters who stand on the track, run across in front of the train and jump on the steps on the steps of the cars. The instructions are not to exceed six miles an hour.”

          The conductor on that train, H. Harrison, testified that, after the accident, he found the boy under the wheels of the engine’s first truck and that the whole stem engine had to be lifted by the gathered crowd to free the boy.

          The final witness was the manager of the Hamilton and Dundas Street Railway, W. N. Myles, who said that the drivers of the company’s trains were instructed not to exceed a speed of six miles an hour within the central part of city, although the drivers could accelerate to ten miles an hour in the then still relatively undeveloped Aberdeen avenue, west to Garth (now Dundurn street south).

          After a very brief deliberation, the coroner’s jury rendered the following verdict : “the deceased came to his death while attempting to cross in front of the engine, and that no blame is attached to the employees of the railway company. The jury would recommend that the company introduce some kind of guard on the engine to prevent the recurrence of such an accident.”

          A legally valid conclusion had been reached, and no fault could or should have been placed on the engineer, but, little John Cheeseboro had sadly died at the tender age of just six years old.